Putin in the Catbird Seat. Beginning of the End. - 19 December 2025

I wrote the following piece on 24 February 2023, almost three years ago:

US quasi support of Ukraine in its war against Russia provides enough dollars and material to sustain a protracted war of attrition but not enough support for Ukraine to win the war. This is a morally reprehensible stance. Under such circumstances, because of its historical ability to suffer and because of its larger size, Russia is likely to come out victorious, having gained much experience and enhanced knowledge about fighting a war... not to mention the likely Russian cultural revival that such a victory brings about. Better for the US to get behind a negotiated peace that gives Ukraine minus eastern provinces national integrity and doesn't let Putin get away with a major win, while diverting US efforts to US border control and to Taiwan, where national and economic interests mean something. While I do not support a US backed war of attrition, engaging in a war to win by ramping up support to Ukraine, including NATO/US advisors and troops on the ground, would be a better strategy than the immoral bloodletting strategy being pursued today.

Here is a link to the full blog in which the above quote is included: https://www.stephendewitttaylor.com/blog/posts/putin-in-the-catbird-seat-06-putin-and-hitler-parallel-24-february-2023

I take no joy in recording my prescient predictions about the outcome of the US proxy war with Russia, fought in Ukraine. Today's negotiations to resolve the conflict mirror the underlined suggestion in my quote above... three years later!!!: In the ensuing three years there has been untold physical damage, countless lives lost on both sides, and billions poured into the personal coffers of corrupt Ukrainian elites. And still, as I have predicted, Putin remains in the catbird seat as a winner. Russian cultural revival has been strengthened, and Russia's leadership in asymmetrical military strategy and tactics affirmed. Trump has disappointed greatly in not stopping the war on the first day he took office as he said he would... and as he easily could have done. He has joined Autopen as a perp in a great American tragedy.

File under: "Autopen's and Trump's Folly." Or "Opportunities Missed." Or "America cedes the moral high ground." Or, "Goodbye US world hegemony; hello, multipolar world." Or "Consequences of military alignment with sapping cultures run by mannish women and beta men."

Following is a link to my previous twenty-four Putin in the Catbird Seat series of blogs, the first written 02 June 2022.

https://www.stephendewitttaylor.com/blog/posts/steve-s-putin-in-the-catbird-seat-blogs/