Members of the armed forces of the separatist self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic drive a tank on the outskirts of Donetsk, Jan. 22, 2015. REUTERS/Alexander Ermochenko
Michael Weiss & James Miller, Daily Beast: Putin Is Winning the Ukraine War on Three Fronts
Russian-backed rebels are making gains near Donetsk, Lugansk, and Mariupol. Just how long can Kiev hold off their advances?
Update: Ukraine’s ceasefire has become a farce, with Vladimir Putin the author -- Lucian Kim, Reuters
WNU Editor: Both of the above articles focus on Russia's involvement in Ukraine's civil war, but they miss a few points .... the main one being that while Russia is providing materials and men to the war, and the EU/NATO is providing resources to Kiev .... this is primarily a fight between Ukrainian nationalists in the west, and pro-Russian rebels in the east. As this blog warned in March last year .... when Ukraine's new interim government passed harsh anti-Russian language/educational laws and started to purge the government/military/state run corporations and media outlets of Russian-Ukrainians .... they were laying the groundwork for a catastrophe. What I believe was the final nail in the coffin was Kiev's refusal to negotiate and compromise .... because after that is when we started to see everything disintegrate. Government buildings being stormed by protestors in predominantly Russian speaking regions of the country .... a growing secession movement in Crimea that wanted no part of this new Ukraine and who also felt embolden in their demands because of the heavy Russian military presence in the area .... the killing of dozens of unarmed Russian protestors in Odessa sparking fear in other parts of Ukraine with predominately Russian populations .... and the heavy use of Ukrainian military units to suppress opposition demonstrations in eastern Ukraine .... this was more than enough to blow apart all the past understandings on how Ukraine should be governed and managed. And the sad part of this disaster is that it could have all been avoided if the interim Ukrainian government was willing to compromise just a little bit or stay away from their anti-Russian rhetoric, or when Poroshenko .... elected as President .... would as his first act be willing to accept the original demands of the pro-Russian rebels in the east of establishing a federated state.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda .... this is what the Ukraine disaster will be remembered for ....not on what Putin did, or what the EU/U.S./NATO wanted .... but on how the Ukrainians themselves could not sit down at a table and be willing to discuss and compromise what needs to be done .... and to then ask the people themselves via through elections and referendums if this is the choice that they want.
Sighhh ....
Ukraine has already lost. Russia/Putin have also lost. And after all the fighting and suffering has been done the only thing that will be left will be on where to draw the new boundaries. And everyone will be asking the same question .... was it all worth it ....and the answer would be no.
8 comments:
WNU Editor,
"but on how the Ukrainians themselves could not sit down at a table and be willing to discuss and compromise what needs to be done .... and to then ask the people themselves via through elections and referendums if this is the choice that they want."
While a lot of " blame" for the hard line Kiev took can be placed on the various Nationalist movements, " somebody" was whispering in Kiev's ear and making empty promises,
And the same sorts of "whispers" were present in Georgia prior to the Ossetian War.
Oh, and BTW,
https://m.facebook.com/pages/Андрій-Білецький/1483988841865612?locale2=ru_RU&__tn__=C
If "somebody" actually believed empty promises and certain "whispers" assuming they came from the US/NATO/the EU then "somebody" is extremely stupid. Given what happened to Georgia, there would be no reason to suspect a different outcome this time. If such "promises" and "whispers" did occur from such parties, the question might be whose stupider, those who made such empty promises or those who listened to such empty promises.
I'd say they are both very stupid but the listener is the dumbest. After all the listener has a country to run!! Russia has the most powerful military force in the world along with the world's top intelligence services as well as the most loyal media support which means it all but impossible to beat Russia in the information campaign.
When faced with a stronger force, the best option is to find some way of accommodation. This applies to the EU and the US.
It seems to me this is primarily a fight between Ukraine, the EU nations, and Russia. With its membership in NATO the US gets pulled in. I think it long past time the US withdraw from NATO.
The top priority of the US should be to extricate itself from the Ukrainian situation by any and all means necessary. A good place to start might be by US leaders making a public apology to the Russian leadership for any and all involvement we've had here, making it clear that we will NOT support sanctions against Russia and will vigorously oppose them, and stating that there is absolutely no daylight between US policy and the policy of Vladimir Putin with regards to Ukraine. Finally, we should try to add value to Russia as the world's most powerful nation and to China as the world's second most powerful nation.
Do these things and America may yet survive. Perhaps it could even prosper. Don't do these things and there would seem no feasible way for America to survive let alone prosper. In any event, the most powerful nations on earth are currently enemies of us. This would seem no way to run a country. I pray we have statesmen who will make the appropriate course corrections to American policy.
I agree Jay. U.S. involvement and the billions that they have spent in influencing Ukrainian politics over 20 years is a story that demands more coverage .... but we both know that it is not going to happen.
http://warnewsupdates.blogspot.ca/2014/02/senior-us-diplomat-admits-that-us-has.html
Thank you for the Facebook link.
End game.
" Russia has the most powerful military force in the world"
Must have been since 2011
Russia did no back Qaddafi.
Russia also backed out of Syria in a big way when it pulled a lot of people out of Tartus.
Since then things may have changed, Obama has been getting his licks in.
I think you flipped east and west up there at the top. :) Typo..
You are right Mark. It has been corrected.
Post a Comment