Posted on 02/28/2014 5:48:23 PM PST by george76
If Russia invades Ukraine, the timing may be determined by the situation on the ground in Moscow more than the streets of Kiev and Simferopol.
When will we know the Russians have invaded Ukraine? We won’t. Unlike the summer of 2008 when paratroop brigades crossed the border into Georgia’s sovereign territory under the pretext of aiding the Ossetian minority, marines of the Russian Black Sea Fleet are already stationed on Ukrainian soil. The agreement between the two countries not only allows warships to be based at the port of Sevastopol, but also for Russian military vehicles to traverse the Crimean peninsula.
...
everything remains deniable. Russian President Vladimir Putin has committed himself to nothing. He continues to hold all the cards. The armed men could leave, clinging to their anonymity, or identify themselves as Ukrainian citizens concerned for their country’s “democracy.”
...
Putin .. doesn’t have to decide right now. The elections for a new Ukrainian government are scheduled to take place in three months, and he can continue to dictate the agenda and timetable. His troops are already in place.
(Excerpt) Read more at haaretz.com ...
Since Ukraine controls the flow of natural gas into parts of Europe and into the eastern part of southern Russia, they do the obvious. It’s winter, right? That’s assuming Putin has changed his mind about Ukraine keeping their territory.
It's what happens when imbeciles are enfranchised.
The fall of the American Republic occurred in 1865.
The fall of the "democracy" instituted over the last 100 years will soon follow.
Reagan already would have put missiles there.
True.
Certainly, however, Reagan wouldn’t have caused this trouble for the Ukrainian people. He would have worked to secure Ukraine and our relations with them while things were good and to prevent them getting in debt.
This stinks of another Obama CIA fiasco to me. Just to get Putin some bad press during the Olympics.
“Reagan already would have put missiles there.
Kennedy had missiles in Turkey in 1962. How did that work out?”
Comparing Kennedy to Reagan is like comparing Obama to Reagan.
No comparison.
Yup. Putin is brushing off Obama’s warning. The Americans are not in a position to lecture to Russia about the sanctity of agreements - backing a regime that repudiated an agreement last week to which the US itself was a signatory.
The Russian Bear is all business. And there is no doubt Crimea will vote to rejoin Mother Russia and that would be a move cloaked in democratic legitimacy, unlike the current regime in Kiev which rose to power through the barrel of a gun.
And what is Obama of the famous red lines going to do? He is gutting his own military left and right and he will not put up a fight for a people who themselves cannot stand up to Russia. Putin has shown he retains all the freedom in the world to do whatever he wants. That by the way - is the bottom line in this crisis.
since when did Haaretz go to this stupid pay-to-read format ?
It was free an hour ago
Actually, what Kennedy did in the Cuban Missile Crisis was pretty damn smart. He likely avoid a nuclear war. Also, Reagan has nothing like Kennedy’s PT 109 exploits.
Don’t get me wrong, I was a big Reagan supporter, but (infidelities aside), Kennedy was a damn good CINC.
Oops, momentarily forgot about the Bay of Pigs. Well, no one is perfect.
fear not everyone Obama is drafting a note, not in cursive, but will be in red crayon for the mean evil Putin. I can feel Putin shaking now.
Most of the people in Crimea are Russians—many ex-military who retired there because its sunny and not freakin’ cold. Its a bit Like Florida in the US. The Ukraine wants to make them speak Ukrainian and be less “Russian”. They will vote to be Russians—Once they have a Free Election—and vote to become part of the Russian Federation—there will be little the west, the US and the Ukrainians can do about it. As for Obamas threats to Putin—I’m sure he cracked a smile over that—The laughter at the Kremlin must have been hear in Red Square.
Because the Germans marching into Czechoslovakia was exactly the same as us enforcing the Monroe doctrine? I'm more concerned with right and wrong than spheres of influence.
What are you a Russian sympathizer? The USA isn’t some expansionist communist state. The comparison is BS.
PT 109 exploits? Getting your 45kt boat cut in half by a 30 my ship, while your men are asleep at their stations isn’t much of an exploit. But I’ll grant you that those Kennedy brothers always knew how to swim to safety.
I'm not sure about all of the political, ethnic, social dynamics behind all of this, but I think you may be right.
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