Back to the serious problem in Ukraine. Not surprisingly Russia has taken over the Crimea as expected. There are people, including some of my friends, who think that the problem is Putin is a stronger leader than Obama. One person even said that Obama should have sent warships and aircraft carrier into the Black Sea from the beginning. He thinks that it is the inaction of the U.S. in Syria that emboldens the Russians. I need to remind these people that in 2008 after we have invaded Afghanistan and Iraq, showing the might of the U.S. military, the Russians invaded Georgia. And I do not remember that Bush sent troops to fight the Russians then. The truth is that even though we are really the only super power in the world, we cannot and should not, be the policeman of the world. Ukraine and Georgia are too close to Russia for us to intervene. I am sure if we decide to invade Cuba, the Russians will not be able to do anything militarily either.
The question is will Putin stop at Crimea or will he take parts of Ukraine and eventually advance to eastern Europe. I believe the answer is no. Crimea is majority Russian. Even if there was no election fraud, the majority would have voted to go back to Russia. I think Putin may go into eastern Ukraine only if there was provocation, giving him an excuse. There is no chance that he can take Ukraine whole and it would be dumb for him to try. And he would be committing suicide if he tries to take Poland, for example. Unlike my friend who thinks that Putin dreams of a new Soviet Union, I think Putin just wants to put a stop to the expansion of the European Union into former Soviet territories. But by trying to stop this expansion by force as in Crimea, Putin will pay a price. Even China refuses to back him. Russia will be hurt economically as well as politically. More eastern European nations will turn more west and away from Russia as a result of this and Putin will not be able to stop the trend.
Sunday, March 23, 2014
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Doesn't look like anyone gave much resistance to the Russians taking over Crimea. I have a feeling there were some back door negotiations. I don't agree that we should have gone over there with any military.
ReplyDeleteI say let Ukraine and Russia handle this and use diplomatic means. Or go through the UN. It makes Putin look like a bully anyway.
It seems like a lot of people from there wanted to be in Russian rule anyway. So, I think that whoever wants to move from there should have some kind of immunity.
Now, if Russia decides to move their troops west, then we will have a problem. At this point, it sounds like they are taking this small "victory" and that's it.
-LBOAYM