World Affairs Brief, February 25, 2022 Commentary and Insights on a Troubled World. Copyright Joel Skousen. Partial quotations with attribution permitted. Cite source as Joel Skousen’s World Affairs Brief (http://www.worldaffairsbrief.com).

RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE

This past Wednesday Ukraine was invaded from three directions by Russian forces in a combined attack that finally settled all of the arguments around the world about whether Russia would invade Ukraine proper or be satisfied with occupying the two separatist regions of Donbas–Donetsk and Luhansk, which they had already sent troops into earlier in the week. As I predicted, the attack came from troops north of Kiev in Belarus, and to the south in Crimea in a pincers attack, in addition to the main force from the East. It appears Putin’s intent is to completely destroy Ukraine’s military capacity so that he can control Ukraine as a vassal state without having to destroy cities or occupy the country directly. He will have to control Ukraine’s borders and airports so that the West cannot rearm Ukraine if Putin claims she is still a sovereign nation—which will be a sham. Putin went to great lengths to construct a rationale of “self-defense” for the invasion based upon a series of lies about how Ukraine was attacking Donbas and Luhansk, when in fact, it has always been Russia fomenting and instigating any unrest in these areas, and it was Russian artillery forces that recently fired upon the Ukrainian forces to start an artillery duel that Putin could use to justify the larger attack. That false (and thinly veiled) rationale is still being used to justify the destruction of Ukraine’s military so that “it can no longer threaten the two breakaway regions.” Although the media will not say it, Russia’s claimed support for separatist movements is highly hypocritical and does not extend to any group trying to flee his control, as proven by his sending troops into Kazakhstan to silence the independence movement there—billed as mere social unrest over fuel prices. …

Putin may not want to fully occupy Ukraine, due to the costs and bad press that such a heavy-handed move would engender, but he certainly intends to impose his will on Ukraine, once it is “demilitarized.”…

Why Ukraine is of Strategic Importance to Russia: This site lists all of the huge agricultural, and strategic energy and mineral resources of Ukraine that Russia must control before going to war with the West in it’s quest for global hegemony.

Many Conservatives are Deceived: I continue to field pointed arguments by conservatives who have been duped by Putin who professes loyalty to Christianity (while persecuting non-Orthodox Christians in Russia), and his reputation as fighting against globalism (but only to establish his own control over a Russian dominated NWO). Here’s Jeffrey Nyquist’s response to those Americans deceived by Putin’s grand deception. …

Summary comments: I realize that many Americans do not view the Russian invasion of Ukraine as any of our business, and I both agree and disagree. In a direct sense, the Russian invasion of Ukraine is not a direct threat to our sovereignty, but with a view toward the bigger picture of who will attempt to control the world, Russia is the number one most dangerous enemy to our nation and China is number two and gaining rapidly in military might.

Both nations are preparing to act in concert to strike US military forces in a pre-emptive nuclear attack given sufficient provocation or excuse—which I think a war in Korea will provide. The US and NATO could intervene in the name of preserving a nation’s liberty, and Russia may well not be fully prepared to escalate things to WWIII—but it’s getting closer.

So, in the end, there eventually will be a war that we will have engaged either Russia or China (because we have troops in harm’s way, as in S. Korea). So, I say, the sooner the better when Russia or China may not be as prepared as they will be in the latter part of this decade. Stopping Russia in Ukraine would certainly help rebuild the world’s confidence in the US as the defender of freedom rather than our current reputation as the bully and intervener around the world, as we have been in Iraq and Afghanistan furthering the phony war on terror (which we created).

In my analysis WWIII with these two communist powers is inevitable, so don’t pussy-foot around while they get stronger. We can’t start this war, but we can certainly stop them from gobbling up weaker nations. …