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Turns out they didnвЂ™t have any.So as we contemplate this latest example of how the world is still dominated by playground bullies, we should be keenly aware that the American invasion of Iraq is the template that Putin is using for the invasion of Ukraine.ДЄ commentator on CNN was asked about the severe and crippling sanctions the U.S. Why did we invade that sovereign nation? Part of it was revenge over IraqвЂ™s invasion of Kuwait, part of it was simply to stabilize a region that is a primary source of oil to the world, part of it was a need to do something dramatic after the devastation of 9-11, and part of it was a huge hoax about IraqвЂ™s possession of weapons of mass destruction. Just 19 years ago, the missiles rained down on Iraq and some cheered as they watched CNN and saw whole buildings disappear in a cloud of dust. My second thought is that as we react to this chilling territorial grab, we are standing on pretty shaky moral ground. In the next few minutes, I watched as the reporter put on a flak jacket and a helmet. There had been a loud explosion in the distance. This is crazy, I thought, because the last time I watched CNN, there was a guy standing on a hotel roof in Baghdad with the horizon glowing with the after effects of American cruise missiles.ДЄstoundingly, right on cue, the reporter turned with a surprised look on his face, sort of a вЂњwhat the hell was that?вЂќ reaction. The image on the screen was of a man standing on a hotel roof with a panorama of a large city behind him. I donвЂ™t think IвЂ™ve deliberately watched CNN since the United States invaded Iraq. I could only go from channel to channel one by one.ДЄs I plodded by CNN, I decided to check it out, just out of curiosity. I couldnвЂ™t get Netflix, and other aspects of my remote were balky.

My television gear wasnвЂ™t working last night. 25, 2022 RussiaвЂ™s invasion of Ukraine is deja vu all over again RussiaвЂ™s invasion of Ukraine is deja vu all over againДЇeb. Ukraine is the next domino in that march toward respect. He has been aggressive, almost maniacal in his efforts to revive the wounded bear. Putin sees his job as restoring RussiaвЂ™s self-esteem, making Russians proud of their nation again, and reasserting RussiaвЂ™s prominent place in the world. It is huge and populous nation, one that probably had more to do with the outcome of World War II than any other nation, including the United States.

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Russia is an amazing country, full of chess champions and figure skaters and some of the worldвЂ™s greatest writers. I think it has a lot to do with the malaise that has dogged Russia since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The first is my attempt to understand why Putin would do it. I have two initial thoughts about the invasion.

The news agency Reuters called the invasion EuropeвЂ™s darkest hour since World War II.

The Russians were now moving tanks and troops into Ukraine from four directions. The American stock market was down 800 points. Most of the world continues to be a cockeyed optimist.ДЄs I tuned back into CNN later (but still early) in the morning, the news was grim. Just like the onset of the Iraq war, the Russians were aiming their missiles at command and control centers and airfields in preparation for an invasion.Military intelligence, the most famous oxymoron of them all, had warned this invasion was coming, but I think most of the world didnвЂ™t think the Russian leader, Vladimir Putin, would really have the will to pull it off. And it wasnвЂ™t the United States attacking, it was Russia.

This wasnвЂ™t Baghdad, of course, it was Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine.