How big of a &%*!-up is Vladimir Putin? I mean, sure, his government has managed to place witting and unwitting assets in the leadership and management apparatus of countries worldwide. Fair play.
But the feat is offset by the loss of an estimated one million soldiers to Ukraine's much smaller army, all in the name of a bull$H!T yearning for greatness that the aging despot likely won't live long enough to see realized… especially if he keeps pissing away the fortunes of his oligarchs with international trade embargoes and asset seizures. The shirtless, tiger-petting idiot's situation has become so desperate that he turned to the North Koreans for help. And help they did: provided you consider dying in an unfamiliar land or defecting to the enemy in the name of a decent meal a form of assistance.
In his latest win, Putin has managed to do something that no other disaster, conflict or geopolitical booby prize has been able to accomplish since the Second World War: entice Germany to permanently station a large contingent of its troops outside of the nation's borders. For a guy that hates NATO and worries about its influence, he's a wizard when it comes to bringing the organization to his doorstep.
Germany has this week deployed a permanent military brigade beyond its borders for the first time since the end of World War II.
The historic unit dispatched to the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, was inaugurated Thursday by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who said during a military ceremony in the city that "the security of our Baltic allies is also our security."
The groundbreaking German military decision is perhaps the most significant in a steady stream of moves by European nations to bolster defenses on NATO's eastern flank amid persistent security threats from Russia
Granted, Germany didn't have the best luck dealing with Russia the last time they pushed east. But with Russia's manpower and operational hardware stores sorely depleted, Germany and the rest of NATO needn't get a whole lot right in order to deter a Russian incursion into the west. Donald Trump's call to America's European allies to bolster their military spending along with his political unpredictability, has led them to the understanding that America can no longer be considered a reliable ally.
Where one might think that panic would be the order of the day in light of such a massive shift in the geopolitical order, it seems that the opposite may be taking shape. NATO is getting its shit together and no number of assassinations, disinformation campaigns or purchased politicians is likely to stop it. The chaos Putin's worked so hard to sow in the West is falling down around his ears. It's a hell of a thing to watch.
Previously:
• Trump whisperers have a 'weird homoerotic fascination' of Putin, frets Boris Johnson (video)
• Russians' support for Putin drops off a cliff after pension cuts
• Kremlin's favorite candidate Jill Stein refuses to call Putin a war criminal during interview
• 'Bloody jerk!' Putin lashes out after Zelensky mocks him with a new T-shirt
