Posted on 04/16/2014 7:53:20 AM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com
When President Vladimir Putin of Russia talks about what is happening in Ukraine these days, it is as if he’s looking into a mirror. He says fascists and nationalists are running amok in Kiev, even as Crimea is annexed in the name of Great Russia; he says Russians are threatened in eastern Ukraine, even as Russia directs secessionists there to seize administrative buildings and arms; he calls on President Obama to use his influence to prevent the use of force in Ukraine, even as he puts a major military force on the Ukrainian border.
This ploy was a fixture of Soviet propaganda, and when other sources of information are silenced, it can fool people for a while. But nobody outside Russia is buying it.
What the world sees is an outrageous and highly dangerous power play. A report by the United Nations high commissioner for human rights says “greatly exaggerated stories of harassment of ethnic Russians by Ukrainian nationalist extremists” in Crimea were “systematically used to create a climate of fear and insecurity.”
The same is now happening in eastern Ukraine — and with 40,000 Russian troops poised across the border and the Russian secessionists seizing arsenals and throwing up roadblocks, the potential for bloodshed is alarmingly real.
Mr. Putin’s aim may be to raise the tensions so high that the Ukrainian authorities and their American and European supporters will agree to Russia’s terms for a fragmented Ukraine, in which Russia gains considerable influence over the heavily industrialized southern and eastern regions. The threat of a Russian intervention is also real, if only because the secessionists who have seized buildings in Donetsk and several other cities could easily touch off violence and draw Mr. Putin into putting his fist where his mouth is.
(Con't below)
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
The Americans and Europeans must make clear that they will not acquiesce in any effort to partition Ukraine between East and West. For their position to carry any weight, the trans-Atlantic partners must come to Geneva prepared to be tough with Russia.
Washington and Brussels are aware that the time for symbolic sanctions is coming to an end, and Moscow will be watching them in Geneva to gauge their seriousness and solidarity. That does not mean the West needs to draw red lines in advance of the meeting.
It does mean that if Russia does not pull its forces back from the border and stop inciting secessionists in southeastern Ukraine, the trans-Atlantic partners — and in particular the Europeans, who have considerably deeper economic ties with Russia than the United States — must reach a clear and binding consensus on the next level of sanctions.
These must include far-reaching trade and financial penalties that will be painful and costly to both sides. It is imperative that Mr. Putin see a united front.
Our President and SoS assure us that Russia's actions are a sign of weakness. We have nothing to fear.
Didn’t Oblablah say something like “tell Vlad that after my election I’ll have more flexibility”? Maybe what we are seeing is the flexibility he mentioned.
What Putin is doing amounts to terror. Doing everything to make it look like he will invade and than not pulling the trigger [yet]. It’s really all that can be expected from what is left of the first terrorist state. But Putin doesn’t get that. Freedom loving people of the world should be providing at the very least moral suupport to the Ukrainian and Russian people who are under threat from this fool.
Funny stuff. We all know 0bambi and the EU will do nothing of the sort.
Putin wins Ukraine. Next?
Maybe Putin will be flexible enough for Obama to be deemed a great cold warrior who stood down the Red Army just in time for November elections. Me thinks Putin’s a Democrat supporter.
The homo New York Times is a fixture of Globalist Bankster propaganda and I'm not buying their BS. What ever line the homo New York Times is pushing I believe the exact opposite. Whatever they are for I am against.
Don’t worry. It’s not obligatory.
Totally off topic but I think interesting. In Red October the sub’s zampolit, political officer, was named Putin. In the 1990 film, the actor playing Putin has a facial resemblance to our present Vladimir. BTW even though he is despicable, Alec Baldwin’s portrayal of Jack Ryan was spot on and light years ahead of Harrison Ford’s.
The New York Times is as much out of touch with reality concerning the on-going events in eastern Ukraine as the Maidan regime whose propaganda it parrots.
Its problem is the spreading unrest is not being orchestrated by Russia. And punishing Russia will not put an end to the crisis. Without a federal solution, Ukraine will break apart.
That is now clear to every one except the New York Times editorial board.
Ask yourself why these alleged Russian terrorists have not been found. In a world with YouTube, people can post videos. Where are they?
I suppose the uprisings throughout Donetsk are being coordinated from Moscow. So why are they spreading?
Russophobia prevents people from seeing what is in front of them.
I’m referrig to the mind game played by the pooty toot.
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