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© 2014 AFPJapan expresses concern over Russia's Ukraine move
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noriyosan73
Japan should be concerned. The Ukraine situation is a land grab so that Russia can protect its warm-water port. Russia will never return the islands north of Japan. When Russia sees that the USA will do nothing about the Ukraine, it will continue to expand to the Soviet Union size. China is also watching the USA's reaction. It could see the Ukraine situation as a green light for its expansion.
anahorn
Stop the Russian aggression to Ukraine now!!!! The next target for Russian fascists after Ukraine can be Poland, Czech Republic or Romania. But Ukraine has a very small and weak army now and cannot withstand the Russian attack for a long time. EU, NATO, please protect my home country from Russian fascist aggressors.
HongoTAFEinmate
So maybe no more hot and steamy nights between Shinzo Abe and Russia's tiger-wrestling gay icon. Abe's decision to attend the Olympics last month while everybody else boycotted the ceremonies now looks a bit stupid. What is Japan going to do? Proceeding with its plan to reproach with Russia in order to outflank China now looks a bit of a gamble because Washington is upset with Moscow. Also if full-scale war does break out in the Ukraine, Abe's previous love-ins with Vlad are going to hang around his neck like a burning tire.
harvey pekar
Noriyosan73, Noriyosan73. "When Russia sees that the USA will do nothing about the Ukraine, it will continue to expand to the Soviet Union size. China is also watching the USA's reaction. It could see the Ukraine situation as a green light for its expansion."
So, now you want the "warmonger" to fight and die for another country? The majority always wants US bases out of their country until the poop hits the fan. Then, it's "Do something, America!"
People cry the US are colonialists and are always starting wars and now you want the US to give lives for your fights. Do you want the US in your country and to protect you or do you want it only when it's convenient to you?
Bgood41
Japan should be very extremely cautious in dealing with Russia under Putin. Reagan and Gorbachev introduced "perestroika" to break down Berlin wall and former Soviet Union, hoping for the modernity of Russia. Obama who lost credibility with rhetoric as his reality is no match with Putin's reality of power grabbing and restoring the Russian empire as we see now in Ukraine. From Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria, China, Venezuela, and now Ukraine really show the naivety of the WH. Who is going to cross the red line and bringing the reset of reset button this time to Putin? China will veto any attempt to remove Russia from security council. Japan must really prepare and do not count on Obama, period.
anahorn
harvey pekar, now the situation is quite different and it is not Middle East, Ukraine is Europe. Putin is a new Hitler and Europe's safety is under threat now. It's in the interests of Europe (mainly UK and France as the major military powers) to give a hand to Ukraine, because Putin will not stop on Ukraine, sooner or later he will try to expand further to the West to create his "buffer zone". Europe should not make the same mistake as before the WW2 when we allowed Hitler to occupy Poland (Molotov-Ribbentrop pact). And then... you know what happened during 1941-1945. Stop Putin until it's too late.
harvey pekar
Hey, Bgood41. Nice to meet you.
"Japan must really prepare and do not count on Obama, period."
So, are you saying you can count on Abe? What in his years of masterful foreign diplomacy has he shown that makes you say, yes, that man has the deft touch when dealing with frien-emies such as Russia?
Believe me, I am no Obama fan, but the US military has no enviable position ever. Hated if they act, hated if they don't. It's always easy to make Internet Blog Declarations of War.
25psot
Abe worries if Russia started to take some territories then instead give back they will take more in the future from Japan too.
Nathaw
Abe has already criticized Russia. In fact he was only pro west leader shamelessly attended Sochi Olympic. He was the one who kissed Putin boots. Putin has hosted Abe as formality as head of state Olympic guest. Not the die-hard diplomatic or strategic alliance. Abe is nothing important for Putin.
At the end, Japan needs Russia more than other way around. If Russia will not return some Islands of Northern Territory as proposed before, it will be Abe fault for making Russia has been offended. It is not Japan interest for joining US for condemning Russia. Japan needs the independent foreign policy.
