There are certain ledes that you just don’t want to see in your news feed.
SIMFEROPOL, CRIMEA — No one has any idea what President Vladimir Putin will do after Crimea votes on Sunday to join Russia. But if bankers and diplomats from New York to London are sleeping fitfully, worried whether Russia’s about to launch World War Three, you can only imagine what’s going through the mind of Adavye Osmanova, a 79-year-old Tatar woman in the Crimean capital of Simferopol. She had worn her best dress to meet me—black with gold stitching—but she looked drawn and exhausted.
Casually opening your piece with discussion of World War Three, with the annihilation that implies, is a little jarring. I fervently hope that it isn’t warranted.
Putin’s not an idiot; the Western media’s attempt to portray him as some sort of “mad King” who has lost all concept of reality is quite annoying, but typical. He knows exactly what he’s doing.
We’re not going to start WWIII.
No, we will back down this time. I can only hope Putin gets a cerebral hemorrhage before he takes a country we won’t back down for.
Yes, I suppose I should have added a caveat, and in the vein of Walt:
“As US and Russ ratchet up rhetoric, no sign USG realizes key issue is Ukrainian neutrality. If that not on offer, look out.”
I am under the assumption that Kerry and Obama are competent and also “know what they’re doing.” Not much of a fair assumption as of yet, but one I’m fairly confident in — for reasons that escape the right-wing noise, as usual.
If Putin forces it, and I think he will, war or capitulation are the only choices. Russians play rough, witness the Russian “Mafia”.
So sayeth a citizen of the country that went halfway around the world to destroy a large country with significant oil reserves.
Russia could have saved itself some grief by emulating the USA by not relinquishing any territories once acquired.
No.
President McCain of the Sunday TeeVee shows is not actually President of the United States. So it’s unlikely this is going to start WWIII; despite their itchy trigger fingers, the Neocons don’t control the US nuclear force.
However, if I were a Ukrainian, I’d be eyeing an exit strategy tout suite.
That headline seems like click bait to me. WWIII? Seriously? It really hasn’t been that long since the last time the media said we were headed toward doomsday…last year some time, IIRC.
USians, including a surprisingly large segment of Democrats, may be the only participants in WWII just itching for WWIII.
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A pretty pathetic western propaganda story, are you buying it by linking it and spreading the nonsense further?
“On 19 February 1954, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union issued a decree transferring the Crimean Oblast from the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic to the Ukrainian SSR. The transfer was described by some of the Supreme Soviet as a gift to commemorate the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Pereyaslav. The treaty of 1654 when the Cossack Rada apparently decided to unify with Muscovy, so putting in place the eventual acquisition of Ukraine by Russia. Other reasons given were the integration of the economies of Ukraine and Crimea and the idea that Crimea was a natural extension of the Ukrainian steppes.” [source wikipedia]
The Muslim Tatars fought on the wrong side of history in both World Wars joining the German-Japanese Axis against the Western Allies. German POWs were transported to the gulags, so were the collaborators in Galicia, Ukraine and the Crimea. The Crimea has a complicated history from 500BC because of its strategic location.
“The events of World War II had a huge impact on the entire Crimean Tatar population. The Axis occupation of the Crimean peninsula precipitated a brutal war between Soviet partisans and German and Romanian forces. This war involved Crimean Tatars on both sides.”
Putin will not relinguish the Crimea no matter what the neocon infested foreign policy of Western Europe or the US try to claim. It’s Russia’s red line.
○ Galicia, disputed territories led to the Polish-Ukrainian and Polish-Soviet wars
Battle of Vienna (1683) battle marked the turning-point in the Ottoman-Habsburg wars, the 300-year struggle between the Holy Roman Empire and the Ottoman Empire.
So it seems to me, the possesion of the Crimea was already decided before the United States fought its Indian Wars. How did President Roosevelt treat the Japanese-American citizens during WWII? Concentration camps?
The Nuland tape pretty much spells out America’s involvement in this coup. It goes so far as to spell out who the US wanted as the interim leader after the coup: “Yats”. Sure enough, he was made the new leader.
That’s pretty provocative. I remember we almost had WWIII when the USSR put missiles in Cuba. Reagan invaded Grenada when American medical students were “threatened”. We invaded Panama because, now I don’t remember but I think that it had something to do with Noriega spilling the beans about his work for the CIA. We ran a war against Nicaragua because they were so close to the Rio Grande. And going back we overthrew just about every other country in Latin America because… And Chile because Pinochet was for free markets. And we invaded Afghanistan because the guy we supplied weapons and support for in his war against the Ruskies was now next door in Pakistan. And Iraq because it was a half hour from 10 Downing Street by scud missile. And Cambodia and Vietnam because of dominoes.
So, if Russia takes back a chunk or two of Ukraine that they gave to Ukraine back in the fifties, I wouldn’t risk a nuclear war to get it back and hand it over to the sons of WWII fascists who fought with the Nazis against us.
Just my opinion.
The fascist element in the Ukrainian crisis is undeniable, as is the covert meddling of the USA, but I believe Putin was delighted to watch it all develop until the point when he would have a great pretext to take over.
Yes, Russia gave Crimea to Ukraine; it’s obvious why they want it back, but not that they have any right to it. Once you give something, it’s not yours any more.
Ukraine has been caught between both sides; that, plus the corruption of their leaders, has brought the great majority of Ukrainians nothing but hardships since independence.
This crisis is another example of the ingenious workings of US covert action, which here as in so many other cases has made a bad situation a great deal worse.
The New Republican sez…
Given the state of the political consciousness of both parties in this country, I’m sure that in the 2014 mid-terms both are longing for oblivion.
It is only World War III if the US insists on it. If the voters of Crimea vote to federate with Russia, the US should shut up and start concentrating on the neo-Nazis they have put in power in Ukraine and the fact that neither the US nor the EU actually intends to send significant foreign aid to Ukraine.
This story is far from over internally in Ukraine.
Russia is not about to launch WW3, but it sure sounds like the US and NATO might just be stupid enough to do that for the fucking Ukraine.
Or Victoria Nuland is putting an naval gun on some friend’s yacht with the intent of creating a provocation.
Let’s start labeling this as Victoria Nuland’s War.