The Ukraine War

Completely different situation. The Domino Theory was the notion that idea of Communism was so powerful we needed to bomb people in order to convince them to embrace democracy.

Putin invaded Chechnya, Georgia, and Ukraine in order to recreate the Russian Empire. He’s made it very clear in public speeches that’s his goal.
Thus far he’s only received light opposition from the West.

I’m reminded of how the US dealt with American hostages in Lebanon in the 1980s. Iranian-backed terrorist groups captured a number of Americans, at least two of whom were tortured to death. The US government groveled in front of Iran and gave into Iran’s demands for advanced US weapons. Once some of the hostages were released, Iran promptly took more Americans hostage knowing our weak and cowardly government would fold like a wet blanket and beg to give them more weapons.

This example of cowardice was cited by Osama bin Laden and other terrorists as an example of the benefits of attacking US civilians.

Putin is making the same gamble. He knows that many US politicians are either afraid of him or support him. We’ll see if he’s right.

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