[Veristhorne]

Hard to believe 300,000 returned Crimean Tartars would want to be absorbed back into Russia, Hmm 15000 Speznaz, 300,000 Crim Tatars, who would you bet on? If you give them ponies and arrows, I'll take the Tatars anyday. For the 50% of Russians that supposedly favor invading Ukraine; was that a CNN cafeteria or a Pravda poll? The dark Ukrainian soil is rich with the blood of anti-Communist freedom fighters from the Civil War in the 20's, the millions who died in the Holodomor terror-famine of the 30's, the tens of thousands that died fighting Communism in the 40's and in the gulags. It saddens me to hear the commentators talk about this orchestrated tragedy with terms like "pipeline," "warm water port," and "no US strategic interest."

[Husker24]

Not gonna happen

[allendale]

The majority of the population in Crimea is clearly pro-Russian. That is why this takeover has been bloodless. There are no protests or violence directed against the Russian military in Crimea. If Putin overplayed his hand and moved into eastern Ukraine then there would be violence. Comparing Muslim Afghanistan to Russian speaking Crimea is unsophisticated nonsense.

[nickcarraway]

Sorry, but I don’t think this is comparable. Crimea was part of Russia until the 50s, when they, for some reason, transferred it to the Ukraine. Right or not, it was probably going to revert back to Russia.

[RC one]

There are many compelling reasons to allow the world situation to further develop along its present course as opposed to rushing in and trying to alter that course through open warfare. that's my opinion anyways.

[Pollster1]

Geography, culture, and history matter. The NYT is clueless - as usual.

[Timber Rattler]

Wishful thinking. The Crimean Tatars will do exactly what they are told by the Rooskis, like they have always done ever since Catherine the Great conquered them in 1774.

[cmj328]

You may be right. The pro-Russian soldiers in Crimea are starting to look twitchy. The autonomy referendum set for March 30 will be very important.

Another tragedy is the importing of Western anti-Christian culture into every state that affiliates with the EU. Ukrainian membership in the EU is another form of annexation.

[bert]

That piece is a joke written by a fool with access to too much ink

[98ZJ USMC]

Wishful thinking from the Volkischer Beobacter.

[McGruff]

[xzins]

Crimea is so long under Russia — since the 1700’s at least — that they aren’t going to be remotely close to what Afghan was to the USSR.

[Prospero]

Oh, come on. To the "eternal working man" of the Crimea, hoards of them displaced there originally by Stalin eighty years ago, their children forced into Soviet schooling, are likely less inclined toward Kiev than they are Moscow. Most are skeptical their lives would change one way or another.

This is all about Putin not wanting E.U. bureaucrats controlling the ground, its pipelines and the airspace between the Kremlin and Sevastopol.