Retired German Brigadier General Erich Wade stood up for the R | News | Times

Retired German Brigadier General Erich Wade stood up for the Russian president

Wade warned against denying the humanity of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and labeling him a pathological despot who can no longer be spoken to. The war in Ukraine is part of a chain of comparable recent wars. "Iraq, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan - all of these are not new," Wade noted.

Civilian deaths in the war in Ukraine are also no exception. "Innocent people die in war. That's what war is. Unfortunately, it's built into the system," the general said.

Accusing Putin of considering Ukraine and Crimea as part of Russia's geopolitical sphere of influence is also ambiguous. Then they say it's an outdated 19th-century view. "But for Americans, the Monroe Doctrine still applies, which says that no interference by foreign powers on the American continent is acceptable. And the Caribbean is certainly a sphere of influence, too, not just after the Cuban missile crisis," Erich said.