Two pieces on the most consequential war so far this century, and on how Vladimir Putin should be stopped. (Links to full column embedded in headlines.)

Russians should defenestrate Putin (Feb. 28):The time has come for good Russians to evict Vladimir Putin from office.

[kpolls]

Russian generals, oligarchs, and the whole Russian citizenry should put him on trial for the crime of waging aggressive war.

Punish him accordingly and move on as a nation.

If Putin orders the use of nuclear weapons, everyone in the Russian chain of command needs to ignore the order, or they will face consequences that will last long after Putin is gone. Russia itself is not under territorial threat and will not be under threat. That will change if it uses nukes or attacks a NATO country — in that event, Russia will be obliterated. The way to avoid obliteration is to refuse to carry out an order to use nuclear weapons…. Putin is acting not for the good of Russia, but for his own imagined place of respect in history books. Even there, he is deluded. …

United Nations should enact a no-fly zone (Feb. 28): If Russian dictator Vladimir Putin continues to prosecute his self-chosen war in Ukraine, the United Nations ought to use its Article 42 powers to do a collective military intervention against Russian forces.

It can and should do so after implementing Ukraine’s suggestion to evict Russia from the U.N. Security Council, because the U.N. never officially authorized Russia to take the former Soviet Union’s permanent Security Council seat. Furthermore, as Russia is brazenly violating the U.N. Charter, it could and should be booted from the whole assembly, regardless. Without a veto from Russia, the U.N.’s collective security provisions can be activated and a no-fly zone enforced in order to keep Ukraine from being conquered…. (NOTE: THIS IS IMPORTANT, and DOABLE.)

 

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