All of this is such baloney! Putin and the Russian Federation is NOT going to be able to do what Hitler and Germany did in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. It just is NOT going to happen! Does anyone here with even reasonable intelligence and an understanding of recent history, even begin to think that the EU is going to give up such former USSR countries as Poland and Hungary. Let alone allow the Russians and Putin to rebuild the Iron Curtain and isolate Eastern Germany from the rest of Germany? Like the Germans themselves (still with one of the best militaries in the world) are just going to sit still and allow that to happen? President Obama is doing exactly the right thing in keeping us out of it, now and in the conceivable future!!
Western Europe gets around 30% of it’s oil for heating, gas, etc from Russia. On those grounds alone, there are good reasons to use diplomacy. The Ukrainians may want us to do more to help them, but does anyone really believe they want Ukraine to become the next battlefield between the nuclear powers of the US, France, Britain, and Russia? It does appear that Ukraine, like Germany, is going to be separated into Western and Eastern sections and with the US military overextended, it would take a draft to restore the ranks to the levels needed to put boots on the ground in Ukraine as well as the areas where they are already entrenched. There is also the factor of our young people not being educated or healthy enough to serve if a draft did call them up.It is sad that we have needed Russia’s help in Syria, Iran, and other places, it is also sad we need them to get to the International Space Station. The time in which we could feel closer with Russia is rapidly fading, and barring moves towards peaceful resolution by Mr. Putin, we may once more find ourselves in the old, us against them cold war.One wonders, did they find information on Mr. Snowden’s computer, or from his conversations with them, that have given them new confidence they can act with impunity against our military and fiscal power? Have they formed relationships with corporate friends in US companies that makes them feel they won’t suffer financial hardships? Our international corporate network has many reasons to keep the peace, and yet there is always money to be made in war.It would be good if our media would really investigate what is going on, and why Mr. Putin is picking this time, a time when our nation is divided, financially stressed, and war weary, to make these military incursions.Until our cannibalistic congress stops looking at the other party as the enemy, our real enemies will feel free to act with confidence that the “Sleeping Giant” that rose up in WW2 is now a couch potato that will simply roll over and ignore the situation.Respectfully,C.
Hungary 1956, conservatives did nothing to restrain Russia, then the USSR. Ike “let it go” because there was risk, today, years late and trillions of dollars short due to such as Viet Nam, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Grenada, and other “excursions” to tell other folks how to live, at the point of OUR guns, maybe it’s time for the hegemony chickenhawk brigade to just shut up and go home…
the gist of mr. stantis’ cartoon is that the EU needs to get a bit more effective with their sanctions, more than just slapping the hands of a couple of putin buddies. has britain kicked them out of The City yet; has france stopped selling them warships yet; has germany stopped trading with them yet? until then it’s still a big joke.
The Warsaw Pack was a construct of the USSR. It was in direct conflict with the NATO Pact, which was the construct of the US and the EU. As I think you are supposedly German you should know this even more that I do. However, if you are correct, then the EU truly is helpless and there is no reason why Putin and the Russian Federation could not just take over all of Europe! And the people of the US are tired of almost continuous war, with its subsequent costs in both blood and wealth!! We are tired of protecting the EU (especially if the EU does not want to protect itself, and just wants to compete economically with the US). If that makes my comments conservative, then so be it. I had thought from many of your previous comments on this site that you would at least be somewhat in agreement with the American people in general. But if Europe really is in that bad a shape, then perhaps our more ultra conservatives here are more correct than I have given them to be!
Plus if our getting involved in what should be a purely European matter would mean even the responsibility of a hot nuclear war with Russia, then we in the US should for the sake of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) still not do anything. It looks like you guys in the EU had better start to get your act together, does it not?
If you are correct, and my own opinions are a failure, then I have to reluctantly admit it the ultra conservatives here may be correct. But not necessarily in the manner that they may like to think they are. Either way, I guess you guys in the EU would be on your own. It was just that we bailed you out in WWII (against your own Adolph Hitler) and kept the USSR from over running you over for the 40 years or so of the Cold War. But two strikes is enough, we are not going to strike out for the third time, to bail you out against another mad man like Putin is at least somewhat turning out to be!!
