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Russia Prepared To Fight War Over Ukraine, Senior Government Official Admits
"If Ukraine breaks apart, it will trigger a war," warns a senior Russian government official. The FT reports Russia is prepared to fight a war over the Ukrainian territory of Crimea (where the largest ethnic Russian population lives and they have a military base). Conjuring images of the 2008 Russian invasion of Georgia, the official told the FT, "they will lose Crimea first [because] we will go in and protect [it], just as we did in Georgia." The Kremlin regards the Georgian conflict as the biggest stand-off between Russia and the west since the end of the Cold War and it has fed determination in Moscow to push back against what it believes to be western attempts to contain Russia.
“If Ukraine breaks apart, it will trigger a war,” the official said. “They will lose Crimea first [because] we will go in and protect [it], just as we did in Georgia.” In August 2008, Russian troops invaded Georgia after the Georgian military launched a surprise attack on the separatist region of South Ossetia in an effort to establish its dominance over the republic.
...
The brief conflict with Georgia pitted Russia indirectly against the US and Nato, which had earlier tried to put Georgia on a path to Nato membership. The Kremlin regards the Georgian conflict as the biggest stand-off between Russia and the west since the end of the Cold War and it has fed determination in Moscow to push back against what it believes to be western attempts to contain Russia.
...
The warning of a similar scenario comes because Ukraine’s civil conflict has fanned tension in Crimea. On the peninsula, located on the northern coast of the Black Sea where Russia’s Black Sea Fleet is stationed, ethnic Russians make up almost 60 per cent of the population, with Ukrainians and Crimean Tatars accounting for the rest.
...
Volodymyr Konstantinov, speaker of Crimea’s parliament, said on Thursday that the region might try to secede from Ukraine if the country split. “It is possible, if the country breaks apart,” he told the Russian news agency Interfax. “And everything is moving towards that.” Russian media also quoted him as saying Crimeans might turn to Russia for protection.
...
The Kremlin has been eager to stress that it is not interfering in Ukraine. ...
However, many government officials say in private that Ukraine falls inside Russia’s sphere of influence. “We will not allow Europe and the US to take Ukraine from us. The states of the former Soviet Union, we are one family,” said a foreign policy official. “They think Russia is still as weak as in the early 1990s but we are not.”
So while some suggest the "agreement" today is great news, we suspect it solves absolutely nothing as the corruption at the core remains and the push-pull of East-West tensions remains as the only thing that matters - it sadly appears - is who controls the pipelines.
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Coming soon to a western "Union" near you...
same as it ever was...
It's always about that damned spice, and making it flow...
I'm getting Ukrained out here. I'll just read what the rest of you have to say.
And Russian oligarchs that control Putin (after witnessing what sanctions did to Ukrainian oligarchs) said Russia cannot afford to "fight over Ukraine."
Yes, they are Poland's and Germany's problem now. Enjoy.
but are they drawing a red line?
Well, they still pretend to believe in peace.
"Cult_of_Reason", anyone ever point out the irony of your name?
There's no irony... "Cunt_of_Reason" is just collecting down arrows at ZH, (s)he loves Red color (assuming it's human not the agency's robo)
And Russian oligarchs that control Putin (after witnessing what sanctions did to Ukrainian oligarchs) said Russia cannot afford to "fight over Ukraine."
And so now we know why the govt agencies have bought those 4 billion bullets...got it
Russia knows exactly what us at stake!
`
http://stateofthenation2012.com/?p=3733
`
"What Walesa is really trying to say is that the EU stands to make that much money by controlling the Ukraine markets, natural resources, export/import channels, transportation network, oil and gas conduits, and political apparatus once they join the European Union. These are, after all, the immediate and stated goals of the EU representatives who have weighed in on the matter. And they are determined not to let Russia interfere with their plans, no matter what the level of chaos or death toll required to attain it."
rsloane, dont worry about the static. you need to wait for the real authorities, faber, black and snyder, to give us real guidance on ukraine
Fonz posted this earlier in another Ukraine thread. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-02-19/franklin-templeton-lifts-ukraine-bet-by-over-250-million.html
There's a lot of foreign capital sitting in Kiev right now. Debt will be serviced one way or another.
