Fighting around the Donetsk Oblast in eastern Ukraine continues to escalate today, as civilians try to flee the various areas which have become “front-line” combat zones since the ceasefire collapse late last month.
The nation’s civil war is back in full swing, with both military and rebels talking up conscription to add to their fighting forces, and the Obama Administration debating insinuating itself more directly in the war.
The Pentagon is already providing considerable non-lethal equipment to the Ukrainian military for this war, are are now pushing President Obama to sign off on providing them with anti-tank missiles and other weaponry.
The Pentagon is arguing that providing the military with better weapons will scare the rebels off and hasten the end of the conflict, though others warn the arms will just encourage Russia to increase its own arming of the rebels, and escalate the war even more.
So if the Pentagon knew that Hillary's Libyan adventure was crap, why are they so intent on messing around in the Ukraine? For every good decisions they make, they just have to take a stupid one, huh?
Something to do with at least two roster changes in the Pentagon?
What are the changes?
Gates was SoD in '11, Hegel followed, but Hegel's gone… Mullen was Chair of Joint Chiefs in '11, replaced by Dempsey … for one set of changes. Gates and Mullen actually publicly undercut Hilary's fantasies
on CNN("no confirmation whatsoever") in atimelysemi-timely way. Thought Hegel was canned for a questioning attitude…a suggested interim replacementwas a neocon whoI haven't noticed much about since.. Vaguely remember Mullen showed some proper defiance… Hopefully Dempsey's still a force…Anyway, I meant whatever personnel changes since the Pentagon 'undercut' Hilary-Rice-Power over Libya a la the Washington Times 3 part series/Horton's interview with Kelly Riddel. But it could be the Pentagon doesn't matter so much; that it's usually(?) just State Dept. ostensibly chasing it's fantasies.
"…providing them with anti-tank missiles…"
I was not aware that the separatists in the east had tanks – except the one or two the Ukrainian Army abandoned when they ran back to Kiev.
Go ahead send missiles. Don't be surprised when the 'rebels' answer in kind… D odo C riminal warmonger IDIOTS..
President Bush sent advisors and spent 5 billion dollars to help Georgia attack South Ossetia Medvedev the president of Russia destroyed the American foreign aid in one week and Georgia lost South Ossetia forever . Now president Obama has spent another 5 billion to over throw the government of Ukraine . It is only fitting and proper that the Crimea and others would rather leave the new NATO controlled Ukraine . It is not the government they voted for .
The idea, I think, is to provoke Putin. He was stupid enough to annex Crimea and he may well be stupid enough to go for the railway line. Once it's clear that his purpose is land access to Crimea, it's reasonable to suppose tha he will also want land access to Kalinningrad.
I love your alternative fantasy reality in which 90% of the people who live somewhere voting to leave Ukraine becomes Putin annexing.
Kinda thought that once the State Dept. had puppets in Kiev, it's-reasonable-to-suppose they'd start whacking dissenters, grabbing land, and provoking Russia. …kinda like in Central and South America. But you did get me thinking about land routes vs sea…
"Stupid enough to annex Crimea". I suppose by your lights, turning over the naval base at Sevastopol to the US Sixth Fleet would be a masterpiece of historic and strategic judgment?
Michael Kenny thinks!
"Reliable reporting of hard thought-through suppositions obtained from a hole in the wall."