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| Europe |
| Edward Lucas on Ukraine |
| 2014-04-17 |
| I hope I'm wrong but historians may look back and say this was the start of World War III We are soon to face a bleak choice. We can chose to surrender any responsibility we have to protect Ukraine and the Baltic states -- almost certainly Putin's next target -- from further Russian incursion. Or we can mount a last-ditch attempt to deter Russia from furthering its imperial ambitions. And the crowd we have now running the show from our side will, undoubtedly and after initial inept jockeying towards "a last-ditch attempt", overswing the pendulum. |
| Posted by:Uncle Phester |
| #16 I think Putin would be happy with the border being along the west coast of France, abu. :-( |
| Posted by: Barbara 2014-04-17 21:50 |
| #15 but the question is where will that border be? east or west of what is currently Estonia? |
| Posted by: abu do you love 2014-04-17 21:32 |
| #14 Now we're talking about bring NATO right up to the Russian border. I think Putin has a great fear of allowing that to happen. A consequence of Putin's aggression will be NATO right up to the Russian border. Consequences are a bit*h. |
| Posted by: Squinty 2014-04-17 17:55 |
| #13 Putin logic isn't that complex, basic zero-sum gain: You continue to screw with me and my port in Tartus, I take Sevastopol along with the entire Crimea. Any questions ? |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-04-17 16:43 |
| #12 And those bases were just randomly located, not put up for containment reasons precisely because Russia did want war at the time most of those bases were built. Cute graphic though. Having said that we have provoked by extended NATO and such provocation against a powerful ex-enemy who was not entirely beaten but more or less conceeded was abject stupidity. Started back in the 90s but nobody has really had a reasonable Russia policy since the wall fell. |
| Posted by: rjschwarz 2014-04-17 14:19 |
| #11 |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-04-17 12:22 |
| #10 OK, how is Ukraine the heart of the West? I was gonna try to read this article but you lost me right there. If you look at this situation from the Russian point of view, they've been invaded from the West at least three times in the previous two centuries. They had one hell of a time with Napoleon who actually sacked and burned Moscow. They lost vast tracts of territory to Kaiser Wilhelm and then there was Hitler. Can you blame them for being paranoid? Sure, Stalin was as bad as Hitler if not even worse. And Putin is obviously cut from the same cloth. But the Warsaw Pact was a buffer zone. It gave them a little bit of time and space in case it happened again. I don't believe their army is all that powerful. It never has been. If Hitler hadn't been overextended he would have conquered Russia. Now we're talking about bring NATO right up to the Russian border. I think Putin has a great fear of allowing that to happen. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2014-04-17 12:20 |
| #9 I suspect that will be the end-state for Iran Ebbang. But it will likely not be at the hands of the U.S. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-04-17 12:09 |
| #8 Elmert has an interesting idea but I still think it would be better to nuke Iran. |
| Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 2014-04-17 12:05 |
| #7 The west then copied the USSR and collapsed. |
| Posted by: Bright Pebbles 2014-04-17 11:51 |
| #6 I thought we won WWIII when the USSR collapsed. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2014-04-17 07:28 |
| #5 Per the Cuban-American treaty the US "shall exercise complete jurisdiction and control" over Gitmo while recognizing "the continuance of the ultimate sovereignty of the Republic of Cuba". If the US declared Cuban sovereignty over the territory null and void and annexed the territory there would be zero change in the de facto political status. Still such a move would send a clear message to all political actors in the world. It would link the Budapest Memorandum and US guarantees not to invade Cuba, the annexation being a restrained reaction to Russia's Crimea move. Russia and her allies would be put on notice. The risk of escalation would be minimal. |
| Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 2014-04-17 05:54 |
| #4 The Ukraine is very likely in 'Emergency Triage Level' BLACK (terminal). Strategies and resources would be better spent with the region's newer NATO members. I too am concerned about a regime "last-ditch attempt and overswing." |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2014-04-17 02:46 |
| #3 Correction from #2: German Extermination camp guards. |
| Posted by: borgboy 2014-04-17 02:06 |
| #2 UKRAINE:FORMER HOME OF AN INDIGENOUS SS Division and a plentiful source for Germsn extermination camps. |
| Posted by: borgboy 2014-04-17 01:59 |
| #1 responsibility we have to protect Ukraine and the Baltic states Huh? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2014-04-17 01:33 |