Lot of assassination talk right now

[miasmum]

I think the stuff he used to kill Alexander Litvenenko (or however you spell it) would be good justice

[Suff]

Yep that was Polonium-210.

[miasmum]

It is available on Amazon?

[Suff]

Fortunately Not.

[cromwell]

I must admit I got Putin wrong. He's obviously always been ruthless, ex-KGB and all that, and quite willing to kill Russian expats who upset him; but I never thought that he was mad or bad enough to start invading countries as he has, and shelling cities to ruins.

[victor]

I think he would like ALL the former bloc countries back under his control.
Whether he would be prepared to take on NATO or stupid enough is another matter.

Personally I wonder if all NATO countries would stick together

[Suff]

Personally I wonder if all NATO countries would stick together

It has been a Very long time since they had to contemplate waging war to control events outside their borders. The need to intervene in order to stop a potential trend, which will end up on their doorstep, is not a concept that they deal with well now. Too much peace for too long.

Now they face the cost of action without understanding the cost of not acting. I would not expect NATO to be fully aligned when NATO itself is not directly threatened. YET.

[Workingman]

Assassinating Putin is like lancing a boil.

You pop the head but the underlying infection remains. It needs treating with antiseptics from without and possibly by antibacterials from within.

The very optimistic view is that by getting rid of Putin the problem is solved. A new Gorbachev or puppet Yeltsin are there waiting, but are they? Is there another Stalin or Beria also in the wings? Can you all be so sure?

The end must come from within Russia. The West, by whatever means, must inform the Russian people, night and day, and as long as it takes, to let them know what is going on. It might, or it might not work, we can but hope. They are not bad people any more than we are.

The oligarch's $1m offer is just blood money. Anyone who accepts is committing suicide.

[Suff]

They are not bad people any more than we are.

The oligarch's $1m offer is just blood money. Anyone who accepts is committing suicide.

Agree with everything but especially the above. All the Russians I have met have been good people.

I was also unhappy at the ramifications of trying to use assassination as a tool of statecraft. Where does it end.