Letter to New York Times
I cannot agree with Tatiana Stanovaya’s implicit conclusion in her article on Putin and the Kremlin’s delusionary behavior (July 19 Op-ed) —that we must fear a nuclear holocaust if we don’t placate in some way his Ukrainian ambitions.
Having been interviewed many times on the former Russia Today TV (six at last count) in its English language broadcasts when it was open to western news, I got to know its correspondents eager to hear from the west. She neglects to mention that Russians are more resourceful than she gives them credit for that they would remain under Putin’s propaganda thumb for long.
It has been obvious that his propaganda machine is all that keeps him and his cronies in power. He only believes in what Ms. Stanovaya describes as his 3-point plan to wear down the West, because that is the only way he can convince Russians that creating a new Russian empire is worth the cost of its retreat from the modern world.
How long can he maintain the media blackout that shields ordinary Russians from the reality that he has relegated Russia to a third-rate power with an economy smaller than that of Texas, so his cronies can continue to steal its wealth?
That time is on the side of the modern world will become ever clearer as the war drags on, because Russians have suffered from so many wars. They do know what a nuclear holocaust would do to their country.
Harlan Green © 2022
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