Good Grief!! You are a perfect example of just what I was saying when I said that I could easily find myself agreeing with the more conservative people on this board over this particular issue! A very good post on your part (heck, you almost sound liberal in some of your attitudes)!
From what I have been able to see in the news it would seem that our current president agrees with you. Vladimir Putin may very well be a masochistic egotist, but he certainly is not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. And so many of your excellent suggestions would work to make him back off, if only the EU (along with the USA and the rest of the free world) would start such a campaign!!
It was the same types of alliances that resulted in both WWI and WWII, which resulted in the deaths of upwards of 100 million human beings. And it is even possible that such alliances could result in WWIII, which would kill off the rest of humanity. If that is even possible, then perhaps it would be better to indeed rip up those alliances. Things change, should we not be flexible enough to change with them?
Dtoutma was correct. Do we in the USA have the right, or even the obligation, to continue to tell the other 95% of humanity just how they should handle their own affairs. We certainly have enough trouble handling our own!!
“Neither Poland nor Hungary were ever part of the USSR. They were part of the Warsaw pact, that’s all.”That’s surprisingly off base for you. I doubt the Hungarians, Poles, East Germans & others who suffered under Moscow’s thumb would dismiss it with, “that’s all”. Their governments were puppets of the USSR for most of the Cold War. “And Germany’s army today consists of volunteers and has shrunk to about 180.000 man, all branches counted. We’ve sold nearly all of our main battle tanks (Leopard 2) and have just 224 in service. The Russians once had about 6000 of these things, don’t know how it’s today.”Almost every nation has been reducing it’s tank force. Tanks have been superseded by AFVs, drones & portable infantry weapons. Against a truly modern fighting force, tanks are nothing but very expensive targets. Tanks are only good for shock & awe value against inferior forces under an umbrella of air superiority. Russia has around 1,000 battle ready tanks with at least several thousand in reserve. During the height of the Cold War, the USSR had nearly 60,000 tanks. A huge chunk were outdated or in need of serious repair, though.“The EU is not a military alliance. There is a European military force in the planning, but it’s no use right now. So defense would fall to NATO, meaning the U.S., meaning reluctance.”While the EU & NATO are not synonymous, the EU as a distinct entity has a major say in NATO decisions beyond the voices of European NATO members.The real shield protecting NATO states has been American nuclear missiles. During the Cold War, both sides understood that moving forces across the Iron Curtain could provoke a nuclear holocaust. Now the lines are fuzzy. Ukraine was not a NATO state, but the Baltics are & they have significant Russian populations. It’s not inconceivable that Russia will look to expand it’s buffer zone at their expense.Landers’ main point that NATO & the EU (one would hope) will not sit idle if Putin attempts the same tactics in Poland & Hungary, that he’s using in Ukraine, is dead on. I’m sure Putin knows this as well, but he may be tempted to nibble elsewhere.
Such small-minded thinking. It isn’t an option of just war or sit back and do nothing. There are lots of ways to pressure Russia outside of military action. This administration is as bad as the rest, they can’t think “outside the box”. Use the press to expose how the russians were giving the Ukraine president all those riches. Use social media to humiliate Putin. Send Rock n Roll emissaries to the Ukraine to have peaceful concerts/demonstrations. Get the church involved. Get photos of individuals standing up to tanks-type photos… Give peace a chance.Careful there, Joad. You’re starting to live up to your namesake.
frodo1008 about 10 years ago
All of this is such baloney! Putin and the Russian Federation is NOT going to be able to do what Hitler and Germany did in the late 1930’s and early 1940’s. It just is NOT going to happen! Does anyone here with even reasonable intelligence and an understanding of recent history, even begin to think that the EU is going to give up such former USSR countries as Poland and Hungary. Let alone allow the Russians and Putin to rebuild the Iron Curtain and isolate Eastern Germany from the rest of Germany? Like the Germans themselves (still with one of the best militaries in the world) are just going to sit still and allow that to happen? President Obama is doing exactly the right thing in keeping us out of it, now and in the conceivable future!!
