The Russian invasion of Ukraine appears to be in some trouble as the Ukrainian population is putting up rather more of a fight than Vladimir Putin had bargained for. Despite the destruction of its towns and cities and the emigration of millions of its women, children and older citizens, Ukraine refuses to surrender to the brutality of Putin's military assault.
Putin has clearly miscalculated and there are reports that he's sacked a number of senior army officers for failing to get the job done. Apparently, the advance of his forces on a number of fronts have all but ground to a halt and he's resorted to mass bombing of civilian targets in an attempt to terrify the population into surrendering. Even worse, it is suggested that he may be on the point of deploying chemical or biological weapons, something which is outlawed and reviled by all civilized nations, not to mention assorted international bodies and treaties. Would Putin even go further and use small scale nuclear weapons, thereby risking an escalation of his limited attack on Ukraine into a full blown European, or even World, War ?
Putin is a monster, a tyrannical and despotic ruler in the mould of Stalin, Hitler, and Mao Zedong. For years, the Western world appeased him and became increasingly reliant on his exports of oil, gas, coal and other natural resources. In truth, much of Europe has been appallingly let down by its political leaders who have sort cheap products while ignoring the potential danger from a despotic and expansionist regime. In similar fashion, the West, led by political elites with utterly misconceived priorities, have allowed themselves to become reliant on China, various states in the Middle East, India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and assorted other countries in the 'Third World' for supplies of all sorts, ranging from oil and gas to foodstuffs and clothing, our mobile 'phones and laptops, even the production of drugs and vaccines. In short, the West has outsourced control over its own economies and is now subject to the whims of a whole assortment of countries, all of which can now set the terms of trade to suit themselves and at least some of which are potentially hostile.
This is a consequence of the failure of a smug political elite over a period of several decades, an elite which has been far more interested in gaining election and winning power than in worrying about the future. Today, our country along with the rest of Europe is on the edge of a precipice but, shockingly, there does not seem to be a single political leader who is prepared to admit the situation they have brought us all to, nor who is prepared to begin the task of reversing our decline. In fact, they seem more interested in controlling us, through various legislation which has its origins in George Orwell's nightmare novels "1984" and "Animal Farm".
Nero famously fiddled while Rome burned. Our leaders have done just the same, only the conflagration has taken longer to take hold and even to be discovered. What is needed now are some real leaders who will cut through the red tape and utter lunacy of 'wokeish' ideology, who will begin the process of regenerating our manufacturing base and ending the reliance on others.
What chance ?
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