General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsI'm getting the feeling the U.S. and Ukraine
could promise no NATO and Putin would incorporate the latter anyway. IOW, his conditions are meaningless.
rso
(2,273 posts)Time to bloody Putins nose.
Samrob
(4,298 posts)Sure, but we can help cripple their economy and finally go on the offensive with our formidable cyber capabilities by screwing around with Putins and the oligarchs finances.
Texaswitchy
(2,962 posts)No democracy on the border.
The Russian people might want some of that.
underpants
(182,904 posts)Texaswitchy
(2,962 posts)His bucket list.
Not going to happen.
I heard he has Parkinsons.
My Mother did and she changed.
Lost all reasonable thinking.
She had hallucinations also.
Scary to think Putin might be like that.
Had to put Mother in a Alzheimer's type nursing home for her safety.
marie999
(3,334 posts)It was a decision of the US and Russia. The US also decided that Vietnam was also 2 countries.
Ahpook
(2,751 posts)Does he want the Stalin idea of the country back? As mad as he was I think quite a few hold him as a great leader during WW2.
Does he want the territories back? What's his plan?
DFW
(54,445 posts)Just like "Saddam must give up his WMD or we will act!"
Cheney knew full well there were no WMD. He wanted Iraq's oil and a few hundred billion in no-bid contracts for Halliburton. He had 200,000 options on Halliburton stock at $19 a share, costing him $1 each, put into a blind trust when he became VP. But he didn't exactly submit to memory erasure. He still knew about those stock options. After the Iraq invasion and his administration giving all those contracts to Halliburton, its stock rose to $87 a share. $87 minus $20 (the initial price of $19 plus $1 for each option) leaves $67---TIMES 200,000. That's a $13.4 million gain for good old Dick, and that is just one deal that is public knowledge. Who knows what the rest was? I doubt that the $9 billion in cash of ours that disappeared in the Irqi desert truly went to parts unknown.
So what does Putin want? The Soviet Socialist Republics back? Well, at least the pan-Slavic empire the czars had, anyway. Plus the Ukraine's vast western agricultural area used to be known as the bread basket of the Soviet Union. I'm sure he'd like control over that, too. Not to return them to the disastrous socialist collective farms that Stalin mismanaged. No, this time they'd get put in the hands of economically savvy businessmen who do what old VVP tells them to. He gets his cut, but Russia gets fed, and they get to live like czars, themselves.
In short, ironically enough, to use a term the old socialist nations used to throw at the West: this is good old-fashioned imperialism.
Irish_Dem
(47,453 posts)Thanks DFW for the timely and spot on assessment.
Also Putin is playing games for his amusement, I think.
Also it is the same thing the US at Cheney's urging did with Iraq.
Greedy
He wants more billions.
He has grand plans.
DFW
(54,445 posts)The legend will say, instead of Peter I, "Vladimir I, Emperor and leader of all the Russias"
Just like 300 years ago, he wants to see his image here:
roamer65
(36,747 posts)He thinks because hes Xis poodle he can do what he wants elsewhere.
One thing I can promise. We will turn it into a quagmire WORSE than Afghanistan for him and Russia.
Texaswitchy
(2,962 posts)Russia got chased out of Afghanistan.
A lot of Russian boys went home in a box.
Hate to see that.
texasfiddler
(1,990 posts)Inflation is about 10% in Russia and this in my opinion is a wag the dog moment for Putin.
Texaswitchy
(2,962 posts)Wag the dog.
Afraid of democracy spreading.
Killing off people sons in a war will not make him very popular.
He has been stealing Russia blind.