Put simply - the West (Nato, Europe) have acted too late to make Putin pull back. The warning that Putin would destroy the dam by Pres Zelenskyy was ignored indicates that the West has allowed RU to dictate the war leaving death and destruction in UKR without the kind of 'alarm' needed. If Putin is NOT stopped - UKR will be mowed down. I can't understand the 'fear' factor the West has allowing this war to go on with NO retaliation allowed within Russia.
What a pathetically bleak world picture painted here of someone who “could” choose to empower vs. overpower the people of not only his county but those all around him.
A dark insecurity lurks in his mind so tormented that he just can’t let life flourish. He must see the world as his sandbox and wants to hold onto every grain. He’s on a roll like a steam roller with gravity on his side.
Excellent Diane. You are right. Blowing up the dam portends potential destruction of the Zaporizhzhia power plant. Heaven help us. That plant must be surrounded by UAF and Russian troops forced to surrender.
'And strong pressure must be placed on China and India by their trading partners to issue bold, public condemnations against Putin’s nuclear gambit.' But can you see Modi and Xi acting? It is now very dangerous.And I believe Pope Francis who preaches the message of love thy neighbour has not condemned Putin. Is that so Diane? Is so,why isn't the media attacking him? Russia has no reverse gear it seems.
This is scary stuff. I believe Putin is ready to destroy Ukraine if he doesn't win it all. He's been embarrassed on the world stage, his economy is suffering, he's turned the West again him, China must be reconsidering the Friendship agreement, he's committed war crimes, killed and displaced millions, and so on. Why not go out with a Big Bang?
Thanks LA. The Pope believes the west also responsible for Putin's behaviour and Russian Orthodox church in bed with Putin. Western media avoids highlighting this appalling behaviour of RC church
We may comment back and forth till the cows come home, but we all recognize that - regardless of the threats and consequences - the making of a major international disaster still rests with one country and with one (perhaps dying) man. Although Ukraine would bear the brunt, the consequences of an explosion at the nuclear site would be global and long lasting.
This is a rare opportunity for the responsible leaders of the world to take immediate and decisive action to prevent this possibility and - perhaps - establish a precedent for ad-hoc global cooperation in the face of an imminent global challenge. The U.S., together with G-7 and NATO, should urge the major economic and military powers in the world, including China and India, to declare all nuclear sites in Ukraine to be "demilitarized zones" until such time as peace is restored, and agree to send small contingents of troops and /or nuclear experts to take up positions at those sites. Putin may balk but the presence of Chinese, Indian and even Cuban and South African personnel together with their russian and Ukrainian counterparts would act as an impenetrable deterrent to any further mischief.
You write: “An occupied nuclear plant that is blown up becomes a nuclear weapon.” With respect, I suggest that unless the Russians use a nuclear bomb, the result would not be a nuclear explosion but an ordinary explosion causing release of radioactive material. This is what happened at Chernobyl in 1986; it was an explosion of super-heated steam that blew off the lid of the reactor exposing/melting the core and releasing radioactive material over a wide area. That explosion did not even reach the nearby town of Pripyat, about 2 miles away, with about 50,000 population, of whom none died in the accident but all were evacuated. Fewer than 50 deaths were attributable directly to that explosion, though since then various estimates have claimed thousands of cancer deaths but the estimates vary greatly and are highly contested. Compare this with Little Boy, the nuclear bomb that totally devastated a wide area of Hiroshima in 1945 and provably caused at least 100,000 deaths, followed by Fat Man that flattened Nagasaki and killed many thousands in the blast. If the Russians blow up Zaporizhzhia using conventional explosives, what then happens is release of radioactive material, which goes where the wind blows, dissipating as it goes. It will blow across Ukraine but also across eastern and southern Russia. The closest large population area to the south is Russian-controlled Crimea with 2.5-3 million people. Ankara, capital of Turkey, is about 900km away, Minsk capital of Belarus and Moscow are about 1000km away, Budapest capital of Hungary is about 1500km away, and a Russian city of about 1 million called Voronezh is about 600km away. But Russian forces are all around the Zaporizhzhia plant, so I suppose the questions are how mad is Putin, and whether the Russian military is really willing to allow so much radioactivity to be released in an area so heavily occupied by themselves. It would be a madman's act, but so was the blowing up of the Kakhavka dam. But what can NATO do? If NATO becomes involved with boots on the ground, more than supply of weapons as it is now doing, then we are in a nuclear war with ICBMs. (Regarding radioactivity, over the years since 1945 the U.S. has conducted over 1000 nuclear tests, so if we add Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan etc. to the score, a lot of radioactivity has been released. Not to minimize but it's not like being vaporized or blown to pieces in an explosion.)
