BS. The Russians had a long term agreement on its naval base in Crimea. The Kharkiv Pact, signed in 2010, guaranteed them use of the base until 2042. The Russians unilaterally terminated the agreement in 2014.
And NATO has been provoking Russia for two decades by adding 12 new nations in its eastward expansion to the Russian border.
A provocation? What danger does NATO pose to Russia? And those 12 nations and there are more, begged to get into NATO because they did not want to come under Russian imperialism again. I lived two years in Poland during the days of Solidarnosc and the oppression of Communism. I went back about 14 years ago and Poland is a much better place. They have been liberated.
There is no moral equivalency between Russia and the NATO nations.
Finally, Russia had absolutely no motive whatsoever to shoot down the airliner over Ukraine; Kiev was the only party that stood to benefit from the atrocity, which reeks of an obvious setup by the Ukrainians.
More BS. I don't see how you can buy into that Russian propaganda. The facts say otherwise. It was a mistake, but the plane was shot down by the Russians along with other Ukrainian planes that have been shot down by the Russians.
What greater measure of a military superpower exists than the world's largest nuclear arsenal? That's like saying "Darren Wilson is no match for Michael Brown without a .40 Sig P229." Well, Wilson did have the .40 Sig and he used it to kill the much larger and conventionally stronger Brown. If you pick a fight, all bets are off.
MAD. The Russians do not want to commit national suicide any more than they did during the Cold War. Having a huge nuclear arsenal and a relative weak conventional force does not allow them to project power globally. They are a gas station masquerading as a nation. Putin is delusional. He is trying to resurrect an empire that no longer exists.
Russia has negative population growth; life expectancy for males is 64 years; a fertility rate of 1.61; a per capita GDP of $18,100; and oil and gas represent two thirds of their revenue. Economic power is also a measure of a superpower and Russia's economy is about to descend into the toilet.
Interesting they do have designs on the Middle East and Iran flush with thumbing their nose at the Americans will hook up with the Russian bear for a little score settling...don’t count the Russians out as America being its weakest since the 1930’s is in no position to fight much...or political will for that matter.
The Kharkiv Pact created a lease for what Russia had already owned for centuries before Kruschev gave it to the Ukrainian SSR. And that lease would have meant nothing to the new Kiev government if it has joined NATO.
A provocation? What danger does NATO pose to Russia? And those 12 nations and there are more, begged to get into NATO because they did not want to come under Russian imperialism again. I lived two years in Poland during the days of Solidarnosc and the oppression of Communism. I went back about 14 years ago and Poland is a much better place. They have been liberated.
The current economic war against Russia and the steady war drumbeat are very real provocations. I am happy for Poland and other nations that are now free of Communism - and that includes post-Soviet Russia - but I am not interested in taking sides and fighting for or against any of them. There is no ideological threat in Europe today, only a mercantilist struggle masquerading as old Cold War antagonists.
There is no moral equivalency between Russia and the NATO nations.
I am not interested in moral equivalency and do not wish to take sides in fights that are none of America's business.
More BS. I don't see how you can buy into that Russian propaganda. The facts say otherwise. It was a mistake, but the plane was shot down by the Russians along with other Ukrainian planes that have been shot down by the Russians.
Russian propaganda has nothing to do with it. "Cui bono?" or "Who benefits?" is the basic question that must always be asked in the wake of such "game changing" yet inexplicable events. Russia had no motive and no possible benefit in shooting down an airliner, which was flying at a much higher altitude than the turboprop transports shot down by the rebels earlier. On the other hand, Kiev had a huge motive and much to gain from shooting down the airliner and blaming it on Russia.
MAD. The Russians do not want to commit national suicide any more than they did during the Cold War. Having a huge nuclear arsenal and a relative weak conventional force does not allow them to project power globally. They are a gas station masquerading as a nation. Putin is delusional. He is trying to resurrect an empire that no longer exists.
Perhaps that's true. It might also be that Russia won't think it will be suicide. There is no evidence that post-Soviet Russia has any interest in projecting power globally, but there is evidence that Moscow is pursuing regional alliances and that it wants to be left alone at home. And it is evident that NATO is intent on pressing against Russia's borders.
Russia has negative population growth; life expectancy for males is 64 years; a fertility rate of 1.61; a per capita GDP of $18,100; and oil and gas represent two thirds of their revenue. Economic power is also a measure of a superpower and Russia's economy is about to descend into the toilet.
All of those statistics are true, and Russia might well descend into the economic toilet. But many Russians have lived only slightlyabove the toilet and can handle scarcity a lot better than higher living Westerners. And if it does sink into the toilet, it will be with the world's largest arsenal of nukes.