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Saturday, March 15, 2014

The Next Move Starts Before the Last One Ends

Today brings news that Russian forces have now occupied a village in Ukraine that is not in Crimea.  Until now, the Russian invasion had been limited to the Crimean peninsula.  Russia, of course, denies that its forces are even in Crimea.  Those 25,000 armed men are just some sort of mirage according to Putin.  Tomorrow, there will be the "free and fair" referendum of voters in Crimea who get to choose whether or not to remain part of Ukraine or to unite with Russia.  The Russians say that the presence of armed troops on streets and at the polls is not going to interfere with the referendum.  Voters will still be able to vote free of any influence that might sway the outcome.  Indeed, most Ukrainians in Crimea have apparently told the Russians that they will not change their votes even though they know that voting to stay with Ukraine could lead to their arrest and incarceration for months or years.

The sham election was supposed to be the culmination of Russia's annexation of Crimea, and with that move, the Russian invasion was supposed to end.  At least that is what the mainstream media and the Obama administration have been saying.  According to these geniuses, Putin regrets the invasion and he has just been looking for a way out of the situation.  It is hard to believe that our government is so myopic.

In any event, Russia is now moving on its next target:  the remainder of the eastern Ukraine.  Secretary of State Kerry already warned the Russians that they would suffer severe consequences it they allowed the referendum to go ahead.  Today, Kerry go a very clear answer.  Not only will the referendum proceed, but Russia is going for the a big chunk of what is left of Ukraine.

It is terrible to watch America's delusional leaders try to conduct foreign policy as if it were a discussion at the faculty club on some Ivy league university.  It is not.  We live in the real world and have to deal with actual reality.  Obama and Kerry seem unable to grasp this basic truth.  As a result, the entire world suffers the consequences.



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