Japan has pro long tension with ROK and PRC. If Japan is keep bashing Russia like US, it will become the lonely planet of North East Asia. Japan will become like Israel surrounded by hostile neighbors. If it has become, it is the entirely fault of Abe.
technosphere
Nathaw
Nothing serious.
anahorn
Nathaw, any negotiations of Japan with Putin will be always in vein. Current Russian government only understands the language of force. Russian government is the highly corrupted government of fascists that is terrorizing its own people and putting into jail all people who think differently. At the same time, Putin is already losing support of people in his own country. Putin is a bloody dictator. Abe should act in much more decisive manner dealing with Russians, this is the ONLY way to deal with Putin.
globalwatcher
noriyosan73Mar. 03, 2014 - 11:04AM JST
Yep, noriyosan. Russia will never return the Northern Islands to Japan. They are thugs. Also I agree China is carefully monitoring the whole situation of Ukraine while US defense spending are now the lowest. I am not so optimistic as well as Japanese.
technosphere
globalwatcher
Really? The US attacked dozen of countries, killing thousands of innocent people there and "Russians are thugs", huh? Are you crazy ?
Cortes Elijah
God hope this doesn't get any worse.
Barbara Trout
Japan should criticize the Russians for the Ukrainian invasion, but should attend the G-8 meeting to show it has an independent foreign policy.
BurakuminDes
I sincerely hope no Ukrainian citizens or soldiers are killed by these illegally invading thugs. Stay strong, Ukraine!
darknuts
Atleast Putin got congressional approval. The US can learn something.
sighclops
Hard to believe that with Russia trying to reinvent itself with the hosting the Sochi Olympics, that's all been shot down in flames. The G8 meeting was set for Sochi, but that won't be happening. Russia may even be kicked out of the G8.
What the HELL Putin? Just further proving that Russia has not changed one bit...
globalwatcher
technosphereMar. 03, 2014 - 12:28PM JST
Yes, Russians are thugs. You need to return the Northern Islands of Japan. They do not belong to Russians. You stole them all from Japan. Yes, Russians are thugs.
smithinjapan
Japan and other nations have every right to be concerned. First and foremost, on a humanitarian level and based on international laws what Russia is doing and could well do today or tomorrow by invading is horrible to think about. On a regional note, this is going to screw things in terms of dialogue over the islands. Russia isn't going to take the Ukraine and then turn around and go back to discussing giving Japan back two of the islands when Japan supported the US side on the matter (and they absolutely must support the US side given things in Asia).
Bad situation, all around. Let's hope Russia comes to its senses and does not fully invade the Ukraine.
highball7
When it comes to sovereignty and military bases, the Russians don't mess around. They will use force even at huge economic costs. I see Obama talking about "costs" but there is nothing US can do.
genjuro
This. The majority of people are deluded by the anti-Russian, anti-Putin news propaganda waged by the mainstream press. Who are behind the media? The global bankers and the NWO people, those who are pulling the strings. They're the ones who have fomented wars and unrest in Syria, Egypt, Libya, and other countries using the CIA, NSA, along with other government agencies as tools . Putin doesn't belong to the global cabal and doesn't play well with them, so they're relentlessly attacking him. It's basically one huge PSYOPs operation using underhanded, sneaky tactics. They've done this before, and they'll continue to do it again.
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2014/02/28/massive-psyop-employed-against-ukraine-by-gchq-and-nsa.html
Royalcourtier
The invasion of Ukraine was a contravention of the UN Charter and Russia's international commitments. This is an invasion whether or not any shots are fired. It is also irrelevant that nearly half of the residents of Crimea are ethnic Russian.
The USA and UK undertook in the Budapest Memorandum to guarantee Ukraine's territorial integrity. They are now obliged to provide assistance to Ukraine.
Obama and Cameron have a choice. Stand up to Putin and do their legal duty, which means risking war with Russia. Or do nothing and lose all credibility.
If Obama does nothing meaningful, as he has implied, you can disregard as meaningless any security guarantees that America may have given to Japan. They will not honour them.
Unless Obama forces Putin to back down, America can no longer be trusted to provide you with any security. Japan is now at much greater risk of regional aggression.
wanderlust
@anahorn - It's in the interests of Europe (mainly UK and France as the major military powers) to give a hand to Ukraine
I don't think the UK has any capability left. The military is stretched enough with wars in the Middle East, a commitments elsewhere, round after round of defence cuts, and a public tired of seemingly never-ending wars in far-off lands. France and Germany (a major power too) would also think twice about involvement there..
