According to Politico, Speaker Mike Johnson eyes Russian assets in favor of Ukraine's military aid.
Bipartisan legislation would let the U.S. seize $5B to $8B in Russian assets.
The US should lead strongly in seizing Russian assets to prove its credibility as a leader, not follow a European approach restrained by fear, which is definitely much better than no action.
To generate fear, Russians invest massively in fearmongering to scare the West. Fear is the most damaging factor and defining when reacting to Russian aggression.
Russians weaponize fear against the West.
According to Russian Reflexive Control, the mere threats of using nuclear weapons affect the enemies' brains in the same way as the real use of nuclear weapons - paralyzing and disabling them.
The massive threats Russians issue through their propaganda channels do scare the West to death and give Russia a huge advantage - the possibility of defeating the West without using weapons.
The West should overcome fear and act as smoothly as possible while emphasizing the fairness and inevitability of their steps, which are the Russian choice in the first hand.
Did Russia expect to be treated as a respected member of an international community while breaking all the rules?
Emphasizing the fairness of this step—everyone should pay for the damage he causes—the West is enacting the soft power of moral justice, which is stronger than weapons themselves and is understood by anyone (including Chinese and the Rest) on the deepest visceral level which will translate into political support.
This is why Russian propaganda always appeals to fairness while distorting reality to its opposite to make it work in Russia's favor. The West shouldn't let Russia do this anymore.
Hesitating seizing Russian assets sends the political message of the West's lack of confidence to the world. It strengthens Russian propaganda that the West is guilty in Russia's war against Ukraine.
By refusing to punish Russia, the West accepts responsibility and guilt for Russian crimes as their own, which lets Russia continue spreading disinformation and escalating the war.
The legitimacy of the West's actions is much more important than looking for a cold legalistic approach. In extreme situations, the spirit of the law is more important than the letter of the law. Extraordinary situations require extraordinary actions, as situations like Russian aggression are not stipulated in the laws.
No one should expect to use the benefits of civilization while acting as a barbarian. Deep down, Russians realize very well that they deserve punishment, and it is inevitable. But they still prefer bluffing the West into paralyzing and turning the world from civilization into a barbarian place where everyone fights against everyone. This is the environment in which Russia thrives.
And they can continue doing this as long as civilization allows this. Why stop the war if they are still allowed to annihilate Ukraine with impunity and their finances are protected? This means to them that they don't commit any crime and that they fight for the right cause.
This is the delusion the West feeds Russia with, which makes the West an accompli of Russian crimes.
The only way to stop Russia from spreading chaos, destruction, and misery is to demonstrate clearly and proudly that Russian actions are unacceptable - by seizing Russian assets to compensate Ukraine for the damage Russia has already caused.
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