>>...can’t believe we’re being this stupid.<<
I don’t think we are.
Which means our motives (and information) are not all on the table.
Well actually I believe we are being stupid. I think we’re misjudging the importance of this issue to the Russians. We brushed them aside in ‘99, and intervened in Kosovo over their objections. The result was fall of Yeltsin and Putin’s rise. Yeltsin looked weak as he was casually brushed aside by the west.
The same is happening this time, except, Putin cannot afford to look weak. Furthermore, WHAT possible geopolitical benefit is there to us creating another Palestine equivalent in the hart of southern Europe, legitimizing what already serves as the primary narcotics transshipment route into western Europe ? I mean, seriously. There’s nothing there. No resources. No oil. Just millions of uneducated, unemployed, Muslim welfare cases that we and Europe now must feed. And for all that we’re willing to piss off the two powers on the Asian continent that directly compete with us (Russia & China). While being overextended in the Middle East.
Holy crap is that overconfidence in Russian’s ability to swallow another slap in the face without reprecussions.