Posted on 05/20/2018 4:54:33 AM PDT by McGruff
Russian President Vladimir Putin opened the Kerch Strait Bridge connecting Crimea, Ukraine, with mainland Russia on Tuesday. Putin did so by in a typical show of bravado by leading a column of transport vehicles across the bridge.
Ukraine should now destroy elements of the bridge.
While that course of action would be an escalation against Putin and one that would almost certainly spark Russian retaliation, this bridge is an outrageous affront to Ukraine's very credibility as a nation. Of course, from Putin's perspective that's the whole point. The bridge cost Russia's near-bankrupt government billions of dollars, but it offers Putin a formal physical and psychological appropriation of Ukrainian territory.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonexaminer.com ...
“During the 20th century three periods of independence occurred.
The first of these periods occurred briefly during and immediately after the German occupation near the end of World War I and the second occurred, also briefly, and also during German occupation, during World War II.
However, both of these first two earlier periods would eventually see Ukraine’s territories consolidated back into a Soviet republic within the USSR.
The third period of independence began in 1991, when Ukraine gained its independence from the Soviet Union in the aftermath of its dissolution at the end of the Cold War.
Ukraine has maintained its independence as a sovereign state ever since.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_military_intervention_in_Ukraine_(2014%E2%80%93present)
Russia has taken in over a million refugees from Ukraine since the civil war started in 2014.
Russia sends millions of dollars of humanitarian aide to Eastern Ukraine.
Contrast that to the regime in Kiev which sends fascist militias, ballistic missiles and not much else.
This entire mess was, IMO, preventable. Russia/America/Ukraine/NATO/etal should be focused on one thing and one thing only. That being the utter destruction of militant Islam. Militarily speaking that is.
Instead Ukraine and Russia are creating animosities that will not soon be forgotten.
These photos are from a Victory Day celebration (May 9th, which is exactly the same as our V-E day on May 8th, just happened to be the next day in Russia when it happened due to the time difference)...we did fight the same war and all.
Victory Day is the only time you will see the hammer and sickle in contemporary official use in Russia. Even then, the symbols are always in context. In your second photograph, the left "star" says "VICTORY" at the bottom, and "PATRIOTIC WAR" on the right one. The flag in your first image is the flag of the 150th Infantry Division, a very famous and distinguished unit that helped defeat Hitler. The pictures of people on sticks are part of a tradition called the "Immortal Regiment", where people display the pictures of their family members who died in the war.
So, back to my point, the Communist symbolism here has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with pining for the return of that failed system, but rather, is part of their tradition of commemorating their veterans and fallen, which they take VERY seriously...which is understandable, because the USSR sacrificed almost 15% of their population to defeat Hitler.
Education. It helps.
It doesn’t have to be the Ukraine that blows up the bridge. Putin can have it blown up to make it look like the Ukraine did it.
Refer back to Hitler and the 1939 false flag “Gleiwitz incident”. Germany was ‘assaulted’, supposedly by Poland. Corpses of armed soldiers dressed in Polish uniforms were presented to the news media and Germany now had good reason to attack Poland.
The allies didn’t buy the deception.
You forgot to mention Ruslan Cossackov, of the Crimean self-defense forces (ostensibly the “enemy” of the Ukrainians). Both he and Serhiy Kokurin were killed by the same third party sniper (widely believed to be a provocateur). The funerals of both Kokurin and Cossackov were held together as a display of brotherhood.
Russian b.s. stories of a third party “provocateur” shooting people left and right in Crimea was told at the same time they swore it was only Crimean locals(self defense units) in the uprising. Even Putin admits now he sent his special forces and regular army units out of uniform to carry out the takeover.
Well, remember half of what is now occupied by Ukraine was stolen from Poland (which in turn, stole a chunk of Germany.
Just restore the 1919 borders, and everyone should be happy.
“The sudden collapse of the second most powerful nation on earth, also bad in a different way, especially from the perspective of those who had to live through it.”
Containment and Reagan’s Assertive Containment worked. The USSR was pure evil.
It was not just a good damn day for America, it was a good damn day for the world and for those enslaved within that prison state.
“Columnist Mona Charen’s new book Useful Idiots shows that such people are still with us.”
Indeed, we have 6-8 of the idiots right here on FR.
“because the USSR sacrificed almost 15% of their population to defeat Hitler.”
They earned every single one of those deaths with the deal they cut with Germany to divide up Poland.
...that is your well earned education for the day.
That's what I thought you meant. That's why I referenced the book by the murdered former KGB agent, Blowing Up Russia: Terror From Within. It's precisely how Russia and the KGB/FSB operates.
Indeed, we have 6-8 of the idiots right here on FR.
Not all our Putin fan club members are that dumb. Some just pretend that they are. Dishonest evil bastards is what they are. Why they are allowed to remain here all these years is a mystery to me.
At the risk of oversimplifying it: it sucked, big time. Lots of people suffered, a lot. From our perspective as Americans it is easy to dismiss the suffering of "commies" as not important or notable, but guess what? The real "commies" were not the ones who suffered. The regular people, just like you and me, were the ones who took the hit.
I'm not suggesting the USSR should come back (and neither, most likely, is anyone in those Victory Day photos posted earlier). I hate Communism with a passion, but some understanding that the world, and the perspective of people, is not all black and white, is in order.
See my previous comment. These are people you are talking about. Husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, many of whom couldn’t have given two ****s about Communist idealism. Most of them were probably scared ****less, but (forced to or not) died to protect their “motherland”, and in doing so, helped free Europe from the grasp of Hitler.
The evil (but visible, explicit) threat of Socialism, upon being thrown out of Russia, has morphed into an insidious, underhanded threat whose tendrils penetrate into our society (and indeed that of the rest of the world). This threat, along with its alliance of convenience with Radical Islam is the true threat of the current generation.
Russia and the Russian people can and should be allies in this fight if only those of you who cannot give up your irrational hold on the past would let them.
Your ass is over. The Russian bear never died. It just went into hibernation for awhile. Their intentions are to basically restore the evil empire, except that this time it will include positions in the strategic, oil/gas-rich Middle East. But then you know all this, Putin propagandist/troll that you are.
Yeah, let’s play “you and him fight”.
I’m all for Ukraine blowing up whatever they want to, as long as they are prepared to deal with the consequences in a manner which does not involve US forces, US supplies, or US money.
So do you agree with McGruff's hero, KGB/FSB Putin, that the "collapse" of the Soviet Union was the "greatest geopolitical catrosphe of the 20th century? Worst than the attrocities of the Soviet Union, ChiComs, Cambodia, Vietnam, North Korea, and Nazi Germany?
“Russia and the Russian people can and should be allies in this fight if only those of you who cannot give up your irrational hold on the past would let them.”
I’m afraid the only thing that has a hold on the past is the despot President for Life, Vladimir Putin. Autocratic tyrants, whether communist or nationalist, are evil. It is the Russian people’s acceptance of tyrannical government that is holding them back. And it is fairly comprehensive acceptance.
Putin’s small mindedness, crushing dissent, allying with Rogue actor’s like Iran, North Korea and Syria - is isolating Russia and holding it back. The Russian people are a great people being restrained by Putin’s hold on his past.
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