Quote Originally Posted by UhOhXplode View Post
Well, the eastern Ukrainians wouldn't object to Russian intervention. But that's cool because now Ukraine has a new government that will always represent the Western Ukrainians. If the eastern Ukrainians want representation they can get it from Moscow. They obviously won't find it in the new Ukrainian government.
Btw, did you read the news in Komsomolskaya Pravda today? Oleg Tsarev said that Russian-speaking Ukrainians will have no voice in the new government, even if they win the Presidency. I don't know that it's true but it wouldn't be hard to believe.

You said "Even Russia's own citizens are neglected and under threat in Russia. Their rights are trampled."
Is that why Abby Martin is allowed to speak against Putin's policies on Russia Today? And that's not the only example I've seen, btw. As for "neglected and under threat", that sounds a lot like the US right now. Did you see the peaceful Occupy protesters being pepper sprayed, beaten, and arrested in the US? It was all over the news. Tbh, after everything I've heard and read about Russia, I would live there in a heartbeat. I would be more concerned about being neglected, being under threat, and having my rights trampled in the US. That's been all over the Western media too.

2. The unmarked eastern Ukrainian militia is aggressive because Kiev refuses to discuss those issues.

Provocateurs? Okay. Let's look at the whole picture.
1. Kiev signs an EU aggreement that forces Ukraine to choose sides. Putin was willing to let Ukraine get help from both sides.
2. Title 7 and Title 9 in that document force Ukraine to accept NATO.
3. The first serious NATO aggression was in Georgia. That threat was cancelled by the Georgia invasion.
4. The second serious NATO aggression was in Ukraine. That's still undecided but it has a lot to do with certain factories and the east Russian border security.
5. The third serious NATO aggression is happening now in the Baltic states. The Ukraine crisis is being used to support that threat so it's very important for people to believe that protests are being caused by Russian citizens.
6. What this leads to is an excuse to attack the Russian economy with sanctions.

It's an amazing Western strategy but I doubt that it will work. President Putin made one of his most brilliant moves when he annexed Crimea.
Another brilliant move was when he signed the Eurasian agreement with Kazakhstan and Belarus yesterday.
He has also created stronger ties with China and doubled the export of gas to that region. And don't forget the new pipeline deal in Korea.

Having Crimea deletes a lot of the Western threat to SW Russia. And if the SE Ukrainian conflict is blocking serious talks on Federalization and neutrality, then you want me to believe that Russia is intentionally working against itself. I don't believe that.
Other brilliant moves are the creation of a Russian credit system and switching trade eastward. I've never been more impressed with Russia than I am right now.
But the uncertainty in Ukraine and the build-up of NATO troops in the Baltic states are a serious threat to Russia's ability to defend itself. It's turning NATO's alleged self-defense role into a military act of aggression.

But what's really scary is what happens next. The NATO aggression will force Russia to re-start the Arms Race. Can you guess what happens next?
14 minute response time for a nuclear launch detection. Just one misinterpreted signal and welcome to WW3. And there's no hotline setup between Russia and Washington DC to help make a decision.
That's a worst case scenario but anything's possible. And all the pressure on Russia is making it even more likely.
As for me, I will NOT accept Cold War and I will NOT accept war with Russia. So just back off, NATO!

I liked your comment as usual, but we mustn't forget that it-ogo, the "random sample" person in Eastern Ukraine is really p-d off with Russia at the moment, says the RU military is there locally and strongly against any intervention by Russia.

I totally missed the news on the Eurasian trading zone. Well good for them. Everybody needs to be in a union these days...

As for your comment on Arms Race. Yes, that is the big fear isn't it? I think the ludicrous and totally unnecessary expense of an arms race was partly responsible for the economical problems of the USSR. While they were trying to provide for the population, in terms of basics etc, they felt pressured to continue investing in insanely expensive weaponry to enable them to do things that would have killed off the entire planet. I think the USA is also still suffering from the madness of the arms race - in terms of foreign debt and the arms lobby and multinational corporations. Apparently arms is the US biggest domestic production for export. Typical..

It's so perverse there are not even words for it. While people are starving or suffering, global warming escalating and horrible diseases, some countries spend these ridiculous sums on dreaming up and building increasingly sophisticated ways of killing each other.

I just hope nobody is crazy enough to kick off that madness again. And this time the US would not be the winner. China and maybe Russia or India would be.

The US seems to have started a trend with the drones now. Lots of countries in Asia and Europe are getting them. I actually saw one here in the UK last year, when I was on holiday in Wales. Incredibly creepy, we didn't even spot it until it was really close, and then you could hear a creepy noise from it.
Welcome to 1984.