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2015-09-14 Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia

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Posted by badanov 2015-09-14 00:00|| || Front Page|| [5 views ] Top

Posted by 2015-09-14 07:01|| 2015-09-14 07:01|| Front Page Top

#2 Kish mir in tuchess.

Posted by g(r)omgoru 2015-09-14 07:04|| 2015-09-14 07:04|| Front Page Top

#3 I think this guy is painting with a pretty broad brush. I have studied Russian history. Sure, it's tough to justify Stalin but some of those old czars had to deal some pretty serious problems, as did Stalin. Let's see...there were Mongols, Cossacks, Turks, Swedes (believe it or not), French and Germans to name a few. You can't get rid of guys like Genghis Khan, Napoleon and Hitler by being nice. And it's no surprise if they did things on a bigger scale than Pol Pot because they had a lot more people and territory under their control. But to characterize all Russians as evil is a bit much. Can we be realistic? Do you really lie awake at night worrying that Putin is going to invade Western Europe? Historically speaking, the only two times Russians have invaded Western Europe were first in response to Napoleon and second to Hitler, invasions from Western Europe into Russia if you will. That kind of thing might make a guy paranoid. These days, if I was European, I'd be far more concerned about the Syrian invasion.

But it seems as though we're really talking about Ukraine here and after all these centuries these two closely related neighbors still have some unfinished business. So I look at it like this: If we decided to secure our border with Mexico, and I mean really secure it the way it needs to be secured, how would you feel about Putin interfering?

Posted by Ebbang Uluque6305 2015-09-14 14:49|| 2015-09-14 14:49|| Front Page Top

#4 Ebbang: Assuming a rational US president rather than the sort we have these days, would Putin stand down if we were to retake, for instance, Cuba from his Empire? I mean, you say all that as if he hasn't spent the last twenty years building a fucking empire in Latin America. Furthermore, in direct contradiction to all the "we're simple nationalists fighting the Tranzi menace" propaganda one sees on Rantburg, of all places, it's a communist empire. And a grossly unequal one, where the heirs of the Great Dictators get to jet off to Paris and enjoy the fruits of "capitalism" while the poor don't have milk or toilet paper.

Furthermore, the whole way the "sphere of influence" argument is framed is fallacious: it marks certain areas and peoples as property, regardless of their desires, or rights.

Posted by Thing From Snowy Mountain 2015-09-14 23:40|| 2015-09-14 23:40|| Front Page Top

23:40 Thing From Snowy Mountain
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