Posted on 03/21/2014 3:08:38 AM PDT by No One Special
When Vladimir Putin formally annexed Crimea this week, he acted in defiance of the predictions of many pundits, politicians and so-called experts. Perhaps Putin was not impressed by their sound reasoning and elegant discourse on how his invasion and annexation threatened Russia’s interests. But the main problem with the West’s “Putin would never” arguments is that they assume Putin and his ruling elite care about Russian national interests. They do not,
[...]
The next obstacle to stopping Putin is the self-imposed paralysis of the leaders of Europe and the Group of Seven. It is easier for them to say that there is nothing they can do to check Putin’s ambitions than to admit that they lack the courage to act. Putin keeps raising the stakes, and the West just keeps folding. There are plenty of levers available to apply pressure on Putin, but they require confronting several hard truths.
[...]
The first hard truth is that the only sanctions or other measures that would affect Putin’s conduct are those that, directly or indirectly, would target his hold on power. That is all Putin cares about, because he knows what happens when people in his position lose that grip.
[...]
The second hard truth is that there is no dealing with Putin, no mutually beneficial business as usual. He exploits every opening and feels no obligation to operate by the rule of law or human rights in or outside of Russia.
[...]
If existing laws are inadequate to deal with billionaire thugs who enable a dangerous regime, write new ones. And do all this quickly, because the price to remove Putin goes up with every delay. Eventually, that price will be paid not just in the cash Western countries are afraid to lose but also in human lives.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Oh, please.
Where’s the Excedrin Headache 107 guy when we need him?
Hello - is the writer confused? Sounds like OBAMA. It’s time to stop HIM!!!!! Take care of things HERE first.
Neo-Cons trying to get the US to rally around the ruling elites!
For the next thirty-odd months....there’s nothing much to challenge Putin, and he knows it. The idiots at the Noble Prize Bureau had this dim idea that peace was near at hand, and awarded their beloved prize on nothing. Now?
If the US simply opened the ballistic missile defense option, and said it’d have one in place and operational in 100 days...it’d cause some reflection. The next day? Opt for a US deployment of a dozen naval vessels to be permanently based in the Black Sea and ported out of Romania. The third day....start letting the cyber guys grab billionaire Russian funds. The fourth day....announce natural gas sales via US produced companies....discounted less than what the Russians can deliver. By the fifth day.....we ban all US congressmen and Senators from traveling into Russia...for any reason (lose your passport for a year if you try it). Somewhere around the tenth day...someone will tell Putin from his inner staff...that this is a severe pain and there needs to be some end to the whole game.
A far bigger problem: Commentators and liberal voters assume Obama and his ruling elite care about American national interests. They do not.
Sorry, the method to stop Putin is amazingly simple.
But, President Obama and European leaders will not take the simple steps necessary because it destroys their own beliefs and agenda.
So, the people of Europe will suffer. The leaders will not suffer, even if Putin takes half of Eastern Europe over.
What is this simple solution?
Hydrocarbons
Drill, frack, liquefy and export.
Russia is a hydrocarbon-driven economy. But their costs of extraction are very high compared to US producers.
So, open up for drilling, open up pipelines, allow export of oil, natural gas and LNG.
Overnight, the price of oil will collapse and Putin will withdraw or face an economic nightmare.....a repeat of the Soviet collapse.
In the process, US consumers and European citizens will benefit from lower prices, more stable supply and healthier economies.
But, that would betray the green agenda and anti-hydrocarbon foundation of Obama and European leaders....so citizens will suffer.
Intentional or not, it does strike me as a case of Kasparov merely helping the DC pot call the Kremlin kettle black. ("That's racist!")
Maybe I'd be less cynical if the WaPo dared to hold their own authoritarian thug accountable.
Mr. niteowl77
Bump
We can’t even stop the anti American despots in our own government.
They can’t stop Putin because the rest of the world leaders are cowards.
Exactly, this pseudo outrage is just a distraction, just life Syria was supposed to be. Our masters are trying to get the Tea Parties back in line before they upset the cart.
Saber Rattlers
Are the elites at the Washington Post now ready to send their sons and daughters into the meat grinder of war?
America’s liberal press and the pmpous asses in western Europe are determined to start WWIII.
The elites - not just at the Washington Post - are ready to send American sons and daughters into the meat grinder of war.
Just not their sons and daughters. Their sons and daughters go to ivy league schools so they can eventually send other people' sons and daughters into the meat grinder of war. (And/or the food processor of statism.)
Mr. niteowl77
And on the eleventh day, Crimea would be forced back into an unwanted union with Ukraine, which is currently in political and economic chaos.
Sounds like a great bargain.
If a majority in Crimea wants to join Russia - and 60% are Russian - why should the USA threaten war to stop them?
Then first, we have to stop Obama.
The fallacious assumption is that Putin needs stopping. He is going about his business of saving Mother Russia from the pernicious decay rotting the country away.
Putin is merely doing his job.
The reality is that there is little to nothing that can be done.
If Putin took over Norway and awarded himself the Peace Prize he would have more legitimacy than Obama.
oh I like that idea, but not for the reason that the ComPost intended...
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