Amazing what fear can do.
All Russia needs now is a legal fig leaf to make its covert troop presence legal.
The referendum will be a prelude to Russian troops openly displaying official patches on their uniforms again.
And they were invited by the Crimeans to protect them.
The turnout for the referendum in Crimea at 5.p.m. local time was 70%. The vote will be closed at 8.p.m. Fabrizio Berto, a member of the European Parliament, who came to Crimea to monitor the referendum, said: “I have seen no violations there. People have been voting as usual. Nothing out of the ordinary. Everything is like at elections in Italy. The way it should be everywhere.”
Why would any non-suicidal resident of the Crimea vote to remain in the Ukraine now that Vladimir Putin has made it clear he intends to invade the Ukraine and smash any opposition to a Russian takeover?
One way or another, the Crimeans will be under Russian rule. Their only choice is if they want to be dead or alive when the Russian flag is raised over Kiev. Choosing life means choosing to appease the Russian bear today with a Yes vote.
If life in the new, expanded Russia does not meet with the Crimeans’ approval, they can mount an organized opposition movement — not the kind of ad hoc radical uprising by a crazed mob of arsonists that took place in Kiev and wound up igniting Vladimir Putin’s wrath, which is now leading NOT to freedom and democracy but to the crushing of the entire Ukraine.
Looks like they understand the value of strongly worded “threats” from Obama and Kerry...
We encourage Kosovo to break away, then get upset when Russia tries to do the same in Crimea. What’s good for the goose, right?
Been hearing that there is a lot of voter fraud going on..gee, maybe they should have Photo ID’s oh wait that would be racist
More hope and change. So glad Bush is gone; the world only had conflict happen because Bush made everyone hate the United States.
So glad things are different now.
John McCain said today, and for once he was right: “Russia is a gas station pretending to be a country.” Russia’s economy, folks, is about the size of Italy’s economy. Best of luck to any place voting to join this big happy slum.
The Soviet Union collapsed during the 1980s because its leaders and its corrupt, socialist economy were weak, which led to a strong American president, Ronald Reagan, taking advantage of those weaknesses to win the Cold War.
Today, the United States is similarly plagued by a weak leader whose corrupt, socialist economy has seriously weakened its economy, which has led to a strong Russian president, Vladimir Putin, beginning to take advantage of those weaknesses to win back the satellite territories relinquished when Soviet Russia lost the Cold War.
Why would Vladimir Putin stop his planned reconquest of Eastern Europe and other bordering areas in the face of the West’s abject weakness, which promises to continue if not become worse during the three years remaining in Barack Obama’s term?
Believing that Mr. Putin’s Russian bear will be satisfied with a mere morsel like the Crimea when a major part of the world lies open to him is to believe in fantasy. Today is the beginning of the rest of the Western world’s life — downhill until the American people can find it in themselves to elect a strong Conservative president in the manner of Ronald Reagan.
Obama’s playing golf?
Which brings up a good point. Can we vote to disassociate with the liberals in our blue states somehow?