ARodney about 10 years ago
How much are you willing to raise taxes to pay for another war? Thought so.
chazandru about 10 years ago
Western Europe gets around 30% of it’s oil for heating, gas, etc from Russia. On those grounds alone, there are good reasons to use diplomacy. The Ukrainians may want us to do more to help them, but does anyone really believe they want Ukraine to become the next battlefield between the nuclear powers of the US, France, Britain, and Russia? It does appear that Ukraine, like Germany, is going to be separated into Western and Eastern sections and with the US military overextended, it would take a draft to restore the ranks to the levels needed to put boots on the ground in Ukraine as well as the areas where they are already entrenched. There is also the factor of our young people not being educated or healthy enough to serve if a draft did call them up.It is sad that we have needed Russia’s help in Syria, Iran, and other places, it is also sad we need them to get to the International Space Station. The time in which we could feel closer with Russia is rapidly fading, and barring moves towards peaceful resolution by Mr. Putin, we may once more find ourselves in the old, us against them cold war.One wonders, did they find information on Mr. Snowden’s computer, or from his conversations with them, that have given them new confidence they can act with impunity against our military and fiscal power? Have they formed relationships with corporate friends in US companies that makes them feel they won’t suffer financial hardships? Our international corporate network has many reasons to keep the peace, and yet there is always money to be made in war.It would be good if our media would really investigate what is going on, and why Mr. Putin is picking this time, a time when our nation is divided, financially stressed, and war weary, to make these military incursions.Until our cannibalistic congress stops looking at the other party as the enemy, our real enemies will feel free to act with confidence that the “Sleeping Giant” that rose up in WW2 is now a couch potato that will simply roll over and ignore the situation.Respectfully,C.
Dtroutma about 10 years ago
Hungary 1956, conservatives did nothing to restrain Russia, then the USSR. Ike “let it go” because there was risk, today, years late and trillions of dollars short due to such as Viet Nam, Panama, Iraq, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Grenada, and other “excursions” to tell other folks how to live, at the point of OUR guns, maybe it’s time for the hegemony chickenhawk brigade to just shut up and go home…
louieglutz about 10 years ago
the gist of mr. stantis’ cartoon is that the EU needs to get a bit more effective with their sanctions, more than just slapping the hands of a couple of putin buddies. has britain kicked them out of The City yet; has france stopped selling them warships yet; has germany stopped trading with them yet? until then it’s still a big joke.
frodo1008 about 10 years ago
The Warsaw Pack was a construct of the USSR. It was in direct conflict with the NATO Pact, which was the construct of the US and the EU. As I think you are supposedly German you should know this even more that I do. However, if you are correct, then the EU truly is helpless and there is no reason why Putin and the Russian Federation could not just take over all of Europe! And the people of the US are tired of almost continuous war, with its subsequent costs in both blood and wealth!! We are tired of protecting the EU (especially if the EU does not want to protect itself, and just wants to compete economically with the US). If that makes my comments conservative, then so be it. I had thought from many of your previous comments on this site that you would at least be somewhat in agreement with the American people in general. But if Europe really is in that bad a shape, then perhaps our more ultra conservatives here are more correct than I have given them to be!
Plus if our getting involved in what should be a purely European matter would mean even the responsibility of a hot nuclear war with Russia, then we in the US should for the sake of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) still not do anything. It looks like you guys in the EU had better start to get your act together, does it not?