Chooky88
Japan should be concerned because if it becomes war in Europe, who will be left to stop China?
Arthur Dumbolov
As always, West demonizing Russia, and as always, truth is hidden under the thick layer of lies, everyone and everybody is listening news only from one source, not listening to what other side want to tell. This is how "freedom of speech" works. This is true "democracy", where one BY DEFAULT is right, and other BY DEFAULT is wrong.
I just left it here: Protesters worship to Bandera and Shukhevych, they were traitors and were one with Nazis.
Badge213
Ukraine and the US have no security alliance nor are they any US bases in the Ukraine. Completely different than the US-Japan relationship. China isn't that stupid.
technosphere
@Arthur DumbolovMAR. 03, 2014 - 01:57PM JST
Remember, those westerners used to call bloody terrorists from Chechnya and ME countries as "freedom fighters". They were so happy when buildings in Russia were blown up. And they like to cry and whine when the very same sort of terrorists hijack airplanes in the USA or blow up bombs in crowded places in America.
nath
darknuts
@Déjà vu again
Remove Russia from the UN? Ha! Russia would simply veto the resolution.
ClippetyClop
This should take China's mind off the little old Senkakus & Scarborough Shoal for a while. Nothing like a rumbling Slav tank brigade to clarify one's priorities
Zmitro
This issue of nuclear disarmament. Who will disarm now? Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Russia disarmed under the Guarantees, USA, UK, China, too, and the Protocol was signed (in Ukraine on TV stand people who do dorovor and signed). So what? Ukraine politely sent. Ukraine makes missiles - spaceships. has a nuclear reactor, there are scientists. Iran and North Korea will actively make nuclear weapons. And Japan is forced to think seriously. A nuclear weapon is very dangerous and poorly controlled. Russian experts believe that Russia wants to gain control over the Ukrainian military factories. These plants are important for the Russian army, they made a lot of important equipment. Chinese ships and planes use Ukrainian Turbins https://twitter.com/ukrpravda_news This independent television from Ukraine. After the revolution, has many hours of television broadcasting in the main Ukrainian television channel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzhnoye_Design_Bureau http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sea_Launch http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuzhmash Missiles produced at Yuzhmash included the first nuclear armed Soviet rocket R-5M (SS-3 'Shyster'), the R-12 Dvina (SS-4 'Sandal'), the R-14 Chusovaya (SS-5 'Skean'), the first widely deployed Soviet ICBM R-16 (SS-7 'Saddler'), the R-36 (SS-9 'Scarp'), the MR-UR-100 Sotka (SS-17 'Spanker'), and the R-36M (SS-18 'Satan'). During the Soviet era, the plant was capable of producing of up to 120 ICBMs a year. In the late 1980s, Yuzhmash was selected to be the main production facility of the RT-2UTTKh Topol-M ICBM (SS-27 "Sickle B").
anahorn
According to Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances signed in 1994, USA and UK provided security assurances against threats or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, in exchange for Ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budapest_Memorandum_on_Security_Assurances It means that USA and UK are obliged to protect Ukraine from Russian aggression.
Octagon
I am not a fan of ousted Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovich. He is corrupted. However he is democratically elected as Abe San for becoming the leader. The way he was dumped and charged by Mobs was a conspiracy of Uncle Sam. Thailand has similar circumstances as Ukraine for black mailing and harassing current PM.
If every nations follow that medieval ideology of Mobs, there is no point for making democratic elections at all. Japan is no longer in Shogun era for making forceful revolution with swords. Therefore Russia is the savior of the democracy and law and order.
Imagine Abe San was removed and issued the arrest warrant by Yakuza gansters who was paid by Democratic party of Japan. How will Abe react the same scenario? If Tea party stormed White house and kidnapped Obama, how will US high court respond? Can US replace Ron Paul as head of states after sending Obama to the Guantanamo Bay with corruption charge?
If Abe respect the democracy and human rights, Abe should support Russia is protecting and saving Ukraine will not become another chaotic, lawless and bloody middle east.
