I think these comparisons to Hitler are disingenuous at best and outright propaganda by the US/EU. Putin is not looking to shove millions of people into a furnace nor is he doing much more the a little flexing of Russian muscle along his border (which given Russia’s history they have good reason to worry about).
If you really want to look at who’s been the stirring up trouble then look no further than the US as far as stirring up wars and international discord. The Arab spring, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, etc. Our motives have not and never will be “pure” in any international conflict other than “purely for the US self interest” (or in the case of Iraq a Bush grudge match). Which is the same as any other country, people may like to think that we are different but based on the evidence we are not.
Given all that it’s about time the EU realized that the US will not always be aligned with their interests and start building up their own military, otherwise they are in for a very disappointing lesson in international relations.
If only Washington had been nicer to the Russians after the fall of the Berlin Wall. If only the west had not humiliated Moscow after the break-up of the Soviet Union. Surely we can see now what a provocation it was to allow the former vassal states of the Soviet empire to exercise their democratic choice to join the community of nations? And what of permitting them to shelter under Nato’s security umbrella and to seek prosperity for their peoples in the European Union? Nothing, surely, could have been more calculated to squander the post-cold-war peace.Oops, sorry . . . that article was about the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia.
If I was any other country, I would not trust the United States.
US (government) good, all other non-vassal states, bad. You know, the same kind of simplistic thinking expounded in Animal Farm: four legs good, two legs, bad.
Once you know that the US government (note, not "America") only bombs, invades and manipulates non-vassal states for their own benefit, since, after all, we're the beacon of justice and personal liberty, then you can see why it's all good.
Of course, one should never mention in polite company that as soon as these puppet states are re-aligned under IMF guidelines, the fist thing they do on day #1 is set up a central bank that can exchange financial instruments with the Federal reserve. Forward, Ponzi!
(And on day #2, sign an agreement allowing US/NATO forces. Gee, you thought Kosovo was all about those poor Albanians? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camp_Bondsteel. Ever wonder what they were planning for Ukraine?)
On a more meta physical level, it's odd that FR posts hundreds of articles, and thousands of posts, each & every week, month after month, year after year, exposing the corruption & diabolical evil manifesting in the central security state.
Yet, we have posters like Kabar citing State dept documents, as if they are unimpeachable sources of unbiased information! Yep, delivered by the same cast of characters who brought us the misinformation campaign starring the video inducing riot in Libya. Need I go on?
On a more sober note, I think it's very difficult for many people to really come to grips with what has happened to their country. In WWII and throughout the Cold War, we were the good guys combating military aggression.
But somewhere along the line, the roles got reversed, and now we're the global tyrant. But like all expansionary empires, at some point an apex is reached before the inevitable decline sets in.
Syria, and now Ukraine, will turn out to be our respective Waterloo. Russia has an absolutely huge population to resource balance - perhaps surpassing ours back in 1940. History is now on their side and against us.
We provoked and Russia responded. We will continue to push at the margins, and they will continue to perfect their defensive techniques. We have something like a 20% unemployment rate, 1 out of 8 people on food stamps, and a $1 trillion dollar deficit that is 100% dependent on the US dollar remaining as the reserve currency.
When this sucker crashes, it's finally going to be time for citizens to restore a constitutional form of government that represents us, not outsiders who use good Americans for their own nefarious deeds.