Saagar Enjeti: Why I Was WRONG About Putin's Invasion

Saagar takes an in depth look at what he got wrong about Vladimir Putin's grand strategy for Russia that caused him to downplay the possibility of him invading Ukraine

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[kevinholbrook]

The fact that Saagar just explained in great detail and nuance why he was wrong RECENTLY is exactly why I respect him more than any other pundit. The dude is amazing.

[ChrizzeeB]

"What I got wrong" - great segment to have.

Obviously CNN couldn't do such - even if they wanted to, the first episode would take months to get through

[shadowzero]

To be fair, as a German. If you had the history that we have you would and should be reluctant to prop up your military. It maybe hard for Americans to understand but we aren't proud of our country, we're proud of how our country has moved on, and grappled with the past. We won't fight unless we have to, War is Hell

[JohnDoe-lefy]

"What I got wrong" .. goes on to be completely wrong and dismissing a massive amount of historical context.

[Full_Send]

We don’t watch because we think you have everything right. We watch because we know you are honest about what do and don’t know. Hard to find currently. Great work!

[tokyosan]

Its very simple why you were wrong Saagar. 1. You have proven yourself extremely naive in matters of military/war. 2. You believe the way you think is the way they think. You have no idea why Putin really invaded yet here you are saying you were wrong and here is the real answer. You don't know the real answer. But gotta film that content...

[jteezy]

I don’t agree with many takes from Saagar but I do respect his opinion because of these types of actions. You weren’t the only one my man who didn’t believe US intelligence due to there checkered past in skewing the facts. Keep going boss. 👌🏾

[MsJDH]

Did Saagar just call Europeans lazy and useless? I'm all for constructive criticism, but making it personal like this and branding entire swaths of people negatively is not cool. I've appreciated BPs perspective on many matters over the last year, but this goes too far.

[bodhisattva]

You're still getting it wrong, Ace.

[masterbulgokov]

I made the same mistake: "Putin isn't dumb enough to invade Ukraine." I was wrong, too. Way to publically own it!

[imthig]

“The whole secret lies in confusing the enemy, so that he cannot fathom our real intent.”
― Sun Tzu, The Art of War

[blurtam]

Amazing that America can always find the money for war but not for their citizens!!

[danielsykes]

Such an amazing read of the situation. Don't always agree with Saagar's stances, but he's a good man, a smart man, & I respect him wholeheartedly.

[Exoclypse]

2:39 "Most western NATO countries like France and Germany have been sitting on their hands, funding their expensive welfare state, mooching of the US nuclear umbrella for almost 30 years"
France did not rejoin NATO until 2007, has its own nuclear deterrent and has on average spent 2% of GDP on their military for the past 30 years whilst also having a larger welfare state than Germany who have actually arguably weakened theirs in the past 30 years.

[pwalker]

What Saagar also fails to mention is how much of these military expenditures are pure graft and wasted money.

[michaelfeeney]

I do not believe Putin has "abandoned rationality" as Saagar suggests. I think that type of language simply reflect people not understanding this conflict from the Russian perspective.

This is about geography, this is about natural resources in the black sea off the coast of Ukraine and crimea that was discovered recently, this is about Putin believe NATO will eventually try tople Russian leadership like they did Libya, this is about Russia's declining population and assets.

This is a dying empire lashing out as they are surrounded and eaten by wolves.

[grapentine]

Everyone should look up the award winning journalist Aaron Mate. He nails this topic perfectly.

[SpicaRigel]

To be honest Saagar, you've got everything wrong when it comes to Putin from the very first day of the conflict.

[BernasLL]

Love to see this. You were wrong, but you admit it, give the mistake spotlight, and hopefully learn from it (though I would argue that Putin's problem is far from just "absolute power corrupts absolutely", and being the antagonizer of USA bad guys never made him trustworthy. Both sides can be just as bad, even if one is far more disappointing and powerful).
Anyway, excelent ethos. Were all media required to do this, we would live in a far better place.

[daviddybek]

I wasn't wrong enough, let me be more wrong!