Put simply - the West (Nato, Europe) have acted too late to make Putin pull back. The warning that Putin would destroy the dam by Pres Zelenskyy was ignored indicates that the West has allowed RU to dictate the war leaving death and destruction in UKR without the kind of 'alarm' needed. If Putin is NOT stopped - UKR will be mowed down. I can't understand the 'fear' factor the West has allowing this war to go on with NO retaliation allowed within Russia.
What a pathetically bleak world picture painted here of someone who “could” choose to empower vs. overpower the people of not only his county but those all around him.
A dark insecurity lurks in his mind so tormented that he just can’t let life flourish. He must see the world as his sandbox and wants to hold onto every grain. He’s on a roll like a steam roller with gravity on his side.
NATO must take and protect the Nuclear Power plant. Maybe a small team of special forces could take it
Excellent Diane. You are right. Blowing up the dam portends potential destruction of the Zaporizhzhia power plant. Heaven help us. That plant must be surrounded by UAF and Russian troops forced to surrender.
I think we should be totally prepared for every eventuality. Anything is possible with Putler. Excellent as always.
I think he will do exactly that
'And strong pressure must be placed on China and India by their trading partners to issue bold, public condemnations against Putin’s nuclear gambit.' But can you see Modi and Xi acting? It is now very dangerous.And I believe Pope Francis who preaches the message of love thy neighbour has not condemned Putin. Is that so Diane? Is so,why isn't the media attacking him? Russia has no reverse gear it seems.
This is scary stuff. I believe Putin is ready to destroy Ukraine if he doesn't win it all. He's been embarrassed on the world stage, his economy is suffering, he's turned the West again him, China must be reconsidering the Friendship agreement, he's committed war crimes, killed and displaced millions, and so on. Why not go out with a Big Bang?
Thanks LA. The Pope believes the west also responsible for Putin's behaviour and Russian Orthodox church in bed with Putin. Western media avoids highlighting this appalling behaviour of RC church
We may comment back and forth till the cows come home, but we all recognize that - regardless of the threats and consequences - the making of a major international disaster still rests with one country and with one (perhaps dying) man. Although Ukraine would bear the brunt, the consequences of an explosion at the nuclear site would be global and long lasting.
This is a rare opportunity for the responsible leaders of the world to take immediate and decisive action to prevent this possibility and - perhaps - establish a precedent for ad-hoc global cooperation in the face of an imminent global challenge. The U.S., together with G-7 and NATO, should urge the major economic and military powers in the world, including China and India, to declare all nuclear sites in Ukraine to be "demilitarized zones" until such time as peace is restored, and agree to send small contingents of troops and /or nuclear experts to take up positions at those sites. Putin may balk but the presence of Chinese, Indian and even Cuban and South African personnel together with their russian and Ukrainian counterparts would act as an impenetrable deterrent to any further mischief.
You write: “An occupied nuclear plant that is blown up becomes a nuclear weapon.” With respect, I suggest that unless the Russians use a nuclear bomb, the result would not be a nuclear explosion but an ordinary explosion causing release of radioactive material. This is what happened at Chernobyl in 1986; it was an explosion of super-heated steam that blew off the lid of the reactor exposing/melting the core and releasing radioactive material over a wide area. That explosion did not even reach the nearby town of Pripyat, about 2 miles away, with about 50,000 population, of whom none died in the accident but all were evacuated. Fewer than 50 deaths were attributable directly to that explosion, though since then various estimates have claimed thousands of cancer deaths but the estimates vary greatly and are highly contested. Compare this with Little Boy, the nuclear bomb that totally devastated a wide area of Hiroshima in 1945 and provably caused at least 100,000 deaths, followed by Fat Man that flattened Nagasaki and killed many thousands in the blast. If the Russians blow up Zaporizhzhia using conventional explosives, what then happens is release of radioactive material, which goes where the wind blows, dissipating as it goes. It will blow across Ukraine but also across eastern and southern Russia. The closest large population area to the south is Russian-controlled Crimea with 2.5-3 million people. Ankara, capital of Turkey, is about 900km away, Minsk capital of Belarus and Moscow are about 1000km away, Budapest capital of Hungary is about 1500km away, and a Russian city of about 1 million called Voronezh is about 600km away. But Russian forces are all around the Zaporizhzhia plant, so I suppose the questions are how mad is Putin, and whether the Russian military is really willing to allow so much radioactivity to be released in an area so heavily occupied by themselves. It would be a madman's act, but so was the blowing up of the Kakhavka dam. But what can NATO do? If NATO becomes involved with boots on the ground, more than supply of weapons as it is now doing, then we are in a nuclear war with ICBMs. (Regarding radioactivity, over the years since 1945 the U.S. has conducted over 1000 nuclear tests, so if we add Russia, Britain, France, China, India, Pakistan etc. to the score, a lot of radioactivity has been released. Not to minimize but it's not like being vaporized or blown to pieces in an explosion.)