Luba Dub Congress overwhelmingly approved a $1 Billion aid package for Ukraine (399 to 19 in the House, 98 to 2 in the Senate) yesterday. The legislation also allows for sanctions against Russian and Ukrainian officials. Its no $18 billion loan promised by the IMF or $15 billion EU loan, but every little bit helps, as Ukraine is on the brink of default (Thanks, Yanukovych!) nytimes/2014/03/28/world/europe/senate-approves-1-billion-in-aid-for-ukraine.html The UN got together yesterday as well and voted to reject Russias annexation of Crimea and support Ukraines territorial integrity. 100 countries for, 11 against (Russia, Belarus, North Korea, Cuba, Syria, Venezuela, etc), 58 abstained (China, India, Pakistan, many South American and African countries), 20 didnt vote (Iran, Israel). This pretty much doesnt change anything except show the worlds support for Ukraine. news.yahoo/un-rejects-russian-annexation-crimea-162859413.html Today, the UNs Security Council is to meet (again) about the Ukrainian crisis, but Russia, being a permanent member of the Council, will once again veto anything thrown its way. Speaking of the UNSC, they met yesterday behind closed doors to discuss N Koreas launching two missiles into the sea, spooking South Korea, and well, everybody in that region. bbc/news/world-asia-26780542 The UNSC informally condemned the activity and are wondering if more economic sanctions will stop N Korea from doing more stupid stuff (It hasnt stopped them before). Not Ukrainian related, but worth mentioning. Ukrainian Jews accuse Putin for spreading propaganda about their mistreatment in Ukraine after Russia invades Crimea. A chief rabbi in Russia slams them for criticizing Putins decision, claiming they shouldnt be meddling in politics. Ukrainian Jews then take out a full-page ad in the NYTimes today criticizing Putin (again) for lying about the treatment of Jews in Ukraine to cause civil unrest and further his agenda. jta.org/2014/03/27/news-opinion/world/ukrainian-jews-slam-putin-in-full-page-ad-in-new-york-times You got served, Vlad! Good news: Ukraines Defense Minister who continued to do nothing while Russia invaded and occupied Crimea has resigned. The next guy looks promising. At least hes doing something, like, you know, establishing contact with his commanders and giving them orders. This will not end well: US intelligence has confirmed about 30,000 Russian troops, with heavy military equipment (youtu.be/p3F6H9XBSYo and euromaidanpr.wordpress/2014/03/27/russian-blitzkrieg-from-north-and-east-north-u-s-intel-on-ukraine-is-lagging-behind/) on its border with Ukraine, and possibly (read: most likely) more. abcnews.go/blogs/politics/2014/03/pentagon-sees-no-evidence-of-russian-military-exercises-along-ukraines-border/ Last week: Hagel said Russia promised that theyre just performing military exercises, wont invade. This week: Theyre not performing military exercises, .... Ukrainian intelligence has placed the number closer to 100,000 (possible, perhaps probable) if you include Russian forces in Crimea news.yahoo/ukraine-claims-100-000-russian-troops-near-border-151112283.html. Ukraines outdated and underfunded (thanks, Yanukovych!) forces dont stand a chance. My thoughts on this: the presidential elections are coming up, and Yulia Tymoshenko, Putins next Ukrainian puppet, might not make it past Round 1 of the elections (initial polls Wednesday have her winning only about 9% of the peoples vote, putting her in third place and not making it to the run-offs). Putins going to have to stall the elections with the hope that time will change Ukrainians minds about her, and what better way to buy time than to fabricate an(other) incident that will legitimize invading the country and causing even more political and economic chaos, thereby putting elections on the back burner and possibly gaining extra backyard territory for USSR 2.0? The idea might sound outrageous, but Im not alone on this thought, and Ive learned to expect anything from Putin. The crazier, the more plausible. Ill be thrilled if Im wrong, sorry if Im right.
Posted on: Sat, 29 Mar 2014 03:24:17 +0000
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