Posted on 04/16/2014 6:21:13 AM PDT by TangledUpInBlue
From Russian President Vladimir Putin’s perspective, the plan to annex parts of Ukraine probably goes something like this: take Crimea; ignite Russian nationalism in parts of the country where ties to Moscow run deep; then incite anti-Ukrainian protests in these places and use the protests as an excuse to send Russian troops into eastern Ukraine and annex it -- just as he did in Crimea.
“It is classic Russian foreign policy to try to destabilize a country before it completely takes it over,” said Edward Goldberg, a professor at Baruch College and the New York University Center for Global Affairs. “Russia has always considered Ukraine as a nation culturally and historically connected to it.”
(Excerpt) Read more at finance.yahoo.com ...
In the long run Russia will lose lots of gas and oil sales as other countries route fuel to Europe.
Other soon-to-be-dead languages include Dutch, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finish, Hungarian.....
Umm. Russia didn't start this mess. Those who overthrew the Ukrainian government did. Maybe they should have pondered the consequences of their actions beforehand.
Putin really isn’t effectively strategic or smart. He is simply a smart bully. He knows where to pick his fights.
He won’t sneeze on a NATO country.
His plan is simple. 1. Control the Naval Yards via Crimea. Establish a logistical land bridge to Crimea via E.Ukraine.
He had the option to negotiate this access, but couldn’t resist a weak kid on the block.
The losers:
1. Any idiot in Crimea who is standing now and waiting for jobs and open markets to employ him and provide for his family. Five years from now...he’ll ask why the Russians won’t just hand them grocery money like they did in 2014, or help them start up companies, or have Russia buy products from them because Europe won’t.
2. The Putin team. At some weird point, a bunch of 180-odd ethnic groups in Russia asked the stupid question...if Crimea is acceptable for ethnic reasons to split off....why not Russian territories? Putin’s master planner will scratch his head and just say it wasn’t made to work like that. Russia is doomed to split into twenty-odd countries by 2024....all because of this.
3. The Russian billionaires. Because Putin used their natural gas as a weapon against Europe....the Germans got smart, helped Norway spin up it’s capabilities, and then told the Russians they didn’t need as much....and drove the Russian cash machine into the ground in less than twelve months. The billionaires came to ask Putin what the deal was, but he just arrested a few and sent them off to jail.
4. Finally, Russians around 2015, start to ask why their economy is stalled and stagnant. They start packing up and trying to immigrate into Europe....but they got smart and said no way. So, if you were in a bad Russian economy....the only place to go is Siberia. Sounds great....huh?
Nice polling, but since when does popular sentiment in the invaded country count in the mind of the invador?
Putin is a bully, and bullies need their noses bloodied before they stop.
Who will punch Putin in the nose?
Nobody.
Putin wins.
Ummm yes Russia did....apparently you haven’t followed for very long what had been going o there
Putin is a communist..... that says everything
Don’t say that over there. Have you seen their parliamentary proceedings?
Maidanhead parliamentary procedure:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WAvNZBzxPVY
Notice the guy in the fetching ponytail towards the top of the screen. He is the deputy head of Ukraine’s committee on freedom of speech. You can see him exercising his freedom of speech here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F5GeBpZ5VHY
Hopefully someday the crisis will be over and they can get back to family outings in the park and celebration of simple patriotism again, like this event from last summer:
http://news.yahoo.com/ukraine-divided-over-wwii-legacy-100702056.html
Exactly right. The Black Sea situation has developed into a massive disinformation campaign reminiscent of the Cold War. Only this time, it is the West on the offensive, covertly overthrowing governments in order to gain new territory and allies for NATO. President Kennedy went to the brink of war to enforce the Monroe Doctrine in 1962 to force the Soviets to withdraw their bases from Cuba; now Russia is denounced for opposing our deployment of hostile troops, aircraft and warships along Russia's western and southern borders. Just imagine if Cuba had been Mexico or British Columbia or Ontario or Quebec. For an old Cold War / Hot Skirmish infantry officer like me, this is just surreal.
“...Anybody in the Ukraine who isn’t retarded speaks Russian now and even the retards will catch up in another five years...”
Absolutely untrue as is everything else in your post. In that beautiful part of the western Ukraine among those mountains that are home to a large stable population of brown bears it is difficult to find anyone who speaks Russian in the home. They are not “retards” but you are a jerk for calling them that. Plus large cities like Kyiv and Zhytomyr have bureaucratic pressure to maintain the Ukrainian language like Quebec enforces proper official treatment of French.
Because there are signs on the border that read "No shirt, no shoes, no service".
Putin acts, Obama yaks.
Putin will prevail.
Obama is a pussy.
The Europeans are venal and won’t do anything to endanger their energy supplies.
The only war they will fight is one where the USA does the heavy lifting for them.
I guess Obama, Soros, and the sodomite Soviet EU copied the Russian tactics when they spent billions destabilizing Ukraine and using neo-Nazi firebomb throwing thugs to overthrow the legitimate government.
And when was the last time the Russians invaded or took over a country? Decades ago when they were controlled by the Communists?
For an old Cold War / Hot Skirmish infantry officer like me, this is just surreal.
***********
It is surreal. It is an inversion of the status quo that endured for most of the 20th century. My father predicted it in the mid 1970s. At the time, I thought he had lost his mind.
Georgia. Several years ago. When GWB was in office.
He had access and was content, until the EUrocrats foolishly moved to remove it. Stupid people do stupid things. Putin may be a thug, but he didn't start this mess.
On the plus side, the Soros drones on this forum are outing themselves trying to minimize his role.
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