"I'm getting Ukrained out here. I'll just read what the rest of you have to say."
Ok we can talk about something else how about this?
Obama may escalate role in Syrian warpeace prize roflmao
Was there ever some doubt?
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
Gonna warp the barrel firing that fast!
pods
WTF? Once is enough.
no chit
Yeah, they couldn't take 4000 chechens and then they invaded Giorgia and fought a bunch of farmers. Anyone who thinks Russia has a 1st world army is retarded. It's all conscripts that don't want to be there.
America wouldn't even break a sweat taking Russia on....not that I would want this because it would just bring more suffuring to the Russian people over the fucktard Putin.
Apparently Russian missles work as we really on them to get to the ISS.
I know Tucus
It's pictures like this of our armed forces along with the torture pictures from Abu Ghraib that demands the respect from the rest of the World!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2562482/We-fun-funeral-Soldier-suspended-picture-Honor-Guard-fooling-flag-draped-coffin-online-derogatory-comments.htmlYea clearly you didn't get the memo about Afganistan,or perhaps you actually believe your mighty army has brought peace and security to the Afgan people.
There is little point in winning the war if you can't win the peace.
Sadly its all about logistics and whose troops and mechanized divisions are already lined up to provide support to the suffering Ukrainians.
I guess NATO currently has enough divisions lined up in Poland to invade, ahem, liberate Ukraine and provide that much needed military support.
To the swift goes the race.
You don't know squat about the anybody's military. Look how well we did in Vietnam, Afghanistan, and Iraq. So shut up about it.
Are the Saudis involved here too?
"Are the Saudis involved here too?"
They're busy right now in Sochi.
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
Something sticky on your keyboard?
(oh...)
Hey kliguy....u watching porn while surfing on ZH??? effin multiple pop-ups.....
btw, u work for the SEC??
Most probably a Ukrainian talent.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ubTlTKLas_o
We should really be lobbying the IOC to bring pole to the summer games.
I'd have to PVR the womens beach volleyball.
I think the record is skipping...
that's what happens when HF algo tries to comment
wait til the olympics are over and Vlad will whack the neocon/bankers with a quick backhand slap and say..... "now what are ya gonna do BITCHEZZ"
Whoa, dude!
Where you trying to say something?
That's a record
I gave him a greenie on the 7th one. That one stood out to me.
wow....that's one on me dude......look what happens when they try to block a determined comment.....shot right through that NSA prick
It happens. If you combine all them they are no longer than your average threadjack. Everyone gets one.
Would Washington allow Texas to leave the Union? No. Same thing. Hardly remarkable.
Yes, indeed...
Obama is prepared to draw some more lines like the fuckwit he is
Even his masters now know they can't depend on him to get a simple war off the ground.
Gee, maybe it will work if he uses different colors this time..
Rainbow sprinkes and glitter are right up his alley.
Hot war, bitchez!
The United States should fuck off and leave Ukraine alone.
Russia too should get the fuck out, Ukraine belongs to Ukraine, but at least Russia is next to Ukraine.
What the hell kind of business does the United States have in Ukraine?
Spell it with me.
N-O-N-E.
Except a proxy war.
But they were denied WW3 a few months ago and they really wanted it for Christmas.
An appropriate belated Valentine's Day gift.
Good luck getting rid of Russia. What did the US do when the Russians tried to set up shop in Cuba?
maybe the question should be what the Ukrainians are gonna do to "the little Russians."
Violence against midgets is no laughing matter, Gunny.
Q: What business do the EU/US have in Ukraine, to want them to meddle so much?
A: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-02-20/ukraine-situation-explained-one-map
Questions?
Tweet of the day yestereday...
Garry Kasparov @Kasparov63 24h
"Yes, Obama could sell his red lines on eBay as new. They are all in mint condition, never used!"
There goes another global bread-basket up in flames.
I think someone has an agencdca here and it may be the three letter word.
Gibran:
To rob a neighbor with a smile, to bestow gifts with a graceful wave of
the hand, to praise prudently, to blame cautiously, to destroy a soul with a word,
to burn a body with a breath, and then to wash the hands when the day’s work is done.
Rest: http://aadivaahan.wordpress.com/2013/04/12/of-words-and-sword-mad-men/
Crazzy days...
ori
Nothing is meant to be left standing of the country
Lots of Ocean access/beachfront property..
Completely makes sense
Russia and warm water ports.... it's a long-running thing with them.
Yes, I mentioned in the thread on the peace deal article that the fundamental problem is the very well defined voting blocks in the Ukraine. Russia could work to a stalemate partition securing the Russian supporting eastern part with the Crimea and the naval bases but it still means all the pipelines pass through ethnic Ukrainian territory.
If we look at History, we find that all the world's super powers had a large navy, to protect their merchant fleet and 'secure' new found territories.
But only the farsighted ones used their sea power more for trade than for plunder. Perhaps economic plunder was and is still easier to get away with than military plunder.
IOW, it's one thing to 'steal' their stuff with tricky bargaining, than to steal it and kill them too. In the former case, you've pissed off the guy who got a shitty deal. In the latter case, you've pissed off the entire family and friends.
As long as they wait until the Olympics are over, we're good....
/sarc
They didn't last time.
If Russia cannot contain itself, then someone else must do it. Russia does not have the unilateral right to absorb neighboring countries. And China does not have the unilateral right to absorb international waters.
When are you leaving?
Yes. Only America is entitled to unilateral rights to trample other nations. It's called "exceptionalism".
No. It's been called "Manifest Destiny" for a long time now.
The Indians couldn’t have been exterminated/domesticated so quickly without it.
I think the bookends to the Indian Slave situation are 1) Broken promises via a hugely fraud filled BIA 2) Iintroduction of Wheat and other glutenous grains + cheap alcohol+casino den of vices managed by Vegas mafia
3) Masonically capping/blowing up/desecrating their sacred spaces (mostly mounds/hills), prime example being Mount Rushmore. If lightening struck mount rushmore and destroyed the abomination, everything can change.
Anywyas, I ramble...
ori
I bet you would appreciate these sacred mounds that I putter around.
Bear, fox, eagle.
My intutition is that "Indians" might end up having the last laugh, after all.
Gorgeous state SR, you are lucky. I've been up and down it, a few times. I used to date a lady in Portland. My favourite city in the US. Did the drive to the Boulder of Oregon (The Mighty Ducks??? I forget the town's name) in her 1968 VW Bus. The winds near Mt Hood were pulling and pushing that brick which had a half turn play in the steering all over the lanes....
Good days. Clak a Mass....
And then there is Nikeland....
and the rednecks in the interior, farming towns....they did not like their Indians too much, especially those with Beautiful Blonde Girlfriends :-)
Had similar weirdo + Awesome experiences in Utah, especially Ogden....
......tripping...
Well, yeah. But Americans are GOOD.
The US does not have the unilateral right to be the world's police/enforcer/nanny/thug/capo.
True, but you do realize that the US is merely the willing thug, doing its master's bidding?
"The US does not have the unilateral right to be the world's police/enforcer/nanny/thug/capo."
Last time I heard it's the Murca's divine rights to interfere with other nation's affairs around the globe.
and the US of A has unilateral rights to everything!
Including hell?
But the U.S has the unilateral right to secure all the oil fields in the middle east right?
Well, that's a whole different kettle of gefilte fish.
There are other ways to absorb people/resources. This includes media & culture, sponsored color revolutions, shipped in and/or sponsored 'freedom fighters', and bankster piled on financial 'debt' made up and impossible to ever pay off.
Its likely that few if any of us here on ZH know what's Really Goiing On in many of these places around the world. I know all the parties involved don't send me intel briefs, anyway. But, many of us are very suspicious of a reoccuring pattern of activity that the crazy neo-cons even wrote about in their strategic white papers.
Okay; suit up; we'll send you as the invading front wave.
"If Russia cannot contain itself, then someone else must do it. Russia does not have the unilateral right to absorb neighboring countries. And China does not have the unilateral right to absorb international waters."
Exactly! Only the United States are entitled to receive any of the country through war, proxy war, terrorism, and the color revolutions that lead to power puppets of Washington.
yrbmegr
pull your dickhead out of your fat ass fucktard
This is seriously from the latest Tom Clancy novel. Is that why he "died", Putin snuffed him?
Well, the Olympic (Potemkin) village can double as a staging area for the 'defense' effort. Should bring the ROI on that investment up to acceptable levels.
History rhyming .
Obozo leadging the Light Brigade into the Valley of Death.
With the Wookie in the supporting role as Florence Nightingale.
Ugh.
If this doesn't send the S&P to a new all time high, nothing will.
"If this doesn't send the S&P to a new all time high, nothing will."
And, of course, - - - a possible regional war that could get out of hand and bring on a thermo-nuclear WW3 means the 'price' of gold will go down in these 'markets' today.
Boris better burn his draft card...
now you see what ruskies are all about? they settle their peasants to some territory, wait till they multiply and then look for excuse to protect it from native population
you must be confused - you're speaking about Israel?
Not an Izzy basher,
but that was spot on.
Same practice in Malvinas island too!
It's war BITCHEZ.... Get used to it.
There must be gas or oil pipelines running through there.
The West, led by Obama, is already at war with Ukraine:
The provocations of ultra-right groups and hooligans have met with deafening silence from Western politicians and media, which uniformly ascribe responsibility for the crisis in Ukraine to the Yanukovych regime and Russia.
The White House and the EU bureaucracy in Brussels are quite willing to allow these forces to destabilize the state through street violence while they lead the campaign to force the Yanukovych government out of power. The US and the EU powers are striving to impose a client regime in Ukraine pledged to carry out austerity policies demanded by the International Monetary Fund and take a much more confrontational stance towards Russia.
During a trip to Mexico, US President Obama publicly criticised the role played by the Russian government in Ukraine. “Mr. Putin has a different view on many of those issues [people’s basic freedoms] and I don’t think that there’s any secret on that,” Obama said.
“Our approach in the United States is not to see these as some Cold War chessboard in which we’re in competition with Russia,” he continued. “Our goal is to make sure that the people of Ukraine are able to make decisions for themselves about their future.”
In fact, the Obama administration’s aggressive policy in Central Europe is a continuation of that of the Bush administration, which sought to undermine the influence of Russia over former Soviet republics and former Eastern Bloc allies in Europe, as well as former Soviet Republics in Asia. The real content behind Obama’s bluster about democratic aspirations was most vividly exposed by the recent comments of Victoria Nuland, the US assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.
In a leaked telephone conversation with the US ambassador to Ukraine, Nuland, wife of the neo-conservative cold warrior Robert Kagan, put forward her preferred scenario for a future Ukrainian government, dismissing the opinion of European leaders with the comment, “Fuck the EU.”
Nuland had previously underlined the geostrategic importance of Ukraine to the US when she told an international business conference that the US had invested $5 billion in NGOs and other organizations opposed to the Yanukovych regime.
http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2014/02/21/ukra-f21.html
Now is the time for Yanukovich to step back, hand over the reigns of power to Klitschko and watch him be overthrown by Svovoboda...
That woman has a big mouth. the anouncement of the 5Bill. in destabilization groups should have every American Citizen in the country standing up and shouting and calling for Obama's resignation; instead; nobody pays any attention.
If Nuland/ Kagan connection is a fact, it could spread religious hostility as depicted in play "Fiddler on the Roof". Removal of Nuland would be a move towards reconciliation and certainly justified by her undiplomatic behavior. Then there is Brizhinski, who according to his latest book, believes Poland should return to its former past as the center of Eastern Europe. At least he has the wisdom to remain silent during current Ukrainian crisis. It seems all the past rivalries are surfacing as they did before WW I and II with similar motivations for strategic territory, agricultural land, resources, and dominance of old Empires. The new component is the desire of Ukranian youth to enjoy Western standards of living. However that quest can be satisfied with an open emigration policy if the
EU is willing to accept more immigrants from the Ukraine. As far as political corruption within Ukraine, that is a problem for their own people to solve which they seem to be addressing with fervor.
