The new way of doing things at the White House.
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Why do we care about Crimea? If Obama had not done anything, he would have got fussed at. He's making all these empty threats and he's getting fussed at.
Who really cares?
Not so much Crimea, but the rest of the Ukraine. Putin has shown interest in the Baltic states (all NATO) and Finland (not NATO).
What are we supposed to do?
At a minimum, abrogate the antimissile treaty. Build the radar station in the Czech Republic and rotate Aegis equipped cruisers and destroyers in the North Sea. Perhaps, send requested arms to the Ukraine. And, reposition aircraft to the closer NATO nations, as we did in Poland.
So he takes no action now I wonder what he will do when Israel is attacked or the Middle East flares up again by invading forces? Will he sit on his thumbs then?
Putin is a bit of bully, who telegraphed his intentions in his economic doctoral thesis. Carefully countering his moves can result in the cold war stalemate - better than war. When Germany marched on the demilitarized portion of their nation, next to France, that ensured Schickelgruber would remain as Germany's leader. However, the German general staff informed him if they encountered resistance they would withdraw and depose him as leader. Thus, a still militarily weak nation could have been deterred by one regiment (about 1500 soldiers) from France, who had the largest standing army of the day. One regiment might have prevented the European portion of WWII.
So he takes no action now I wonder what he will do when Israel is attacked or the Middle East flares up again by invading forces? Will he sit on his thumbs then?
Bush took action in Afghanistan and Iraq. That has really been a winner.
The US has a lousy track record in nation building.
So he takes no action now I wonder what he will do when Israel is attacked or the Middle East flares up again by invading forces? Will he sit on his thumbs then?
Bush took action in Afghanistan and Iraq. That has really been a winner.
The US has a lousy track record in nation building.
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jtd,
In case its skipped your notice, no one spoke of nation building. All the nations mentioned are centuries old, in the main, governing themselves well.
governing themselves quiet well?????
They are centuries old
governing themselves quiet well?????
They are centuries old
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jtd, Despite our differences, I have not considered you a low information Democrat.
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were founded in the 13th century. Finland was part of the Swedish kingdom from the 13th century and independent since the early 1800s. Poland’s history is well known. The Ukraine was the last Slavic kingdom to successfully resist the Mongols.
Now, if Putin wants to reclaim old Russian territory, he should reclaim the five old Turkomen states -- the five stans. Then, the world would gain from the elimination of some radical Islamists and expansionist Russians.
One of the best ways to bring Russia around is to develop our own oil and natural gas, even if we don't export much. Keeping our inventories high and imports low would drive down the cost - with oil in the low $90s a barrel, Russia's budget begins to suffer.
jtd, Despite our differences, I have not considered you a low information Democrat.
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia were founded in the 13th century. Finland was part of the Swedish kingdom from the 13th century and independent since the early 1800s. Poland’s history is well known. The Ukraine was the last Slavic kingdom to successfully resist the Mongols.
Sorry, I was talking about Iraq and Afghanistan. America ain't tried to help those countries that you listed out yet.
Except for Finland, all are part of NATO. Additional fighter and tanker aircraft were sent to Poland recently.