Troops at one of the last major Ukrainian bases in Crimea defiantly sang their national anthem on Saturday as Russian forces stormed their compound and demanded their surrender. As the Russian
force, bristling with heavy machine guns, over-ran the base, the
Ukrainians realized it was pointless to try to fight back. Instead, they
lined up on the parade ground and burst into song as the intruders held
them at gunpoint.
Ratcheting up the pressure on Russia, Chicago threatens to suspend sister-city agreement with Moscow. Now at least four Chicago alderman — including Ald. Edward Burke (14th) — have endorsed the resolution suspending the Sister Cities agreement with Moscow. I'm sure Putin's reconsidering his actions as you read this.
Now known as Kaliningrad, the Kaliningrad Oblast is an exclave of Russia completely surrounded by the EU states of Lithuania and Poland on the Baltic Sea. See the little red spot on the far left of the first map, that's Kaliningrad. The formerly Prussian and German city of Königsberg was a gift to Stalin at the end of WWII. It is home to the HQ of the Russian Baltic Fleet, in Kaliningrad and Baltiysk (Formerly the German City of Pillau), is the only Russian Navy port on the Baltic that is ice-free year round.
Are your Economic Sanctions Being Laughed At?
Close the land borders between Lithuania, Poland, and Kaliningrad. No rail, no road, no gas pipelines, no electricity... nothing crosses those borders. Let the Russian government feel the pain of resupplying their Baltic fleet entirely by sea or air. It doesn't require military force, it doesn't directly impact the Russian people themselves, and it can be accomplished in its entirety by two EU and NATO members.
In an interview with NBC station KNSD San Diego, President Barack Obama ruled out a "military excursion" by
the United States in Ukraine, saying that engaging Russia militarily
"would not be appropriate." In a separate interview with KSDK in St Louis, Obama reiterated that a military option is not on the table.
I'd Love to play Poker with this guy...
Uh... I only have two fours, can I have three cards? Now before you liberals get your panties all twisted and knotted up, I'm not advocating military action in the Ukraine. We are not going to go to war over Crimea, I know it, you know it, Putin knows it, but our President doesn't need to do six television news interviews to confirm it. It's like putting your house up for sale for $300,000 and taking out an ad saying "House for Sale, $300,000... won't take less than $250,000". In negotiations, you don't inform the other side of what you're willing or not willing to do. Here's a brief simple lesson for our President:
Congratulations Mr. President
You just told Putin all you're holding is a pair of twos.
Crimean Prime Mister Sergey Aksyonov tweeted the above photograph of President Obama in a Russian military uniform. Nothing like a little R-S-P-E-C-T! It turns out the "Severe Sanctions" hanging over Moscow like the Sword of Damocles turns out to be travel bans on seven Russians and 4 Ukrainians. Word is you can hear the laughter from Sarah Palin's backyard.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin called Obama a prankster.
"Russia is the only country in the world realistically capable of turning the United States into radioactive ash,"
Dmitry Kiselyov said on the state controlled Rossiya 1 television network to reinforce his comment that the United States and President Barack Obama were living in fear of Russia led by President Vladimir Putin.
There is only one possible response to that comment:
Food for Thought
Imperial County California has a higher percentage of Hispanics than Crimea does of Russians. Fortunately polls show a higher chance of them seceding and joining Arizona than Mexico. Just sayin'
On the eve of the referendum vote in Crimea, Russian forces seized the town of Strilkove in Kherson outside of Crimea and its natural gas distribution facility. Meanwhile Balaclava masked members of the Berkut are here to assist you in your vote:
1. Are you in favor of the reunification of Crimea with Russia as a part of the Russian Federation?
2. Are you in favor of restoring the 1992 Constitution and the status of Crimea as a part of Ukraine?
Retaining Crimea’s current status, is not an option. NYT
Here is a little light music to vote by:
“You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by
invading another country on completely trumped up pre-text,” John Kerry
Really? I'd like to ask John Kerry, who told you the rules had changed? Where power, wealth, or land can be seized by force absent resistance it will be, and no amount of idyllic utopian dreaming is going to change that basic premise.
