The Ukrainian Spring is Here
The Kinetic Arsenal of Democracy is Just Getting Started While Our Arsenal of Ideas Is Killing It
As the Ukrainian military picks at the carcass of the retreating Russian army around Kyiv after Putin’s abject failure to blitzkrieg-topple the Zelensky government, it is worth noting the scope and scale of Russia’s defeat not only on the physical battlefield but also in the battle being waged in mind space. Here is my take on the current State of the Union of the world’s democracies’ ramp-up, as counterpoint to the Russia’s current state of disarray in both the physical and psychological domain, along with my predictions as where this is going and at what speed.
Javelins, Stingers, Switchblade drones, Bayraktar drones. With this high-tech, mobile, lightweight weaponry coming from America and our NATO allies including even Turkey, in the hands of a highly motivated, trained, and inspirationally led combat force, Ukraine just kicked Russia’s ass in the outskirts of Kyiv and in the south in the approach to Odesa. This would not have been accomplished without President Zelensky, who refused to flee the Capital and stood his ground. That made ALL the difference. “I need ammunition, not a ride” will go down in history as one of the greatest quotes ever from a wartime president. Unlike the Shah of Iran and Afghanistan’s President Ghani, the “flee the capital to save your own skin” schtick, which Putin was counting on from the former actor Zelensky who he considered a lightweight, is a Putin epic-fail. There is simply no substitute for a courageous, well-spoken war-time leader and the effect his words and deeds have had on the morale and fighting spirit of his people has been enormous. It’s a perfect demonstration of how physical weaponry – coupled with the right psychology, can combine to achieve spectacular results that none of the “experts” predicted back in February.
Ten to One is a Good Ratio: Let’s Run With It
I was pleased to hear today in the news that America has been training in-country visiting Ukrainian soldiers on Switchblade drone operation and we just pushed a significant quantity of Switchblade 600s into Ukraine. I also heard Secretary of State Blinken declare that we were delivering to Ukraine 10 anti-tank weapons for every Russian tank inside Ukraine. That sounds about right and we should take that approach and scale it up with all things anti-Putin. You send one of your Migs into Ukrainian airspace to bomb the civilian population? We publicly commit to equipping the Ukrainians with 10 F-16s/F-35s or maybe 10 Patriot missiles and 10 AH-64 Apache attack helicopters or all of the above.
You indiscriminately shell Ukrainian coastal cities like Mariupol or Odesa from the Black Sea with your warships? We send 10 anti-ship missiles for every one of your ships and maybe some fast attack boats armed with ship-to-ship missiles. Maybe an attack submarine or two will do just fine to sweep the Black Sea clean of your evildoing warships.
We must send the unequivocal message that the world’s democracies will outspend, outwit, and outlast Putin at every level and in every domain from cyber, air, naval, space, surface, and information and psychological warfare. You outsource 1,000 Internet trolls out to India to hit Facebook and Telegram from Indian IP addresses with your “Ukrainians are Nazis” idiocy? We overwhelm your systems and people with 10,000 mind-seeking information bullets of truth from 10,000 sources that will slip through your firewalls and Facebook ban and bury like earwigs into the minds of your people, your military, and your intelligence officers. Ukraine is not going to be assimilated. They’re just not. YOU are going to be assimilated…into Lubyanka. Putin is the metaphorical “dead man walking” and it’s already all but over save for the ultimate perp-walk out of the Kremlin.
By the time the world’s arsenals of democracy are fully ramped and engaged, just like Reagan and his SDI push which resulted in the eventual takedown of the Soviet Union, Putin’s regime will collapse, his remaining generals will sue for peace, Navalney will be released from prison, and a democratic spring will rise not just over Kyiv, but over Moscow itself. And the world will rejoice. And an accounting will be had.
Spring has come in Ukraine. Russi Leaks predicts that such a spring will soon, very soon, come to Russia. And the world, including those Russian people living in denial or willful ignorance, will be the better for it.