Spineless Toadies

How much worse will things get before they get better? This must be the question on everybody’s lips, if indeed they haven’t already had cause to worry about the nuclear option (in which case things won’t get better). It seems rather incredible that a country with a GDP roughly the same size as Spain’s can hold the word to ransom. But for decades we have been told that Russia, and previously the Soviet Union, has had a military capacity that equals or outstrips that of the NATO countries, a message which has always been good business for the armaments industry, as an excellent blog by Craig Murray exposed. As Murray has made clear, the Russians have embarked on a disastrous mission based more on belief in their own propaganda than any commonsensical appraisal of their capabilities. This is the worrying part. The current BBC2 series on ‘The Rise of the Nazis’ begs a direct comparison between Hitler’s delusions and Putin’s. After his army's defeat at Stalingrad Hitler practically went into hiding, but then came von Stauffenberg’s failed assassination attempt which somehow revived Hitler’s sense of his pre-destiny as a leader on whom providence had taken a big liking. Perhaps Putin with his extremely long tables, where he sits isolated 30 feet away from his advisors is worried that one of them may nudge a briefcase bomb towards him? A widespread western media question is whether Putin’s hubris will lead to his toppling. Do his bodyguards have live rounds? Couldn’t one of them do us all a favour? I fear that like Hitler, Putin has no option but to dig his heels in, and as his campaign to subjugate 40 million rather resentful people falters, he will search out a wonder weapon to bring the matter to a decisive victory. I wonder if he has watched the film Downfall. I wonder if his generals have. Or are they all toadies with more medals than brain cells?