Mobs on the road of Ukraine or Thai who are die-hard fans of Arab Spring should realize that forcing elected leader out of the office was unlawful and unconstitutional. Arab spring has become never ending nightmare because of the back stabbing of US. It is against the principle of the majesty of democracy and civilized manner.
If Russia is a thug, US is an arsonist of Bush fire. Japan should be independent for foreign affair with free and fair thinking.
genjuro
Unfortunately, most people still believe the lies they hear from the mainstream media, if the people minusing you is one indication. Instead of seeking out other sources of news, either they're too lazy to do so or just gullible to believe what is parroted daily in the major news sources. It's really not hard to go online and read other, alternative news sites and opposing views and apply critical thinking. This is in fact what a growing number of people have been doing.
Sadly the majority still can't be bothered to do so and continue to consume the fodder of lies spewed out by the large news networks. The ability to analyze, discern, and be objective seems lost on these people. Instead, they prefer quick sound bites and sensationalist, attention-grabbing stories which requires no thinking or criticism, which makes it easier and convenient to digest as "truth." As the link to the article I posted above states, it's a massive PSYOPs campaign and it appears to be working, sadly.
Sherman
Japan and Russia are still technically at war.
ohayo206
Russia And China 'In Agreement' Over Ukraine...Gee I wonder why.
kobzar
****The Biggest Thanks to the Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe for this Help Action of my nice Ukraine !!!
EthanWilber
@anahorn “... now the situation is quite different and it is not Middle East, Ukraine is Europe. Putin is a new Hitler and Europe's safety is under threat now. It's in the interests of Europe (mainly UK and France as the major military powers) to give a hand to Ukraine, because Putin will not stop on Ukraine, sooner or later he will try to expand further to the West to create his "buffer zone". Europe should not make the same mistake as before the WW2 when we allowed Hitler to occupy Poland (Molotov-Ribbentrop pact). And then... you know what happened during 1941-1945. Stop Putin until it's too late.”
Anahorn, are you alright? You sound like the doomsdays comes near you. :)
Granted, not many posters in this forum are endorsing Russia’s aggression. But your analogy of Hitler in 1940’ may, in my humble opinion, overly exaggerate Russia’s ability and capacity to undertake your predicted daunting annexing country list in today’s world.
My advice, if I may, any armchair general, president not to mention the warmongers Please calm down a little, wait and see before unleashing your guys' wild speculation and imagination. :)
The sun will rise tomorrow, and Russins will not gobble down even Ukraine.
Louis Tan
Shinzo Abe best keep his mouth shut. The Kuriles will be next. The U.S. is unable to fight fires around the world while it joins in the conflagration. When Japan's usefulness is over it will face the same treatment the U.S. is now giving Israel. A used ally now an outcast. A perfect confluence of events for Shinzo Abe: economic policy failures, self-created territorial anxiety and the Russian bear ready to pounce on his backdoor, and increasing domestic social discontent..
bass4funk
I love how some of you libs and US bashers just can't resist yourselves to veer off and take cowardly potshots about something that doesn't even belong on this topic or thread. We're talking about Ukraine and how did Guantanamo and Tea Partyand "Ron Paul" get get caught up into the mix somehow??
@royalcourtier
I fully agree, but so far as for Obama, he hasn't done much as just only by verbal rhetoric.
And this is what deeply worries me.
Well let's hope there isn't an escalation in this conflict, it's bad all around and I just have a knowing feeling sadly that this is just the beginning of something much bigger to come, I hope I'm wrong though.
Arthur Dumbolov
So you really think we want to take over Ukraine? Gosh, you are all just bunch of brainwashed people.
First of all, Ukrainians are brother nation of Russia, it means that we go hand in hand, sometime we may quarrel, but it goes away quickly. We are closest friends. Russia started as Kievan Rus.
And then some thugs from Lord knows where came and said "WE ARE NOT BROTHERS! WE ARE INDEPENDENT! FREEDOM TO UKRAINE!" OK. We ignored. But then they started this "Euromaidan" show, with protests, fights, blood and death. And they worship to Stepan Bandera, who was merciless bloody killer, helped to Nazis and enjoyed when somebody suffers. A monster.
