Paul Krugman is a huge fan of U.S. Grant. He gives Grant huge kudos for engaging in total war to defeat the Confederacy. It might not have been flashy, and it cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of men, but in the end, it was effective. It was the right call.
Would it be ungracious to point out that Putin is using the same kind of tactics in Ukraine? Krugman doesn’t seem to be aware of that, but maybe he should be.