Friday Feb 28, 2014 2300 hrs Zulu - Putin is moving

[Burt Gummer]

It's sad that we feel like we need to root for one or the other because both options are a poor one.
The whole gist of this conflict revolves around the potential of Ukraine "strengthening ties with Europe or Russia" All that means is will it eventually adopt the Euro as it's currency or maintain the one tied to the Russian Rubel.
The problem is that they both are rapidly inflating and loosing it's value. A major trading partner leaving or adding to that pool will slow down the fall and nobody wants to be the first to hit the bottom so they can say: "See that's why you should use my money!" shoring up the faith in it for a while.

In the mean time this will be me.

[Well-Prepared Witch]

I think the big problem is that Putin is old school Soviet, with a little Napoleon ambition thrown in to the mix.  He's trying to rebuild the USSR by the death of a thousand cuts.  It's not up to us as Americans to wade into another expensive, bloody war to stop him - not yet.  This is for Europe to deal with.  Either Europe starts taking action to support countries wanting to join the EU and become part of the greater democratic world, or they need to start digging in and get ready for Putin to start pushing their borders.  Of course, when/if that happens we'll be stuck wading in after a lot of damage has been done and may not have the ability to "save the day" as we did in WWII, or as England did in the Napoleonic wars.

[crudos]

Lets be clear, Putin is the bad guy in all of this. A tinpot, wannabe dictator who ran the KGB during the last part of the Cold War. He is pushing the boundaries of his serfdom veiled in various laughable disguises of whatever excuse his media is putting out. The Ukraine has put itself in a very sticky situation, and Puuty-Puut is ever the opportunist looking to reassemble the former Soviet empire. Or at least gather their resources for Russia. Thought the article below was a pretty fair analysis of the situation.

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/03/putins-reckless-ukraine-gambit-104125.html?ml=m_pm

And another decent read...

http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/03/russia-vladimir-putin-the-west-104134.html?ml=m_po

And finally, lets take a trip down memory lane.....

http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/05/world/fg-georgia5

[Burt Gummer]

I'd watch out picking favorites crudos.
Yes Putin is a bad guy he's the head of a government. He's just far more obvious about it than the guys running the EU or Obama.
The way I see it is that the more decentralized political power is in the world the more it benefits the little guy like us.
so a massive EU block taking in Ukraine would not be beneficial.

Also Politico is a horrible place to get a political perspective.

[CrystalHunter1989]

Ukraine is gathering its troops!

http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/02/world/europe/ukraine-politics/index.html?hpt=hp_t1

[crudos]

I'd watch out picking favorites crudos.
Yes Putin is a bad guy he's the head of a government. He's just far more obvious about it than the guys running the EU or Obama.
The way I see it is that the more decentralized political power is in the world the more it benefits the little guy like us.
so a massive EU block taking in Ukraine would not be beneficial.

Also Politico is a horrible place to get a political perspective.

Normally Politico isn't too swift, but thought the two articles where okay.

[brat]

The Russian occupation of Crimea has challenged Mr. Obama as has no other international crisis, and at its heart, the advice seemed to pose the same question: Is Mr. Obama tough enough to take on the former K.G.B. colonel in the Kremlin? It is no easy task. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told Mr. Obama by telephone on Sunday that after speaking with Mr. Putin she was not sure he was in touch with reality, people briefed on the call said. “In another world,” she said.

Boy, that's comforting 

“It’s the most important, most difficult foreign-policy test of his presidency,” said R. Nicholas Burns, a career diplomat who became under secretary of state in the George W. Bush administration. “The stakes are very high for the president because he is the NATO leader. There’s no one in Europe who can approach him in power. He’s going to have to lead.”

Boy, that's a scary thought 


http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/03/world/europe/pressure-rising-as-obama-works-to-rein-in-russia.html?_r=0

[Burt Gummer]

Allow me to add some articles to even out the perspective a bit.

Not a real "invasion" the troops were stationed there.
http://rt.com/news/russian-troops-crimea-ukraine-816/

Crimea local gov breaks off from new Ukrainian "government"
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/we-control-everything-crimea-breaks-ties-with-ukraine/article17266761/

Biggest Kiev antagonizes are ultra nationalists. (not freedom loving Ukrainians)
http://rt.com/news/ukraine-nationalists-fears-video-674/

Also bear in mind now with the new game of definitions.
"Ukraine" in pro US EU media is synonymous with the popular resistance in Kiev and the "new" government.
While "Ukraine" in pro Eastern media is synonymous with the economy and "old" & local governments.

Also "invasion" is fun. Russia does not recognize the "new" government as legitimate but the "old" which asked for Russian aid by leaving it's military bases already in Ukraine and preventing local Ukrainian military from being absorbed by the "new" government.
I think this is smart because it seems they learned their lesson from having their own military fracture and a large amount of military hardware "disappearing".

Also it appears that Russia is being smart and allowing Crimea to remain autonomous (while becoming closer to Russia)
and that Crimea always saw its self as autonomous http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_Republic_of_Crimea