One of his most loyal worshipers is Sashko Bilyi: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mlKEF5uoU_I
He fought side by side with Doku Umarov, the terrorist wanted in USA, against Russians. He shouted "Allahu Akbar" when he was with Umarov in terrorist camp. He is russophobic bloodthirsty maniac.
And you support many people like him. Rethink again what you are doing.
kcjapan
Can Russia control 45 Million Ukrainians?
How long can Russia control Ukrainians when Ukrainians don't want Russian control? And the rest of the world sees Russian actions as International Crime? Putin's Legacy? Another Iron Curtain?nath
Russia - the latest country on my list to avoid.
BertieWooster
Kerry says:
So what did the U.S.A. do in Iraq?
EXACTLY what Kerry is accusing Russia of doing.
The pot calls the kettle black.
Asian2013
Putin is visiting Tokyo in May. Let's see how Abesan receives him and how many islands he will get!
Dylan Otoshiro
I feel as though this is a far more complex issue than the black and while "Russia invaded Ukraine!!!" that many countries are painting it as, most of the people in Crimea are in favour of Russian rule as far as I've seen, the way I see it, if they want to go, let them.
Nenad Jovanović
Just for you to remind you on something that USA did in 99 , and thats , supporting Kosovo independence from Serbia , ( and to remind people from China that USA bombed China embassy in Serbia in that war ) , so, USA wanted to make that as "one time work" , as something that should not happen anywhere else (or USA want to make it exclusive only for USA interests )
For those who dont know, Krim was the part of Russia , but Hrushow gave it to the Ukraine after Staljin death , and also, its autonomous region , with predominant Russian people.
I think now its best time for Japan Abe to talk about islands, he need to ask from Putin to give him back those islands, and Abe will give Rusiia political and economical support , because, we all know this will be justt political game in Ukraine, there is no chance for war , because of mixed population of Rusians and Ukranians .
Andreas Bimba
THE DEMOCRATIC WORLD MUST REMAIN MILITARILY STRONG
I refer the reader to the attached article by Janet Daley, a columnist for London’s Sunday Telegraph that appeared in the Age on February 24, 2014 which raises the same concerns that I raise in this article.
http://www.theage.com.au/comment/putin-marches-into-the-dark-void-left-by-obama-20140223-33ad0.html
Quote from Janet Daley's article: [So tell me, those of you who have demanded for years that America and the West should end their ''domination'' of geopolitics, and their interference in the affairs of far-flung nations: is this what you wanted? A free-for-all for rogue states, lunatic extremists and long-dead imperial powers, in which the lives and freedoms of populations caught up in the murderous power play would count for nothing?]
One of the major failings of progressives, centralists, liberals and the 'left' is to assume that by good deeds and a pure heart that the world will somehow take notice and progress to a better world. This would only be true if all peoples and nations thought the same way but currently many do not and are unlikely to for many more generations unfortunately. The evil and the selfish will always exploit such a vacuum of power and they will try to advance their reprehensible causes.
For the democratic world to unilaterally disarm or retreat into isolationism for financial reasons; in a world with so many despots, nations with imperialist ambitions, extreme religious movements, unresolved conflicts such as in the Middle East and the Korean Peninsula, where nuclear weapons are held by unstable states like Pakistan and North Korea, where China seeks to be an economic and military superpower, where the relative economic capacity and technical superiority of the democratic world is shrinking, where the world faces increasing stresses from global warming, population growth, shortages of clean water, food shortages, arable land shortages, perverse concentration of economic wealth and so on; is highly irresponsible and counterproductive to the long term goals of world peace and human and environmental advancement.
The forces of good must be strengthened and international institutions such as the United Nations and the International Criminal Court must be strengthened. More resources must be devoted to international economic and social development and to resolving areas of conflict and economic and social inequity. Military forces however must not be neglected and democratic nations of good will must always be able to influence and bargain from a position of adequate strength as well as virtue.
A good role model for this approach was Sweden during the cold war where a strong military was retained while the cause for world peace, strict neutrality, justice and human advancement was pushed with great vigour. Sweden was able to do this while still supporting a generous system of social welfare and free education. Sweden has unfortunately decided to almost abandon its military in the modern era and is currently an example of how the democratic world should not proceed in this particular respect. Sweden will lose political power and relevance as well as endangering her own security and lose what was an important part of her economy, that of military production where Sweden was once a world leader. Sweden’s close neighbour Russia is highly unstable and continues to demonstrate imperialist ambitions.
