My guess is that he doesn’t want to blow up a bunch of civilian buildings and cause mass casualties. Not because he cares, but it’s a bad look with the folks back home.
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I agree. That’s my suspicion. Not just for the folks back home, but he knows that the world views him as the aggressor, despite his claims about being some sort of victim in all this, and if they go full bloodbath it will be harder on them in the long term.
But his strategy will change sooner or later if he needs to.
Urban warfare is a nasty thing, the more so when the enemy citizens have been given RPGs and machine guns.
There will be plenty of idiots who actually agree with his rationalizations. Anyone who doesn’t see him as the aggressor is a traitor and a fool.