What do you see that is new about the map? (Seriously — no sarcasm.)
One thing that’s new is that Iraq abstained. I guess we can be somewhat proud of that — our invasion of Iraq didn’t lead to a puppet government there, as some of my more foolish fellow liberals expected. You can find Muslim-majority countries who voted yes, like Indonesia, but I’m not sure there is much to make of that. I think there might be an interesting story behind the Israeli’s ambassador’s choice(?) to be absent for the vote, but only if you’re interested in Israel’s internal politics – it has nothing to do with the USA this time. What I don’t see are any new power blocks.
Maybe it is interesting that Kazakhstan abstained, given that it is part of Putin’s Eurasian Union vision, and I’m sure it came under significant pressure from the Russians to vote no. The article describes such pressure for other post-Soviet states (Armenia and many of the ‘stans), but the article didn’t bother to mention Kazakhstan. It also seems promising that impoverished EU-hopeful ex-Soviet Moldova has continued its year-long resistance to Putin.
Why would neighboring countries under threat of being gobbled up by Russia vote to approve of Russia gobbling up neighboring states?
Also, since Iraq is a puppet government and they’re obviously not Obama’s puppet, does George W Bush still pick their leaders for them?
Belarus and Armenia voted “no” to curry Russia’s favor.
Your question about Bush makes me think you’re not being serious.
Seriously. How is Iraq a puppet government? We’re hardly even on speaking terms with them and yet they’re our puppets? Has the phrase been completely redefined to mean its opposite while I wasn’t looking?
George, go back and read what I wrote. I said that the invasion didn’t lead to a puppet government, and we can be proud of that.
A lot of the nations which abstained have strong ties to Russia or are interested in redefining their borders as well. I am not surprised that Kazakhstan abstained. I would be surprised if they had voted in favor of the resolution though.
These sorts of resolutions are mostly worthless. The only body of the UN with real power in a situation like this would be the UN Security Council and you can bet Russia or China would veto any decision against this situation there.
Just saw a report from Wolf Blitzer that the Ukraine is seriously preparing to fight off the coming Russian invasion. I still think they’re lost, but now think we should get support to them however we can. People with the courage to fight for freedom should not be abandoned.
Abandoned? Have you been paying attention to the past six years? The most they can hope for is that Obama doesn’t stab them in the back directly. Abandonment is a given.
George, Obama is just a symptom. I’m ashamed of the American people. Those in the media that are not doing their job should not have a job. But it’s the American people that let them get away with it.
A classic sign of backstabbing diplomatically is that Ukraine isn’t being included in negotiation between Secretary of State Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
Kerry took pains to say that certaIn topics of discussion that Lavrov brought up could not be discussed until the Ukrainians were at the table. For example, Kerry refused to discuss Lavrov’s proposal that Ukraine should be federalized, because that was a matter for the Ukrainians. Discussions involving troop movements and positions were appropriate for Kerry and Lavrov to discuss without the Ukrainians, because NATO is considering permanent military bases in the Baltics and Poland as a response to Russia’s posturing on the Ukrainian border. In that case, while Ukraine obviously has an interest, the discussion could be about what would create or ease tensions between Russia and the US.
You can be as cynical as you want, Karl, but it was the United States that took the stance you approve of ( Ukrainian self-determination) and it was Russia who wanted to ignore the Ukrainian government.
What do you see that is new about the map? (Seriously — no sarcasm.)
One thing that’s new is that Iraq abstained. I guess we can be somewhat proud of that — our invasion of Iraq didn’t lead to a puppet government there, as some of my more foolish fellow liberals expected. You can find Muslim-majority countries who voted yes, like Indonesia, but I’m not sure there is much to make of that. I think there might be an interesting story behind the Israeli’s ambassador’s choice(?) to be absent for the vote, but only if you’re interested in Israel’s internal politics – it has nothing to do with the USA this time. What I don’t see are any new power blocks.
Maybe it is interesting that Kazakhstan abstained, given that it is part of Putin’s Eurasian Union vision, and I’m sure it came under significant pressure from the Russians to vote no. The article describes such pressure for other post-Soviet states (Armenia and many of the ‘stans), but the article didn’t bother to mention Kazakhstan. It also seems promising that impoverished EU-hopeful ex-Soviet Moldova has continued its year-long resistance to Putin.
Why would neighboring countries under threat of being gobbled up by Russia vote to approve of Russia gobbling up neighboring states?
Also, since Iraq is a puppet government and they’re obviously not Obama’s puppet, does George W Bush still pick their leaders for them?
Belarus and Armenia voted “no” to curry Russia’s favor.
Your question about Bush makes me think you’re not being serious.
Seriously. How is Iraq a puppet government? We’re hardly even on speaking terms with them and yet they’re our puppets? Has the phrase been completely redefined to mean its opposite while I wasn’t looking?
George, go back and read what I wrote. I said that the invasion didn’t lead to a puppet government, and we can be proud of that.
A lot of the nations which abstained have strong ties to Russia or are interested in redefining their borders as well. I am not surprised that Kazakhstan abstained. I would be surprised if they had voted in favor of the resolution though.
These sorts of resolutions are mostly worthless. The only body of the UN with real power in a situation like this would be the UN Security Council and you can bet Russia or China would veto any decision against this situation there.
Just saw a report from Wolf Blitzer that the Ukraine is seriously preparing to fight off the coming Russian invasion. I still think they’re lost, but now think we should get support to them however we can. People with the courage to fight for freedom should not be abandoned.
Abandoned? Have you been paying attention to the past six years? The most they can hope for is that Obama doesn’t stab them in the back directly. Abandonment is a given.
George, Obama is just a symptom. I’m ashamed of the American people. Those in the media that are not doing their job should not have a job. But it’s the American people that let them get away with it.
A classic sign of backstabbing diplomatically is that Ukraine isn’t being included in negotiation between Secretary of State Kerry and his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov.
Kerry took pains to say that certaIn topics of discussion that Lavrov brought up could not be discussed until the Ukrainians were at the table. For example, Kerry refused to discuss Lavrov’s proposal that Ukraine should be federalized, because that was a matter for the Ukrainians. Discussions involving troop movements and positions were appropriate for Kerry and Lavrov to discuss without the Ukrainians, because NATO is considering permanent military bases in the Baltics and Poland as a response to Russia’s posturing on the Ukrainian border. In that case, while Ukraine obviously has an interest, the discussion could be about what would create or ease tensions between Russia and the US.
You can be as cynical as you want, Karl, but it was the United States that took the stance you approve of ( Ukrainian self-determination) and it was Russia who wanted to ignore the Ukrainian government.