What Russia just pulled off in Crimea is astonishing. They did it because they could... any talk about America intervening has always been a mishmash of political posturing, chest thumping and quite frankly nonsense. There was no way in hell America and its allies were going to create WWIII over this... and Putin knew it, Obama knew it, hell I even knew... I think the only one who didnt really know it was John McCain but we all know hes getting senile. The rest of the Republicans knew it too but it makes great Obama bashing so they piled on... This is the point: World Powers can no longer go to war against each other. They can bomb all the stans (Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Screwustan, whatever) right back into the Stone Age (they are not too far from it to begin with) with traditional -- but very high tech -- weaponry because those countries cant do much about it... they are expendable in geopolitical war gaming.... but go to war with Russia? Yeah, right. Im not sure what this means in the long run but we are witnessing a game-changing event. Sanctions will not deter Russia if it has broader aims. Sanctions are a joke with a country as muscular and wealthy as Russia and history has proven you invade Russia at your own peril: ask Napolean, ask Hitler... this leaves only one avenue -- the kind of warfare that no one will survive. Time will tell if this was a limited move to recapture an area Russia feels is historically its own and the time seemed ripe or something else. Here is what Ive taken from a BBC report: In modern times, Moscow has staged three major invasions: Hungary in November 1956 and Czechoslovakia in August 1968, when the Communist governments there began showing dangerously Western tendencies; and Afghanistan in December 1979, when the pro-Communist regime was on the point of collapse. These were huge and brutal operations, involving large numbers of tanks, and sometimes great bloodshed. The takeover of Crimea has been completely different. This was an infiltration, not an invasion. And unlike in Hungary, Czechoslovakia and Afghanistan it was welcomed by a large proportion of the local population. According to a well-known opponent of Mr Putins, the vote in Crimea to join the Russian Federation was a referendum under the Kalashnikov. But it wasnt. The outcome was what the vast majority of Russian-speakers in Crimea really wanted, and there was little need for Kalashnikovs in the streets. Those who wanted to keep Crimea a part of Ukraine were far too shocked and intimidated to resist. The entire operation was very cleverly planned and carried out. But there is absolutely no doubt what it was - a remarkable, quick and mostly bloodless coup detat. Yes it was REMARKABLE... the question is whether it is a prelude to another era and if so... what then? (See: bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26644082)
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 21:41:33 +0000
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