Merkel Said to Reject Ukraine NATO Bid

[Igel]

2. Silly article.

It's a referendum. Claims have been made that most Ukrainians don't want to be in NATO. At the same time, counter-claims have been made.

Putin, some think, wants to ensure that whatever happens, Ukraine remain neutral and wants to talk to everybody else to make sure that they don't let Ukraine join NATO. Now, ultimately it's up to NATO, but the one player that Putin has consistently insisted on disenfranchising, on treating as some sort of property to be bought and sold is Ukraine and its population.

Putin might be incensed that what he insists is an inanimate objects speaks, but anything that forces him to see Ukraine undehumanized--granted, a virtual impossibility to somebody obsessed with Russian narodnost'--is a good thing.