[MarMema]

Aww, poor Misha. I guess he was kinda hot-tempered, but I did like him. Anyway here is another separatist movement that Russia engineered I am sure. And no one helped the Georgians then to keep their country from being divided. So I just don't see the big concern about Crimea..

[2banana]

1. Because I can pronounce Crimea!

[JMS]

The precedent was really set in Kosovo where Clinton backed the breaking off a piece of Serbia. The Russians have been waiting for a chance to do the same type of thing.

[Kozak]

I look forward to the day when, and it will come when Russia gets carved up like a turkey.

[goldstategop]

This was more than two weeks ago. Western Kremlinologists misread Russia.

We’re now way past the point of an alternative solution. Russia is going to formally absorb Crimea and then focus on destabilizing and subverting Kiev - without leaving visible fingerprints on the entire operation.

Moscow does not need to invade eastern Ukraine. It can alternate blandishments with pressure to try to make its opponent fall. Putin is not fighting a 19th Century war; he is waging a sophisticated campaign to put Ukraine in its place.

Gobbling up Crimea was just the first phase and while Moscow’s moves do seem inchoate, there is a strategy behind them that the Kremlin has masterminded. Above all, the Russian strongman is a student of Clausewitz.

[Mike Darancette]

Kiev has no choice other than to look West.