volprof
Destroyer of Nihilists
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- Oct 26, 2011
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That's a reason this is a scary situation. Russia fears nothing and will keep pushing its boundaries as long as Putin is in charge.Apparently Russia doesn't give a **** about anything, including its own infrastructure, education, and economic diversification. Gas/oil ain't going to last forever, and even the primary purchasers may change.
Apparently Russia doesn't give a **** about anything, including its own infrastructure, education, and economic diversification. Gas/oil ain't going to last forever, and even the primary purchasers may change.
I know the Putin fan club (which apparently extends worldwide now) will have a hard time digesting this, but that man has no clue what the heck he's doing.
I don't know what you mean by this.
I think Putin: (1) has an irrational fear of the west, and (2) lacks a long-term foreign policy plan. He's going to have a harder time dealing with the issue of "now what?" than he did engineering the takeover of Crimea.
Russia's economy was already in bad shape before Putins adventure in to Crimea. The Russian stock market is tanking, the ruble is at a five year low compared to the dollar, capital is pouring out of the country. It'll be interesting to see how much support Putin receives as the Russian economy continues to suffer.
Also, it seems very clear to most people that are being honest with themselves that this was a designed coup in the Ukraine that developed during the Olympics in the hopes that Putin would not be able to take the steps needed to nip it in the bud more effectively. But notice as soon as the Olympics were over, Putin shifted focus on to the situation. The West (mainly funded by the US) has clearly been agitating this entire debacle. Russia is now being portrayed as the bad guys for responding to the situation that is occurring in it's back yard.
In the very least, if Ukraine joins NATO, that would jeopardize Russia's ability to use the only warm water port they have in Crimea. It would be like Russia pushing us out of Guantanamo.
Are you saying they shouldn't be?
After a month ago a leaked phone call between US assistant secretary of state Victoria Nuland and the US envoy to the Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt confirmed that it was the US that was pulling the strings in what was about to be a violent coup overthrowing Ukraine's president Yanukovich, "someone" has just leaked another phone conversation, this time between parliamentarian Nestor Shufrych and former PM and ideological leader of the Ukraine "revolution" Yulia Tymoshenko and most probable future president of West Ukraine, in which Tymoshenko is makes the following threats, "Its going too far! Bugger! We must grab arms and go whack those damn katsaps [a Ukrainian word used to refer to the Russians in a negative tone] together with their leader", "Ill use all my connections, Ill raise the whole world as soon as Im able to in order to make sure.. Bugger!.. not even scorched earth wont remain where Russia stands" although all her empty threats collapse in the last sentence of the phone conversation in which she says, regarding the Crimea annexation, that "we are going to take it to the Hague International Criminal Court." Good luck with that.
But the smoking gun, and where Putin once again shows just how masterful of a chess player he is, is the following statement by Tymoshenko, after asked, rhetorically, by her counterparty, "what should we do now with the 8 million Russians that stayed in Ukraine. They are outcasts"... to which she replies: "They must be killed with nuclear weapons."
Again, you have no clue about the animosity between the German and Russian peoples.
If Merkel was to suggest such a thing, she would be tossed out on her ear. Even if she was to enter negotiations, the Bundestag would never go along with it.
While Angela Merkel has publicly threatened that Russia risks "massive economic and political harm" if it doesn't change course, Germany's envoy to Russia, Gernot Erler, has more realistic concerns. As Bloomberg reports, Erler warned that US sanctions are counterproductive and probably won't make Putin bow to Western demands.
The sudden German show of restraint is hardly surprising given their exposure to Russian energy provision and the fact that a stunning 54% of Germans believe the EU and US should accept Russia's annexation of Crimea.
There's a huge difference in accepting the annexation of the Crimea and how they feel about the Russians.
Nice try though, keep fighting the good fight.
Even if she was to enter negotiations, the Bundestag would never go along with it.
Never?![]()
Grand,
In your opinion, what's the end game here?
I don't know enough about this to form an opinion. What do you you think is the end game is, and is it bad for us? ( USA)