The recent decision by the US Government to phase out the still very capable 350 strong fleet of A10 ground attack aircraft and the large KC-10 aerial refuelling tanker fleet is an example of reckless and short sited decision making by the centre left of US politics. The quoted savings are peanuts compared to the original cost of acquisition and deployment and these platforms have ample remaining service lives. The US national budget deficit should not be used to justify such poor decisions. The US must remain as a military superpower at least until other world players such as Russia and China decide to pursue military moderation. The US should not repeat the mistake of almost total demobilisation after WWII which probably emboldened Stalin and North Korea to invade the South and led to the death of so many in the Korean War.
http://breakingdefense.com/2013/12/air-force-chief-says-cutting-a-10-fleet-would-save-3-7-billion/
http://www.nationaldefensemagazine.org/archive/2013/September/Pages/FighttoKeepA-10WarthoginAirForceInventoryReachesEndGame.aspx
Tyr Bjoerdal
1938 "Peace in our time!" Chamberlain 2014 "War in our time!" Putin
sfjp330
Germany is the largest economy in Europe, and you noticed that Merkel is not taking any leadership about the current crisis in Ukraine. Germany remains desperate to avoid a confrontation with Russia that could have a long-term impact on relations with a country it continues to view as a vital strategic partner. Germany receives close to 40 percent of its gas and 35 percent of its oil from Russia, well above the European average and German firms own stakes in over 6,000 Russian companies. Germany has become a puppet state for Russia.
sf2k
Good time to take back the Kuril Islands?
JTDanMan
I am one Liberal Democrat who calls BS on that.
We got OBL. The Right got the wrong war.
kaimycahl
@ Arthur Dumbolov
As always, West demonizing Russia, and as always, truth is hidden under the thick layer of lies, everyone and everybody is listening news only from one source, not listening to what other side want to tell. This is how "freedom of speech" works. This is true "democracy", where one BY DEFAULT is right, and other BY DEFAULT is wrong.
I just left it here: Protesters worship to Bandera and Shukhevych, they were traitors and were one with Nazis.
You have a great name now I know why you have such posting that make no sense!
bass4funk
@bertie
Got rid of Saddam, what's Putin's reason?
Not even in the same stratosphere. You're comparing apples to mangoes.
@JTDan
You mean to say, SEAL Team 6 got OBL with the help of the previous admin. Working closely together. So yes, you get 1partial credit. Other than that, this admin has a horrible foreign policy track record,
Update!
US Ambassador to UN says Russian actions in Ukraine " Must stop" Ok, we all know that's obvious, but my question is, what's your overall solution? No matter how much Obama whines and the rest of the world complains, Putin is just going to continue doing what Putin wants to do and all the rhetoric won't do Jack.
ka_chan
Guess people here don't know their history or geography. Eastern Ukraine is Russian speaking and culturally closer to Russia. The Crimea is where Russia's largest navy base is located. Eastern Ukraine feels closer to Russia and may consider themselves more Russian than Ukrainian. There is the long history between Crimea and Russia as the Crimean War which didn't work so well for the Russian Empire in the mid 19th Century. If want to draw a parallel with the per-cursors to WWII, then it is much closer to the Sudetenland of Czechoslovakia. Are we going to see something like the Munich agreement, maybe. As for Crimea today, it is basically a fait accompli.
sfjp330
There are the grim economic factors weakening Russia. Russia makes very little that the rest of us want. With the exception of natural gas, weapons, vodka and caviar, the world's markets ignore Russia. Putin's long-term ambition to recreate Russian martial glory will be compromised by a worsening economic base. Remember Serbia? Throughout the 1990s, Belgrade waged a war of genocide against the Muslims and Croats of the former Yugoslavia. Serbia's chief protector? Moscow. Russia has a remarkable capacity to engage in the destruction of regions it sees as within its sphere of influence.
BertieWooster
bass4funk,
You don't see the similarity?
You amaze me.
