[depressed in 06]

“Yeah, that’s gone,” Obama responded, according to McKeon.

How's that for flexibility?

[Navy Patriot]

Crimea failed to meet the minimum Obama - DemoRat campaign contributions required to qualify for “Obama’s got your back” status.

[billakay]

Crimea *is* "gone". It is now the territory of the Russian Federation, after a democratic declaration of independence from Ukraine by its citizens and a democratic accession to the Russian Federation.

It is no longer Ukraine or the USA's business. Indeed, Ukraine has started passport control on the border with Crimea, indicating tacit acceptance that the territory is now part of the Russian Federation.

I'm tired of hearing about this crap.

[Dagnabitt]

Obama added that he was cool with Sudetenland too.

[billakay]

I wonder how many people here would support a US state (say Texas) in a hypothetical secession effort?

[Jeff Head]

The Soviets “gave” the Crimea to the Ukraine during the Cold War under Nikita Khrushchev. They never figured there would be any problem since the Ukraine was so tight a part of the old USSR.

Then the USSR fell apart.

But the Russians maintained their large naval base there in the Crimea, which gives them access to the Med. That base was never going to be given up by Russia. When the opportunity came with this Ukrainian crisis...they promptly took the Crimea back.

Short of an all out war with Russia...I do not believe we or NATO could ever get it back at this stage.

If we wanted to try and keep it from falling into Russian hands...we would had to have rushed large numbers of ships and aircraft and troops into the area the minute the Ukraine crisis in Kiev heated up and the pro-Russian president there was run out of time. Once that happened, the Russian grab of the Crimea was inevitable.

But even if we had...that would have immediately sparked a war with Russia because they would have seen it as a direct threat to their large Naval base in the Crimea in any case.

[BobL]

Putin has MODERNIZED Russia’s military (S-400 and Topol, for starters). It’s best not to test him.

So I’m with the president. Crimea is a DONE DEAL for now, and will remain that way, until we at least DOUBLE our military spending, which means it is a done deal.

[arthurus]

He has not “given” up on Crimea. Things there are going just swimmingly for the Sultan in Washington. A would be American ally is being rightly punished with dismemberment.

[ClearCase_guy]

“Yeah, that’s gone,” Obama responded, according to McKeon.

I picture Obama giggling like a schoolgirl when he said this.

[Cementjungle]

Obama never cared about little squabbles in Crimea or Ukraine. Once the new world-wide caliphate is launched none of that will matter.