Do You Regard Putin As A Bad Guy?

[tomus42]

America doesn't.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-14532141/jd-vance-steve-witkoff-tucker-carlson-putin.html

[ToraToraTora]

Yep he's a bad guy. Levaing aside the other effects he's got over 200,000 of his own men killed over his hubris.

[tomus42]

I think it's more like a million.

[Ellipsis]

Well, apart from the defenestrations, the 20000 children abducted, and starting a war, I'm sure is a nice guy ...

[david small]

He is an evil man who thinks that life is cheap, because actually it is cheap. Except when it's your own.

[Spungle]

That comment by Witkoff puts him firmly in the Diane Abbott category.

[Khandro]

He's an ice-cold psychopath. People who've been close to him say he could sit and watch someone being tortured to death before him and not bat an eye.

If the rumours are correct, he has a terminal illness and hasn't  much longer to live. We can only hope this is true.

[Old_Geezer]

The present White house (Trump & his yes-men) admire Putin as a strong leader and opt to ignore what he actually uses his power for. (In fact they would probably like to do the same based of pronouncements they've made, at least it seems that way.)

 

It doesn't follow the whole of America feels the same.  For sure many Republican supporters will back Trump up, either making out they agree with the view of Putin, or putting up with it in order to get the internal issues tackled. Democrat supporters are likely to hold a more reasonable view on Putin, but they messed up their chance to sort internal issues, and put up a late candidate who didn't convince the public that they'd do much that was different from the previous administration.

 

Chances are, their nation is split on the issue.

[youngmafbog]

Of course he is a bad guy, but we have had to swallow pride and God knows what else in the past with other evil despots.

The alternative is war.  Is that what you all want?

[Ellipsis]

It's not one or the other.  For example, since the first incursion of Russia into Ukraine in 2014, the USA POTUS has been Obama, Trump the first time, Biden and now Trump the second time.  Things have gone pear-shaped since Trump the second time ... why is that?

> swallow pride

That's one thing.  Witkoff saying he liked Putin and did not see Putin as a bad guy is another thing completely.

[Old_Geezer]

You allow despots to gain from war by capitulating and all you do is place an order for lots more war in the future. Peace for our time doesn't last.

[tomus42]

//we have had to swallow pride and God knows what else in the past with other evil despots.//

..and the thing we learn from the past is that trying to appease these people never works. Ever. 

With America regarding Putin as 'not a bad guy' it looks like Europe is on it's own, defence wise.

[William51]

 Putin is a bad guy. But the Trump administration are not much better. To me Trump and his cohorts are more dangerous than Putin as they are so scattergun unpredictable.