Russia Has Operational Control of Crimea, U.S. Official Says

Wall Street Journal ^ | 2 Mar 14 | Streaming Coverage

[xzins]

There is not a single point of strength in that entire administration.

The single best democrat of the past couple decades was Zell Miller. There isn’t anyone remotely of that caliber in national leadership.

Not one. No one is in charge.

[A Formerly Proud Canadian]

"I am asking neither that Russia be allowed to oppress three and a half million Poles, nor am I asking that three and a half million Americans be placed at our mercy. Rather I am simply demanding that the oppression of three and a half million Russians in Ukraine cease and that the inalienable right to self-determination take its place."
-- Vladimir Putin, 2014?

"I am asking neither that Germany be allowed to oppress three and a half million Frenchmen, nor am I asking that three and a half million Englishmen be placed at our mercy. Rather I am simply demanding that the oppression of three and a half million Germans in Czechoslovakia cease and that the inalienable right to self-determination take its place."
--Adolf Hitler's speech at the NSDAP Congress 1938.

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose!"
--Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
--Jorge Agustín Nicolás Ruiz de Santayana y Borrás (George Santayana)

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9 (NIV)

No, I am not comparing Vlad to Herr Schicklgruber in regards to racial policies, merely a comparison to the territorial policies.

"Peas in our time! So tonight Im gonna party like it's 1938!"
--0.00

[ncalburt]

So its some far left wing committee running things into the ground.
They are on schedule dismantling the US and the West.

[FReepaholic]

LOL! FR needs a like button.

[rey]

If Russia gets away with this, which is almost certain, will China make moves on territories of interest (tawain, etc)? Will North Korea (South Korea)?

It is rather obvious no one will do anything.

[ncalburt]

its impossible to say how many millions were killed since folks in the know are either dead or murdered and history keeps getting rewritten by the current Russian tyrant and the Western liberal scholars.

[AmericanExceptionalist]

Well, I suppose that President Obama can always scare Vladimir Putin by drawing a line--we all know just how resolute he is, as regarding these lines in the sand (red or otherwise); and he can contemplate maybe--maybe! boycotting the G-8 summit in Sochi about four months from now.

Boy, I sure bet that would get old Vlad's attention!

[boxlunch]

Absolutely right! We know many in Eastern European border nations whose parents or grandparents were shipped to Siberia (or killed) and whose homes were given to Russians who were shipped into the region.

Horrible, horrible government. Pure evil.

[dfwgator]

It isn’t just Putin’s “favorite” warm water port. It’s Putin’s ONLY warm water port.

Until he gets Cyprus.

[familyop]

"http://www.forbes.com/sites/gregsatell/2014/03/01/5-things-you-should-know-about-putins-incursion-into-crimea/

The Crimean population voted in a referendum to stay with the Ukraine.

All this BS about wanting Russians back is pure Putin KGB propaganda."

Agreed. Some of the more popular and dishonest propaganda has come from the following.

Wikipedia

Rossiya Segodnya (official name: Federal State Unitary Enterprise International Information Agency Rossiya Segodnya; from Russian: Россия Сегодня, Russia Today) is the official Russian government owned international news agency founded by presidential decree on 9 December 2013. Rossiya Segodnya incorporates the former RIA Novosti news service and the Voice of Russia international radio service (formerly Radio Moscow).

[Wuli]

The Euros and this U.S. admin have conducted their agendas in both Syria and now Ukraine in a similar and similarly stupid fashion.

In both cases it’s like all they had ever fully planned was just the kick-off, and then to play it by ear after that.

Putin has shown, more than once, that when he acts, if he is going to act, he never acts that way. If he is going to be involved, to get involved, then he’s already considered the what ifs, all of them, and he knows already what he’ll do in each of them.I’m sure he had considered all he is doing right now when he made the geopolitical bribe to the now deposed leader in Ukraine. He already knew what he would do if the reaction in Ukraine became what it did become, and got his man in Ukraine thrown out of office.

While, the Euros and the U.S. NEVER played a chess game in their minds, anticipating Putin’s reactions and steps to their attempt to “detach” Ukraine from Russia.

It has taken them to this crisis point to be given an opportunity to finally admit that the “end of the cold war” has not achieved the same meaning in Russia, to Putin, as it has in the majorities of the political class among the Euros and the U.S.

Will Russia’s economic need for good hard currencies and western Europe’s need for energy raw materials (1/3 of W. Euro coal, oil, as imports are from Russia) (1)get Russia to pull back out of Crimea, or (2)leave Crimea as the compromise end to it?

[xzins]

Obama and the EU have lost this round with Putin.

I see no way for them to recover. From they outset of the “treaty” with the Ukraine, they should have known that they’d never go to war alongside the territorial border of Russia itself. There are simply too many, too capable forces that Putin can bring to bear.

Ukraine, too, needed to know that their independence somehow tied to their becoming financially indispensable to Russia. They had to develop some capability that would hurt Russia if Russia hurt their independent living.

[BlackVeil]

Who cares? Crimea is Russian, and has mucho naval assets. Is Putin supposed to just give them up ...

That's the question. It would be like Australia giving up the Torres Straight - not possible. And in the case of the Crimea, there is no elected govt representing those people any more - there has been a coup.

As far as the minorities in the Crimea are concerned, it is a mixed bag, going back to the days of the Ottomas. Somehow, it is not getting into the media that the influential Tatar minority are Islamic, and open to influence by the Gulf States.

[xzins]

Those who don’t realize that Russia would never give up their Black Sea Ports haven’t looked at history. It never would happen willingly. They’ve been Russia’s for hundreds of years. It isn’t about right, fair, legal, or friendly. It’s about power and Russia protecting its southern flank and its warm water ports.

[RetiredArmy]

Mean time, Obama plans a telephone call to LeBron too tell him how much he loved the black mask he wore in the NBA games and then heads to shoot a few hoops and hit the tee time by noon.

[Ghost of SVR4]

exterminated millions? You’re gonna have to cite that one.

[Joe 6-pack]

"We're gonna need a bigger reset button."

[Ghost of SVR4]

Ukraine needs to learn I guess. Never trust Russia and never trust a United States Democrat (that includes a GOP-e). They’re f’d. T ime to learn (over there) as we need to over here. democrats fuck everything up over and over and over and over and over and over (should I keep going?)

[Cementjungle]

The Crimean population voted in a referendum to stay with the Ukraine.

BS. The referendum was for exactly the opposite.

[chessplayer]

There is nothing The One, or anyone else, could have done to stop this. And there is nothing The One, or anyone else, can do to undo it. But, hey, that is living in reality and what fun is that.