The problems with pacifism aren't pacifists, it's everybody else.
Richard Caton Woodville: Charge of the Light Brigade
The Crimea
The Crimea has had a long and convoluted history, a convoluted history that continues to this day.
Yesterday's post was at the time it was written was intended to be a rather tongue in cheekwarning about Russia and the Ukrainian situation. It was, however, overcome by events prior to publishing, events that culminated in the Russian invasion of the Crimea.Aninvasion that took place, at least according to the Russian foreign minister, on the pretext of an attack on the Crimean Interior Ministry.
"unidentified armed people who were sent from Kiev tried to take
control of Crimea's Interior Ministry headquarters early Saturday in a treacherous provocation that induced casualties"
Now I call it a pretext simply because there is no corroborating evidence that such an attack ever took place.
Vladimir Krashevsky, a top official at the Simferopol-based division of
the local berkut, or riot police, said there was no such attack by
Kiev-allied gunmen on the Ministry of Internal Affairs building, where
he gave an impromptu press conference Saturday afternoon. "There was no attack here and there won't be one," he said.
Five people who live in the buildings next to the Interior Ministry in
Simferopol that was allegedly attacked said everything was peaceful
Friday night and they heard nothing.
There were no signs of struggle at the building complex—all the windows
and gates remained intact—and pro-Russia activist militiamen stood
outside with riot shields painted as a Russian flag. Alexander Shuvalov,
the commander of the militia, which has been watching over the building
complex, also said there had been no such attack. - WSJ
In fact, nothing much was going on in Crimea at all that wasn't Russian or pro-Russian.
Impotence and Ineptitude
By all appearances, we've had another major intelligence failure as a Senate aide has reported that this past Friday's intelligence assessment was “Vladimir Putin’s military would not invade Ukraine”.
Obama's threats go unheeded and may have even backfired according to Yuri L. Vorobyov Deputy Speaker of Russia's Upper House, the Federation Council said Mr. Obama’s warning on Friday was a cause for Russia to act.
By saying that Russia would face “costs” for its policy with regard to
Ukraine, U.S. President Barack Obama “crossed the red line and insulted
the Russian people,”
Indeed, the best the administration can muster at this point is the childish threat not to go to Putin's G8 party.
Russian Apologists
I've been amazed at the progressives, socialists, and liberals coming out in defense of Russian action in the Crimea. It simply illustrates how out of touch they really are. Who is Vladimir Putin? He certainly isn't a communist, nor is he a socialist.
Russia needs to develop a free market economy based on industry and
middle size business as the growth potential of a resource based economy
is exhausted.Russia Today
But what is he? Nationalistic and authoritarian are two of the adjectives used to describe him. The Russian propaganda line that the Euromaiden protestors are "neo-fascists" is rather ironic, as Putin has been called that himself. US economist Richard Rahn in the Brussels Journal called Putinism
“a Russian nationalistic authoritarian form of government that pretends to be a free market democracy”, which “owes more of its lineage to fascism than communism;”
Putin introduced a flat tax rate of 13%, reduced the corporate tax rate from 35% to 24%, and small businesses can choose between a 6% tax on gross revenue or a 15% tax on profits. He has also been accused of being both a cronyist and a corporatist. In essence, Putin is everything the left has accused Republicans of being for years.
The reality
Russia is in the Crimea and there is little we can do about it. Putin has judged us perfectly, neither NATO, the EU, nor the United States will go to war for the Ukraine. We have no leverage, globally we need Russia more than it needs us. We may make a lot of noise but our bark is worse than our bite.
Make no mistakes, Russia is in the Ukraine for Russia, not for the Ukrainians, the Crimeans, or the ethnic Russians.
As libertarians, we here at Western Hero, stand with both the Ukrainians and the Crimeans for their right to self-determination. Without doubt, the Russian occupation of Crimea is conducive to neither.
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