History repeats itself

One of the more depressing side effects of aging is being stuck watching history repeat itself right down to the illogical rationalizations used to justify doing something horrific. Russia's invasion of Ukraine is no exception. From Putin's bizarre propaganda efforts before the war began to the spin he's trying to use with news now, I find myself thinking "We've seen this shit before."  

I found myself remembering that classic quote from the Vietnam war: "We had to destroy the village to save it." Turns out, when I went looking for a graphic to use as an illustration, the actual historic statement was slightly different, but the basic point is the same. In the case of Vietnam, it was we're going to incinerate you with napalm. In Ukraine it's we're going to bomb nuclear power plants because, hey, if a reactor melts down the fallout is more likely to hit Belarus than it is to drift far into Mother Russia. The invasion from the beginning definitely fell into the destroying something to save it category.

Then, in Putin's distorted world view, after the Russian army finishes turning cities into rubble, making farmland unusable with toxic waste and land mines, and slaughtering civilians Putin will expect the surviving Ukrainians to hold parades where they welcome him as a savior while showering Russian troops with flowers. 

From everything I've read lately, it's quite likely the Russians will achieve a military victory. Like the cockroach field marshal, to Putin it doesn't matter how many Russian troops die. He's got plenty of additional draftees to shove to the front. (Maybe. At least one article hinted that the troop strength is actually pretty weak, and the Russian equipment is basically shit.) Of course, once they've achieved that military victory, they'll get to learn what Pyrrhic means.