Notice the distinctive blue and white striped t-shirt, or "talyashniki". Its a trademark uniform item of Russian airborne. Naval infantry or marines wear a back and white striped version. Always some guy in the unit who can't figure out what "sterile" fatigues means . . . S.L.
It never was any secret who they were or where they came from - the "sterile fatigues" bit was just a figleaf. This is a classic Russian move, they do it like clockwork every ten years: Hungary 1958, Czechoslovakia 1968, Afghanistan 1979 - the fall of the Berlin Wall in 89 put them off their game a bit but now they're back on schedule: invade, crush all opposition and oppress any hint of freedom or resistance.
I've been watching the developments in Ukraine since before the President fled the country last week, and I've been keeping my family briefed on what's happening and what it means. "What happens next?" they ask, "Will Russia take over Ukraine, make it a part of their country again? Will NATO or the EU help the Ukrainians fight the Russian?"
Most likely the Russians will put their puppet in place in Kiev, and then keep their troops in place. Not a chance that either NATO or the EU will do anything about it, unfortunately. One scenario we could do is provide arms to the people of Ukraine so they could at least do a protracted guerrilla struggle against the occupiers, but we probably won't. This is a classic example of what happens to an unarmed society.
When Hitler moved on the Sudetenland and annexed this portion of the former Czeckoslovakia, and later when he marched into and annexed Austria, nobody in those countries could resist. Then he went to the Prime Minister of Switzerland and said, "You're next. We're showing up next week to annex your country." The Swiss Prime Minister replied, "You can bring your Wermacht here and what will happen is EVERY ONE OF YOUR SOLDIERS WILL DIE!" Then he pointed out the window to the vast mountainscape of the Swiss Alps. "Every single mountaintop and hill out there has a Swiss man on it armed with a rifle and all it takes is for every one of them to kill just one German soldier each, and you won't have an Army any more."
That made Hitler think maybe it wasn't so bad to have a neutral country in his back yard to conduct diplomacy and do a little banking.
Then I told my family that if our country were ever occupied - which is very difficult to imagine- that is exactly what would happen. There are hundreds of thousands of Green Berets, SEALs, Marines and paratroopers - both active duty and retired - who would go out with their rifles every day or every other day, kill one enemy soldier, and then go home. A year of this, maybe three years, maybe ten years, and the enemy will pack up and go home.
That is what you do to protect your homeland from thugs like the ones marching all over the Ukraine, and that is part of the reason why we have a Second Amendment.
STORMBRINGER SENDS
So let me get this right. We are on the side of the protesters who did not like the elected President so they overthrew him and chase out of Kiev all the elective members of parliament who supported him. So the only members left were the ones that the protesters supported.
ReplyDeleteDoes that mean a bunch of Tea Party members can go to Washington and kick out the elected President and run off all the members of Congress they do not like and install their own version of the government without an election. Do not think that would go over very well with the rest of the country.
What Russia will do is say they are returning the elected government back to power in Kiev. They will say the people running the government in Kiev were not elected and seized power illegally. The deposed government weather you like it or not was elected by a popular vote not by the mobs of Kiev.
I think Putin has more of a leg to stand on than Obama on this one. Hell Obama was wanting to invade Syria himself just last year.
Its a little more complex than that; with Ukraine you have to understand the cultural and political background. The Ukrainians HATE the Russians and with good reason - this goes back to Stalin. When the Germans showed up, the Ukrainians took sides with the Wermacht, they hated the Russians that bad. When Ukraine became an independent country at the breakup of the Soviet Union, suddenly millions of ethnic Russians living in the Ukraine became Ukrainian citizens. But they were still Russians, and the elected President was the Russian point man; Putin's man.
ReplyDeleteThe recent wave of protests in Ukraine began when Viktor Yanukovych suspended preparations to sign the European Union’s (EU) proposed trade and partnership agreement in November 2013. The bill would have brought Ukraine closer to the EU, while the government's move was an attempt to cement stronger relations with Russia instead.
This was the red flag that set off the Ukrainians - and we saw the end results. I must say that of all the street demonstrations and revolutions that I've personally witnessed, this was one of the most orderly and organized from the conduct of the unarmed street protestors.
What Russia says they are doing and what they WILL do are two completely different things. What they will do is put their man in charge and then leave their troops in place. This is not liberation, this is not nation building, this is occupation and oppression. After all, its the Russians we're talking about here.
Regarding Obama and Syria - the LAST thing Barry wanted to do was get involved in that place. That was what made his bluffs and demands so hollow and transparent.
See story posted below about the Russian's response that support what I believed they would say. The fact still remains it was a democratically elective government overthrown by a street mob. So now we are on the side of street mobs and not fair elections which our own government validated as fair and legit. I guess we should have just bowed down to Occupy Wallstreet and let them take over when they took to the streets. Can not have it both ways my friend.
DeleteYou are obviously as ill informed as you are jingoistic.
ReplyDeleteThe part where the US spent $5 Billion dollars to orchestrate the overthrow of the Ukraine to neo-nazi thugs, bankster leaders and the repression of language, has been completely lost on you.
If someone was screwing around in your backyard wouldn't you take action?
If I recall correctly, the last time that happened to you lot in Cuba, you crapped yourselves.
If you are going to write tripe at least get the facts straight and present it as a work of fiction, which it is.
Well here is the story. I guess I was right after all about how Russia is going to play this!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nbcnews.com/storyline/ukraine-crisis/russias-medvedev-predicts-new-revolution-new-bloodshed-n42611
What is with time on the post. It is 4:53 pm CST where I am posting from.
ReplyDeleteThe time for this account is set at GMT.
Deletehttp://www.shmoop.com/charge-of-light-brigade-poem/setting.html
ReplyDeleteI wonder if this is the time for another one of these?
Steve
The Yanukovych government was freely and democratically elected and it was overthrown by extremist ethnic Ukrainians. Ethnic Ukrainians are a majority in Ukraine, but they are not all Ukrainians, and the mob in Kiev does not represent a majority of the Ukrainian population.
ReplyDeleteThe rhetoric coming out of Washington and other western capitals is delusional, dishonest and very aggressive. E.g., over the weekend on CNN, Zbigniew Brzezinski stated that NATO should offer military assistance to the coup leaders and that NATO should reposition it forces, where and what end not stated. Gen. Rasmussen (head of NATO) spoke very carelessly in a press conference and stated that Ukraine was in the purview of NATO. And there are all the economic threats against Russia and threats against it leadership.
This kind of language sometimes leads to war. If it does, we will have started it, and we will lose it.
" More than 3,500 Russian Baltic Fleet servicemen take part in tactical exercise in the Kaliningrad region.
ReplyDeleteExercise is related on the Russian armed forces troops battle readiness surprise inspection in Western and Central Military District. "
"Exercise", my ass...
It doesn't take a t-shirt to show me that he is Russian...look at that face!! It's amazingly thuggish.
ReplyDeleteSteve
...and it's a bit more than t-shirt giving away these guys, not too subtle - see the article on:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.suomensotilas.fi/en/artikkelit/crimea-invaded-high-readiness-forces-russian-federation