Bush brings up a package of lies and half truths (Google "Bush lies" if you don't believe me), and based on that, invades Iraq. Cheney said, "We know they've got WMDs. We knew where they are."
Well the UN inspectors who were in Iraq at the time didn't know where they were. Because there weren't any.
The US invaded Iraq on a completely trumped up pretext.
EXACTLY what Kerry is accusing Russia of doing.
bass4funk
sfjp330
Don't forget planes. They do make decent planes actually. But point taken. If the world would really come together and put an economical strangle hold on Russia. Let's hope something positive can come from all of this.
darknuts
Much of Europe relies on Russia for it's energy so it still has quite a bit of influence.
fds
japan should be concerned. russia is acting to protect its black sea naval base but the u.s. made a treaty with the ukraine to protect its sovereignty in exchange for the ukraine giving up its nuclear weapons. if u.s. defaults whose to say that they won't default on the u.s.- japan defense treaty? personally i don't see the u.s. as willing to get over a shooting war with china over the rocks which are the senkakus. they will make a lot of noise and levy sanctions but so what? hasn't worked with iran, won't work with china or russia. having nukes would make china think long and hard about what they are doing. no nuclear armed country has ever had its borders infringed.
nath
This will blow up on America's face. How many times does America have to over throw a country to get what it wants, wake up people. America has lost it's moral authority by lying, scheming and spying. Look what they did to Libya, Iraq, Iran etc....
lostrune2
"Under current international law, force is permitted only in self-defense or by the decision of the Security Council. Anything else is unacceptable ... and would constitute an act of aggression."
-- Putin's op-ed in the NY Times (September 11, 2013)
Serhii Korennov
Hmmm... Worse. You want a peace of it as you can't swallow the whole country. If not, what else are your troops are doing there?
Good. So, brother, could you please quietly get back to your room and shut the door, thank you very much?
Wrong. Euromaidan was initiated by a thousand of people in Kiev, and it was not an anti-Russian action. There were hundred of thousands in the streets - are labeled by "thugs", "terrorists", "radicals", "nationalists" and what not by the Russian media. As in any massive uprising there are different people in the crowd. But ALL of them shouted "We are independent!" and "Freedom to Ukraine!" Apparently, people wanting freedom are, by Russian standards, just "thugs".
Pity. We expected that you will clap your hands... Or just mind your business, really. And then you lost your patience and decided to send some troops in, because hey, they were missing a real action since 2008, so why not. Your president is now saying they are not Russians, they are just local folks who bought a Russian uniform (and weapons) in a local shop at a discounted price. Unfortunately he sort of forgot to tell that story to these people in advance - before they were telling media where they came from.
The world has been through this once, in 1939. Let's not make it happen again.
globalwatcher
sf2kMar. 04, 2014 - 05:29AM JST
I see an opportunity for Japan to start negotiations with Russia to take them back. They do not belong to Russia.
Wulfe N. Straat
Japan shouldn't worry. It's all part of the plan. Putin secured a Pyrrhic victory in Ukraine, nothing more. Why is it Pyrrhic? Because he set a bad precedent for Russia in its future relations with China. As a result, Russia is doomed.
Doesn't Putin realize that the way he protected Russian expatriates in Ukraine is the same excuse that China can use for protecting its Chinese expatriate population in Russia's Far East.
This is how China regains its past glory from its past humiliation. This is how China can regain the Primorye peninsula by claiming that Chinese citizens are being harassed, detained, maltreated, etc. etc. by the local Russian population in the former Qing territories of Russia's Far East.
Now think of this: With the precedent that Russia just set, China has the moral authority to intervene on Russian territory in order to establish “facts on the ground” with respect to Chinese property and the autonomy of the Chinese population.
For those of you with eyes to see, see how well positioned China has made itself by simply agreeing with Russia that it had the moral imperative to protect Russian citizens on foreign soil. This is just too laughable...that a gladiator would remove his chest armor, just as his enemy is striking a sword at his heart.
We never expected Putin to make such a horrible mistake at this early date. We need more time to align our forces in properly containing China. By now, Russia is on the verge of being beggared, which is what happens when a counjtry is stripped of an economy which provides the Russian Federation with 8 trillion dollars of its GDP.