It has always been clear, from the beginning of this conflict, that Russia has a huge military capability if they choose to bring it to bear in the Ukraine conflict. The use of combat power to achieve political objectives is always at the discretion of the political leadership. The political leadership also must integrate, and balance, the political and economic tools available, along with combat power, to achieve national objectives. When watching the day-to-day struggle on the battlefield, it is easy to lose focus on the “Big Picture.”
Russia’s “Special Military Operation” was a limited military operation to achieve the stated goals of providing freedom and security for the people of the Donbas Region to choose which country they wanted to be a part of. The Russian “Special Military Operation,” in a very short period, provided that opportunity for millions of Ukrainians to choose to join the Russian Federation. Despite intense efforts by the Ukraine / NATO forces to block that effort, they failed to stop the elections and they failed to intimidate the people from choosing to join the Russian Federation.
Efforts to crush the Russian economy by the “Collective West ” have failed and it is becoming more and more self-evident that the economies of the Western nations are suffering from the choices their leaders made. How bad it will get remains to be seen but in the “Big Picture” of this struggle many people in the “Collective West ” are suffering because of those political choices. The unrealistic goals of destroying the Russian economy, of bringing about “regime change” in Russia and decisively defeating Russia on the battlefield has been an exercise in futility that continues to cost thousands of Ukraine lives and billions of taxpayer dollars of the “Collective West.”
It is pointless to try to second guess battlefield commanders with sophomoric assertions of what should be done. History is filled with “armchair” experts who thought they knew best when battlefield commanders made choices they did not like. While many talk about the “fog” of war, they seem to forget it is a reality and their ability to see through it is limited at best.
As the costs of this conflict continue to rise at an ever-increasing rate it is hoped that “cool heads” will finally prevail and see the “Big Picture” for what it truly is. The Ukraine / NATO forces cannot prevail militarily against the Russians and the depth of the economic black hole in the West will only get worse the longer this conflict continues.