The Trump-hating left is fomenting a bloody war against Putin but risks turning Ukrainians into sacrificial lambs

FIRST, I hope we all want to agree on one critical point.

In the past, most of the world rightly viewed Saddam Hussein as a dangerous, megalomaniac strongman.

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Today, most of the world sees Vladimir Putin the same way.

The question then becomes: have past mistakes been made about the best way to deal with Hussein, and if so, do those lessons apply to how to deal with Putin today?

To me, at least, the eagerness of many leftists for Ukraine to wage a war with Russia and literally fight her hand-to-hand in the streets is the tragic embodiment of a Pyrrhic victory.

Certainly more and more voices from the right are also joining in this war cheerleading, but it has been particularly intense from various left-leaning media, pundits and “experts”.

Why? Once again, let’s all agree that Putin poses a clear and present threat to the world.

But now that Ukrainians are conducting real military defense, we have already seen the tragic consequences.

The next obvious question then is how many lives will be lost and have they been sacrificed and wasted in a futile cause?

Just before the United States invaded Iraq in March 2003, during the administration of President George W. Bush, it seemed that some advocates of this invasion to “overthrow” the “evil” Hussein would view the process coldly and passionately as one Consider some sort of board game or sporting event with human pawns to play with at will.

Civilians, experts, and “experts” who had no skin involved.

That means they weren’t in the military; they would not star in the forthcoming battle; neither did any of their relatives or friends.

Some drove this war from luxurious offices thousands of miles away from the horrors to come on six and even seven figure financial platforms.

Good for you. But just to remind you, this “war” with Iraq and the fall of Hussein came at a very high cost in human lives.

About 4,500 American soldiers killed; 32,000 wounded; between 100,000 and 400,000 Iraqi deaths depending on the study; and a Middle East that remains destabilized to this day.

Saddam Hussein did not operate in a vacuum. Vladimir Putin does not operate in a vacuum.

Such strongmen often wire their movements openly, but some choose to ignore the signals for a variety of self-interested reasons.

Could the US “war” with Iraq have been prevented? Naturally.

Could most of those lost lives have been spared? Yes.

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Could Putin have been dissuaded from invading Ukraine through diplomatic and other means? Some certainly believe so.

While some might dispute it, many on the left have seemingly welded Putin to Trump over the past five years.

Much of this symbiotic association springs from the now-discredited “Trump campaign-Moscow connection” being pushed by Hillary Clinton agents via the “Steele dossier.”

A run-down dossier that managed to achieve a goal. The indelible bond between Trump and Putin in the minds of many on the left.

Be it in the media, academia, Hollywood or the US government and political class.

The next question, then, is: Could the dislike, or even outright hatred, of Trump by some on the left have created an irrational fog of argument in their minds when it came to how to deal prudently with Vladimir Putin?

Is it worth encouraging Ukraine to go to all-out war with Russia – or telling the citizens of other nations that this is a suicidal sacrifice Ukrainians simply must make – in order to go after Putin?

Especially given the tragic cost of human lives and infrastructure in Ukraine while the rest of the world moves closer to an inadvertent nuclear war.

What is the ultimate benefit of such a strategy for Ukraine?

Since the “Trump Era” first dawned on the world in June 2015, much of the media, academia, political systems and corporations in the US, UK and around the world have openly criticized Trump, with some even speaking of being part of the “Resistance ” to become. against him.

Now many of these voices have encouraged Ukraine to wage the “good war” against Russia.

Again why?

While it is a natural human trait to want to stand up for the outsider, the media in particular should not take sides in this invasion or open war. Except many have.

Such a concealment of facts on the ground not only does not help Ukraine, but could ultimately harm the nation dramatically.

Many in the media have embarked on a David versus Goliath narrative, seemingly doing everything they can to paint a picture of a stumbling, stupid Goliath who has seriously underestimated David.

Except that “Goliath” performs much better than reported and as everyone surely knows could completely annihilate Ukraine by dialing in the horrific weapon systems used in the war.

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Could a media, academic and neocon class so full of admitted disgust and open hatred of Trump view Putin through a prism that blocks reason when it comes to how best to help the people of Ukraine can?

If ever there was a time for clear, unbiased, and thoughtful thinking and acting, it is now.

How is Ukraine losing the lives of potentially thousands of its citizens while reducing much of its infrastructure to rubble, benefiting the people of this country?

Wouldn’t it make more sense to agree to an immediate ceasefire – no matter how unfair the terms – and then let almost every nation on earth come to your defense through negotiations, sanctions and other effective pressure points?

What have we learned from Iraq, Afghanistan, or almost every war ever fought?

Those who drive a nation to war belong almost exclusively to the privileged class, operating from those posh offices thousands of miles from the battlefield.

Those who die in these wars are almost exclusively from the lower classes, either drafted into military service or seeking a way to improve life for themselves and their families.

Putin needs treatment.

But driving sacrificial lambs into the teeth of the Russian war machine while also creating a possible tripwire to accidental nuclear war is a deadly pointless strategy.

Some play with a fire that could scorch the earth.

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and the author of the novel The Dawn of a Nazi Moon: Book One.