Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim Procter
Because Neil, it won't end with the Ukraine, it will be the Baltic States next, Latvia Lithuania etc. Putin is a bully who wants to protect Russia by having a buffer zone around his territory,so that his people are not tempted to ask why they are so poor when the west is so rich.Him and his rich oligarchs have carved Russia up to the detriment of his own people.As for turning off the gas as some people fear,he knows that he needs the wests money to shore up his evil empire. All bullies are afraid of being stood up to, Putin is no different.
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Ah ... a new "domino theory" ... I don't think so. And from whom is this "buffer" zone going to protect Mother Russia? (This is the Russia that can't effectively contain Chechnya, whatever and wherever the place is.) This ain't the late 30s. The Wehrmacht is not massing on the frontiers of Eastern Europe. Since they bought Europe the Germans have become warm and fuzzy; the Teutonic Hordes are no more. There is only one super power in the world, and they have armed themselves into impotence. Not only that, the yanks, altho' they talk tough, really don't want to send their sons into battle again. They've had enough with Iraq ... a trillion dollar FUBAR if ever there was one ... and Afghanistan. And President Obama is in his second term ... he doesn't have to worry about re-election. He can afford to be called "weak on Russia"; he doesn't have to pander to fat, white, rich, NRA supporting, Republican males who are eager to fight to the last drop of blood and their guns are pulled from their cold dead hands
... well, metaphorically anyway. The real blood will be shed by the poor sods who go into harms way ... usually poor kids with no political or dollar pull to keep then safe at home. Sorry about the rant
The problems in the Ukraine will be settled diplomatically and sort of peacefully. If I'm wrong, and the nuclear shiite hits the swiftly rotating object, I will just have to send my mouth way down south, and kiss my ass goodbye.
Oh, and I was going to point out that the unequal distribution of wealth in Russia is probably no worse than it is in the UK, the US, even here. Americans buy Premier League teams too.