External influences should stay out of the Ukraine during this crisis,because if push comes to shove, Russia may repeat the Georgia exercise .
Meanwhile the US is overextended in a protracted military adventure and will not have public support for more war.
After the Arab Spring templates and 'success', I'm also observing that these Civil Uprisings seem to be happening in all the Geo-political places of US and EU interest. Typically in places where carbon fuels (gas, oil) are extracted or carried (pipeline routes).
Everything being equal, these uprisings should happen in other places also, but given that they happen predominantly in these places, makes it rather obvious (to most with half a brain) that TPTB (oil and money cartels) are both heating and stirring the pot.
/ In light of this, they should come up with a new Bond drink that is... "Shaken and Hot". /sarc
This is all extremely bullish for stocks.
If people of Ukraine think they would be better off in bed with the west they are wrong. The us & eu want ukraine for strategic purposes, not because they want to help the peons.
Peons will be peons.
Peons will get peed on.
Pee-ons will be pee-ons. Trickle-Down economics works out as Trickled-On economics for such people.
Tangentially...
H/T Cryptogon
Yep Ukraine is the U in USSR
Don't worry guys, Lurch will save us.
Haven't you heard? He's fighting the war against warming - our deadliest foe. He says "minus 1 degree by 2093, or fight!"
It's really unpleasant having a crazy person for your Sec. of State. I suppose he just reads whatever they give him to "broadcast". What a country.
Putin plays chess ...Oblowhard plays in the sand
So, long douche makers then?
I thought he played Golf. What's his Handicap?
Apparently the US spooks don't learn from their mistakes : they always try to step on Putin's toes during the Olympic Games and they fail!
In 2008 they manipulated the Georgian psuchopath Sachatchvili into attacking Russia : "din't worry go ahead it's the Olympic truce. Vlad won't retaliate". The result is within 48 hrs Sacatchvili got destroyed.
Forward to 2014 the US spooks pour some gasoline on the Ukrainian mess during the Olympic Games. Gues what? The games end on Sunday, that means on Monday morning Vlad will be able to spend all his time and attention on Kiev.
What it means : the US spooks and Nuland are going to lose once again!
I'm having a vision...
I see a malato in the White House oval office chair chewing nervously on his "red power tie" as the Almighty American $ continues it's massive erosion staring catatonically at the hour glass that sits in front of him.
Obama wishes this was 2007!
Russia did it in the 30s...they will do it now...they really do not like Ukranians....they have populated half the country with Russians already...
Have often wondered if the famine imposed by the soviets was really just a way of freeing up productive land for use by soviet immigries.
"Have often wondered if the famine imposed by the soviets was really just a way of freeing up productive land for use by soviet immigries."
Sir, you are ignorant . You do not know the history of the countries of the past that trying to talk . Do not listen to Faux News propaganda . Better to read the real story, as amended 1800-1917 period.
Then you'll know exactly what to 1917 , the state of Ukraine , has never existed on the political map of the world. And you will also know that the so-called "Kievan Rus" - is the name of only historical period , but not the name of any state education.
All so-called eastern regions of Ukraine ( including Crimea and the so-called Ukrainian Settlement ) is the old native Russian land.
Where Russia's rulers at different times, allowed to settle and live Ukrainians who fled from the Polish oppression .
I hope you now understand why on this land, are so many Russian people now.
By the way, most people who died of starvation, is Russian people in the south and east of Ukraine. In western Ukraine, the famine was not. But today, this hunger is outraged western Ukraine, which is generally felt no hunger.
And there's shooting in the streets in Venezuela.
http://faustasblog.com/2014/02/venezuela-shooting-in-the-streets/
We live in interesting times.
A War that starts with an innocuous event in a region in the bowels of Eastern Europe...
Now where have I heard that one before?
