The NATO gambit should work in the West’s favor
Re Scot Lehigh’s Feb. 11 column, “Deterring Putin will test the mettle of the West”: The US government should recommend Ukraine’s membership to NATO upon the very first Russian soldier entering Ukraine.
Lehigh writes, “There are no plans for Ukraine to join NATO, nor is that likely. Further, the notion that a Western-leaning Ukraine or NATO, a defensive alliance, presents a threat to a non-expansionist Russia doesn’t withstand scrutiny.”
Vladimir Putin does not want Ukraine to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. This is one of his assertions that has led to the threatened invasion. Putin needs to understand that that is exactly what will happen if he continues to pursue an invasion. The guarantee of NATO membership should make the Russian leader realize that he, the master manipulator, has made a calculated error, and that retreat is the best option.
Can the United States and the Western Alliance provide Putin an off-ramp to save face? Putin can claim that the US reaction is totally overdone — he never intended to invade, these were war games — and the troops can return home. Putin has total power in Russia; he’ll exert his presence on the world stage again, but he needs to be taught that invading a sovereign country will not be tolerated.
Ed Klein
East Dennis
US won’t get very far by waging information warfare
The article “US battles Putin by disclosing possible next moves” (Page A2, Feb. 13) suggests that the United States is trying to outmaneuver Vladimir Putin through information warfare. We are told by a former top US intelligence official that her “guess is that these disclosures are freaking out Kremlin and the security services out.”
Unfortunately, the authors of this article confuse real actions to deter a Russian invasion of Ukraine with press releases. The Biden administration had six months to demonstrate the leadership needed to rally NATO behind defending the sovereignty of Ukraine or to supply defensive weapons that could have deterred an attack.
The reporters would have the reader believe that these briefings highlighting and forecasting Putin’s moves have a deterrent effect and represent a coherent strategy to beat Putin using information warfare. By reframing press releases as actions, the only individuals who might be fooled are credulous readers.
Bruce Rubinger
Newton
To a degree, Putin has already won
A bully prevented from overt aggression will often settle for a lesser level of meanness in the meantime. To a degree, Putin has already won. Consider the anxiety and fear he has instilled widely, not to mention the costs in defense preparation, peace preservation, and security for much of the world.
Donald Novak
Canton