Is Snitz right about Ukraine? The media/Dems/Reps all wrong? Read on!

The media and both parties are screaming for the US to invoke sanctions against Russia and many support sending advisors/weaponry to support Ukraine's defense. Of course we/Nato tried this stuff back in 2014 when Putin attacked the Ukraine and it did zero! They ended up annexing the Crimea. Will that stuff work this time? Don't count on it.

Question 1: Do we have good outcomes fixing humanitarian crisis against powerful foes? Hmmm, I seem to remember that Vietnam and Syria didn't go so well. *. We actually made things worse. And that's the tip of the iceberg. The sad reality is we can't be the world's policeman. The US population is 300 million against the globe's 8 billion. About 60 million people die each year from disease, starvation, unprovoked violence and war. Do we have the military or diplomatic resources to make a dent in that? Probably not.

Question 2: Does the Ukraine have any strategic resources we want? Nope. Other than being a chess piece I'd argue the same for the Euro zone.

Question 3: Does Putin want it more? In 2005 during his state of the union speech Putin said "the collapse of the Soviet Union was the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century...as for the Russian people it became a genuine tragedy. Tens of millions of our fellow citizens and countrymen found themselves beyond the fringes of Russian territory". Worse than either world war! It's been his dream to reunite Russia and the Ukraine for a long time. He's not going to back down no matter what.

Question 4: Is Putin like Hitler? Honestly, you see him invading Germany and France? See a rapidfire Blitzkrieg where he's rolling through nations in succession. Austria, Czechoslovakia and Poland falling in a matter of months. Same thing? Nope.

Where's this going? Putin is going to either use the invasion to extract concessions from NATO &/or install a puppet gov in the Ukraine. He'll probably get a ton of blow back from the Ukraine populace and will look forward to years of aggravation.

What we shouldn't do: Stick our nose in unless we want retaliation from Russia. Retaliation? Like cyberwarfare, hacking.... Putin is a bear we should not poke. Maybe we can bring back Mueller!

* How about situations like Rwanda? Those are genocides where we could help because we didn't face a strong foe and could move the dial with minimal expenditure of manpower or dollars.

** Why sanctions haven't/can't work? Russia is a petro state, getting the bulk of its GDP from selling oil and Natural Gas to Europe. Unfortunately the only way to really hurt Russia is to stop buying their energy which equally hurts it's European customers.

Finally what NATO states and the US can do? We should sell liquified natural gas to the Eurozone and help wean them off reliance on Russian energy. Biden's cancelling of the Keystone pipeline has removed a huge source of potential fuel exports from the US, which could greater benefit NATO state.

NATO states should follow France's lead and invest in Nuclear Power (which provides 70% of its electricity). Germany to the contrary has invested heavily in Wind/Solar causing it to rely more heavily on Russian energy (as those technologies only work when the weather cooperates). It now gets 50% of it's Natural Gas from Russia. It's growing reliance shown in the chart below.

If Europe weans themselves off of Russian energy they will eventually gain the upper hand & have some negotiating leverage. That will not happen in the short run.

Other Snitzer Stories that provide backup info

Germany's increased reliance on Russia helps Putin.

https://www.spritzlerreport.com/post/how-german-inadvertently-empowers-putin-two-charts

Putin have a point? We're pointing new missiles at Russia? He exploiting that?

https://www.spritzlerreport.com/post/does-putin-have-a-point-we-re-pointing-new-missiles-at-russia-is-he-exploiting-this-fact

Putin threatens any new countries who join NATO. Finland and Sweden!

https://www.spritzlerreport.com/post/spritzler-will-not-join-nato

US Voters like Biden's handling of Ukraine? Do pigs fly?

https://www.spritzlerreport.com/post/rasmussen-pole-voters-like-biden-s-handling-of-ukraine-do-pigs-fly

One Billion Chinese blame Biden for the Ukraine mess?

https://www.spritzlerreport.com/post/1-billion-views-blaming-biden-seriously-chinese