Quote Originally Posted by Paul G. View Post
These "warning shots" were against some stupid Ukrainian soldiers who were provoking a conflict. All the commands of the illegal Government are criminal, so to prevent the Ukrainian squads from doing foolishness, Russian troops blocked their Ukrainian colleagues and partially disarmed them.

This bullshit about 123% was derived from a mistake made by the official of Crimea. He pronounced (only one time) the numbers wrong right on the air, thus this mistake was immediately multiplied by the enemies of Russia.
So, he's inept then. I don't buy the 'warning shots' excuse, sorry. But, you and others supporting this farce didn't comment on this:
" Also, no option for 'status quo' - even though that would be a low percentage vote. It still needs to be an option. Pootin just utilizes the illusion of 'democracy' to get the desired result."

I'ts probably the most blatant and obvious among the assertions that the referendum wasn't fair. Just because a majority votes to secede, whether it's 50 + 1 or over 80%, there needs to be balance with the referendum. Who arranged it? Pro-Russian Crimean officials. Who decided the wording and questioning? Same. Yes, Russian soldiers were already there. Big deal. It just made it that much easier to take over and ensure they get the results they wanted. For the record, I think the referendum would have went, more or less the same so I am arguing only on principle and the ethical viewpoint. Of course, few seem to care about that here. Also, I would object to how soon the referendum was taken. There was little to no consultation with the rest of Ukraine. Illegal, illegimate, evil beyond anything you can think of etc. etc. blah blah, there are arguments to support any of those accusations to a great extent, but there wasn't any consulation or discussion. Ten days?!? I think when you break up a country, there should be some discussion and consultation with all parties even if you have issues with them.

The 123% can be a big pile of BS but it doesn't mean the rest of the argument is discredited.