If you are correct, and my own opinions are a failure, then I have to reluctantly admit it the ultra conservatives here may be correct. But not necessarily in the manner that they may like to think they are. Either way, I guess you guys in the EU would be on your own. It was just that we bailed you out in WWII (against your own Adolph Hitler) and kept the USSR from over running you over for the 40 years or so of the Cold War. But two strikes is enough, we are not going to strike out for the third time, to bail you out against another mad man like Putin is at least somewhat turning out to be!!
frodo1008 about 10 years ago
Good Grief!! You are a perfect example of just what I was saying when I said that I could easily find myself agreeing with the more conservative people on this board over this particular issue! A very good post on your part (heck, you almost sound liberal in some of your attitudes)!
From what I have been able to see in the news it would seem that our current president agrees with you. Vladimir Putin may very well be a masochistic egotist, but he certainly is not stupid by any stretch of the imagination. And so many of your excellent suggestions would work to make him back off, if only the EU (along with the USA and the rest of the free world) would start such a campaign!!
frodo1008 about 10 years ago
It was the same types of alliances that resulted in both WWI and WWII, which resulted in the deaths of upwards of 100 million human beings. And it is even possible that such alliances could result in WWIII, which would kill off the rest of humanity. If that is even possible, then perhaps it would be better to indeed rip up those alliances. Things change, should we not be flexible enough to change with them?
Dtoutma was correct. Do we in the USA have the right, or even the obligation, to continue to tell the other 95% of humanity just how they should handle their own affairs. We certainly have enough trouble handling our own!!
Uncle Joe Premium Member about 10 years ago
“Neither Poland nor Hungary were ever part of the USSR. They were part of the Warsaw pact, that’s all.”That’s surprisingly off base for you. I doubt the Hungarians, Poles, East Germans & others who suffered under Moscow’s thumb would dismiss it with, “that’s all”. Their governments were puppets of the USSR for most of the Cold War. “And Germany’s army today consists of volunteers and has shrunk to about 180.000 man, all branches counted. We’ve sold nearly all of our main battle tanks (Leopard 2) and have just 224 in service. The Russians once had about 6000 of these things, don’t know how it’s today.”Almost every nation has been reducing it’s tank force. Tanks have been superseded by AFVs, drones & portable infantry weapons. Against a truly modern fighting force, tanks are nothing but very expensive targets. Tanks are only good for shock & awe value against inferior forces under an umbrella of air superiority. Russia has around 1,000 battle ready tanks with at least several thousand in reserve. During the height of the Cold War, the USSR had nearly 60,000 tanks. A huge chunk were outdated or in need of serious repair, though.“The EU is not a military alliance. There is a European military force in the planning, but it’s no use right now. So defense would fall to NATO, meaning the U.S., meaning reluctance.”While the EU & NATO are not synonymous, the EU as a distinct entity has a major say in NATO decisions beyond the voices of European NATO members.The real shield protecting NATO states has been American nuclear missiles. During the Cold War, both sides understood that moving forces across the Iron Curtain could provoke a nuclear holocaust. Now the lines are fuzzy. Ukraine was not a NATO state, but the Baltics are & they have significant Russian populations. It’s not inconceivable that Russia will look to expand it’s buffer zone at their expense.Landers’ main point that NATO & the EU (one would hope) will not sit idle if Putin attempts the same tactics in Poland & Hungary, that he’s using in Ukraine, is dead on. I’m sure Putin knows this as well, but he may be tempted to nibble elsewhere.
Uncle Joe Premium Member about 10 years ago
Such small-minded thinking. It isn’t an option of just war or sit back and do nothing. There are lots of ways to pressure Russia outside of military action. This administration is as bad as the rest, they can’t think “outside the box”. Use the press to expose how the russians were giving the Ukraine president all those riches. Use social media to humiliate Putin. Send Rock n Roll emissaries to the Ukraine to have peaceful concerts/demonstrations. Get the church involved. Get photos of individuals standing up to tanks-type photos… Give peace a chance.Careful there, Joad. You’re starting to live up to your namesake.
Uncle Joe Premium Member about 10 years ago
“Yeah, lets rip up ALL of our mutual defense treaties.”We don’t have a mutual defense treaty with Ukraine.