I must say that, although I seldom find much common ground between my own and Ron Pauls political opinions, I think hes on track over the Crimean fiasco. We know the whole issue is about Russias all important warm water port at Sevastopol and whether Ukraine was going to fulfill its contractual obligations regarding that naval base. It seems, had cooler heads prevailed, this whole issue could have been dealt with in a reasonable manner. And, to be honest, the US and the EU have military bases all over the world - often where most of the citizens dont particularly want us there. Im not cutting Putin any slack in his statesmanship either. Maybe it was too much distraction and partying at Sochi, but he definitely stepped on his foreskin here. His heavy-handedness has, no doubt, made some of the other former states of the defunct USSR looking over their shoulders. I would think all of the Stans south of Russia might get antsy and the Caucasus region might flare up while the Russians are occupied in Crimea. I have a feeling that neither the Georgians nor the Chechnyans have forgotten recent Russian incursions. This does present the US and the EU with the opportunity to score some political capital by finessing the situation at Russias expense (perhaps by getting a relatively disinterested party like the Swiss to mediate); but, the saber-rattling and talk of sanctions need to end. In other words, John McCain, Saran-Wrap Palin and the Baggers need to act like they care more about this country than about trying to make political points. If you want to run foreign policy then see if you can win the White House in about two and a half years. Until then, sit down and shut up.
Posted on: Mon, 17 Mar 2014 06:57:46 +0000