Don't mess with nuclear Russia, Putin says

[Igel]

104. So if "we" are after oil then support must be illegitimate.

That's the argument?

There are large reserves of natural gas in the territorial waters associated with Crimea. Among the first Russian officials and other sent to Crimea after annexation were those associated with the natural gas industry. Shortly after that, it was announced that the more difficult task of exploring in Siberia would be abandoned. Unsaid: "We have a lot of natural gas that's really easy to get to Europe and the Middle East, why should we explore and exploit in a bad climate far from our markets when we can explore and exploit in a nice climate close to our market."

The Donbas is also home to shale gas. The Yuzovsk formation, or something like that. (Donetsk is a new name; it used to be called Stalino, back in the day that the rebels long for; before that it was Yuzovsk, IIRC, and was named after the founder of the large ironworks built there in the late 1800s and the town that sprang up as a result. That man's surname was Hughes, he was British, and the ironworks was built and funded by him and his colleagues.)

More to the point, however: Would you object to a convicted rapist stopping another man from raping a woman? ("You there! Stop interfering with that man. You raped a woman once, and that means you have absolutely no moral authority to stop that rape!&quot

Or how's this: There was a history in the US of racism and slavery. A fair number would say that while overt slavery is abolished, we still have a reasonable amount of racism going on. And "wage slavery," "sex slavery," and other kinds of slavery--much of which has a racial or ethnic cast to it. And yet the US was against South African apartheid. How's that for hypocritical? No American had any right to criticize the de Klerk (or previous apartheid governments) or support Mandela. Because we live in a class house and shouldn't cast stones. Do you like that kind of reasoning? No?

It's not all about us and our personal sense of guilt. Sometimes it's just okay for a murderer to stop a murder.