The more we're told, the less we know

The situation in Ukraine has many people scratching their heads. Not all people, but many. There are those who say that we should demand that the United States declare war on Russia and every able bodied person from 18 to 60 be drafted to fight a holy war against Ivan the Terrible. It is odd that many of those people supported Communist North Viet Nam fifty-five years ago. Maybe they invested in the Military Industrial Complex and now believe having the United States involved in never-ending wars is a good thing.

I still don't know what to make of the situation in Ukraine. Perhaps I could read more about it, but I have little confidence that anything I read has any degree of accuracy. We were told about the Ukrainian pilot who heroically protected his homeland until he was killed in action in March.  Now we find out that he never really existed.

Another thing we have been told is that Vladimir Putin is threatening to start a nuclear war if he does not get is way in Ukraine. Is that true, or is that hyperbole? It would have been one thing for the Soviet Union to nuke the United States which was a hemisphere away, but would Russia want to flatten a country with nukes that is on its door step? That almost seems like burning a your house down to get rid of a wasps' nest.  

Vladimir Putin Photo: The Moscow Times

There might be something to lend credence to that story, though. There are reports that Putin will be undergoing cancer surgery and "temporarily" hand over power to Nikolai Platonovich Patrushev, reportedly a hard-liner and Putin's "only truly trusted person and friend in the system of power." While that might seem like he would continue Putin's actions, it also seems like a Soviet thing to do. "Things are going to Hell in a hand-basket? Well, time to find a graceful way out of it. I got it, Fearless Leader is sick and needs to step aside for a while."

According to Newsweek, Ukraine's Defense Intelligence Chief Kyrylo Budanov has said that the war will end with the death of Putin.

Who knows, but it makes as much sense as anything else we've been told. It could also mean a harder line from Russia.

It would be nice if there was a source of information we could trust.