Queue up the 10 hour version of Hell March: http://youtu.be/CIusCUV4CmU
Those were the days...
This FT story is stupid fear-mongering, Crimea has been a staunchly pro-Russian region. It will NEVER go with western Ukraine even if the country splits up.
Surprise, surprise.
Kiev is the very ancient capital of nascent Russia, and predates Moscow.
"During the 8th and 9th centuries, Kiev was an outpost of the Khazar empire. However, being located on the historical trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks and starting in the late 9th century or early 10th century, Kiev was ruled by the Varangian nobility and became the nucleus of the Rus' polity, whose 'Golden Age' (11th to early 12th centuries) has from the 19th century become referred to as Kievan Rus'." Hence the name Russia.
further:
Sevastopol - "The city continues to be the home of the Russian - formerly Soviet - Black Sea Fleet, and is now home to a Ukrainian naval base and has Russian naval facilities leased from Ukraine through 2042. The headquarters of both the Ukrainian Naval Forces and Russia's Black Sea Fleet are located in the city."
And:
"Ukraine has long been a global breadbasket due to its fertile conditions. As of 2011, it was the world's third-largest grain exporter with that year's harvest being much larger than average. Ukraine is one of ten most attractive agricultural land acquisition regions."
Not to mention the oil pipelines and the 7.5 million ethnic Russians living in the Ukraine.
The Golden Age of Kievan Rus' began with the reign of Vladimir the Great (980–1015), no small irony.
And so is/was Kosovo for Serbia...
"During the 8th and 9th centuries, Kiev was an outpost of the Khazar empire."
Really? Interesting. Then maybe those people with Khazar roots are merely homesick and seeking to re-establish or rebuild their Homeland? /sarc
Afghanistan rev 2.0
When are we sending off the first shipload of stinger missiles?
Or World War rev 3.0
I think you are calling it a bit too early. We are certainly headed there, but I think it will take at least five years before we get there.
.... at the heart of the whole affair is the zionist banksters wanting to control the planet, take over more regions for the sake of the money & power .....
thanks captain obvious
That river divides the country nicely.
bet someone has some nice sat pics of of a shit load of tanks parked along that river. and has gone for a clean pair of under wear
There was no "collapse of the Soviet Union." It was another illusion like Sandy Hook or 9/11.
Putin will not allow a bunch of peasants to overthrow Ukraine's government.
Watch what happens if a bunch of tax slaves try to overthrow the government of Illinois. You'd have federal troops shooting your ass right quick.
Same thing here.
Are you guys sick of being slaves yet?
Most people even the commentators here on Zerohedge don't know that when Putin ordered his special forces into Georgia around August 8, 2008, he also sent in some of his tactical nukes units into Georgia as a direct and unequivocal warning to NATO/CIA/Israel (their presences in Georgia were quite noticeable): DO NOT FUCK WITH ME WITH YOUR HIGH-TECH, PRECISION SHIT!
This has the potential of being the Sarajevo of our time. Nobody has a clue how volital this could be.
This has the potential of being the Sarajevo of our time. Nobody has a clue how volital this could be.
"August 8, 2008, he also sent in some of his tactical nukes units into Georgia as a direct and unequivocal warning to NATO/CIA/Israel"
Yes, before I did not know about this .
But I knew exactly, that in response to a visit to Georgia U.S. warship, Putin sent to U.S. shores, at least two submarines with nuclear missiles on board.
He did this as a response "gesture of courtesy". Putin behaves like a true gentleman.
http://www.eegas.com/ukraine.htm
All you need to know
White Stream
http://www.osce.org/ashgabat/67922
Guess who now owns the water and land rights if Russia annexes the Crimea.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_Stream
Not only that they get to cut the Ukraine and Turkey pretty much out of the picture concerning the South Stream project. The west might get the Ukraine but Russia still wins the battle....
Scary stuff: PCR is dead on- http://www.paulcraigroberts.org/2014/02/20/ukraine-drifting-toward-civil...
Why can't we stay the hell out of other people's wars and territories?
Nonintervention is boring.