News from Ukraine Conflict

[Centurion40]

The meeting in Brisbane, and a separate one in Milan one month before -- where Putin made promises about Russian behavior in eastern Ukraine that German officials say were broken within days -- pushed frustration levels in Berlin to new heights. Merkel had hit a diplomatic dead-end with Putin.

Irony has no statute of limitations.

[Centurion40]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/25/us-ukraine-crisis-germany-insight-idUSKCN0J91EN20141125

People seem determined to not see war on the horizon. It can't be! I don't want it so it is not there!

I feel so sorry for the military haters that will turn rabid far too late to be of any help. They might as well start drinking now.

Hat's off to the Russians.  They are really playing a pro-level game in Europe, if the article is accurate.

[Windigo]

Next spring will be an interesting one. Russia's economy will be even more tanked, hawks circling in DC, ISIS holed up in Syrian cities.... cheap[ish]energy fueling a western economic rebound...

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Hell, the next level of playing Europe for a fool would be Pissing on them. Some of them would still say "I did not expect the rain to be so warm in Moscow, Comrade Stalin, I mean Putin!"

Give me a break. They are scared, plain and simple. Clearly there is good reason, he has nukes by the 1000s. The clear indication is he will take at least Ukraine.

[Gusington]

That was a scary article. Putin is playing the 19th century game, like the article referenced. And Europe has been trying its hardest to forget the 19th (and 20th) centuries. Can it even play the game at all anymore? Looks like Germany still can but it can't go alone.

[LongBlade]

The US Army plans to deploy about 150 tanks and armoured vehicles to NATO countries next year and some of the heavy armour may be stationed in Eastern Europe, a top American general said on Tuesday.

The move is part of a US effort dubbed Operation Atlantic Resolve in the Baltic states and Poland to reassure allies anxious about a resurgent Russia, with American troops deploying for several months at a time to conduct joint exercises.

Nearly 50 armoured vehicles are already in place and another 100 M1 Abrams tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles will be "pre-positioned" in Germany and possibly elsewhere for the US troops conducting drills with NATO partners, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges said in a phone interview from Estonia.

After the training is over the troops will return to the US. But the tanks will stay.

source: http://www.straitstimes.com/news/world/united-states/story/us-army-may-station-tanks-eastern-europe-general-20141126

[BanzaiCat]

^ Was that called REFORGER back in the day, when US forces pre-stored heavy weapons and equipment in West Germany just in case of a little Warsaw Pact fracas?

[GDS_Starfury]

Yes.  REturn of FOrces to GERmany.

[JasonPratt]

Oh, cool! I remember REFORGER being referenced back then, but never got the acronym.   8)


....now I feel horribly old again.

[Gusington]

^You are.

[Windigo]

Hell, the next level of playing Europe for a fool would be Pissing on them. Some of them would still say "I did not expect the rain to be so warm in Moscow, Comrade Stalin, I mean Putin!"

Give me a break. They are scared, plain and simple. Clearly there is good reason, he has nukes by the 1000s. The clear indication is he will take at least Ukraine.

There will be no nukes used....  too many mafia bosses in positions of power in Russia that would have their day's ruined if that happened. Putin will take the low hanging fruit then call it a day.

[Gusington]

Isn't Moldova lovely around Christmas time? After a nice rest, of course. Carving up eastern Europe and the Balkans is tiring work.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

Hell, the next level of playing Europe for a fool would be Pissing on them. Some of them would still say "I did not expect the rain to be so warm in Moscow, Comrade Stalin, I mean Putin!"

Give me a break. They are scared, plain and simple. Clearly there is good reason, he has nukes by the 1000s. The clear indication is he will take at least Ukraine.

There will be no nukes used....  too many mafia bosses in positions of power in Russia that would have their day's ruined if that happened. Putin will take the low hanging fruit then call it a day.

It's east to think rationality will settle in. As I read about WWI it seems leaders found it increasingly hard to admit they had made a mistake, as the body count climbed. Lets face it, if you botch getting a country in a war, life expectancy becomes short. 100 years ago they chose in for a penny, in for a pound.

[LongBlade]

It's east to think rationality will settle in. As I read about WWI it seems leaders found it increasingly hard to admit they had made a mistake, as the body count climbed. Lets face it, if you botch getting a country in a war, life expectancy becomes short. 100 years ago they chose in for a penny, in for a pound.

I'm not sure human nature has evolved that much.

I hope you're right.

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

So lets see, at the beginning of WWII Hitler annexed Austria. Then he used protecting German minorities as a pretext to annex part of Czech, then invade Czech.

The reason Russia is still playing this game must be they see a way forward. I bet it will be, the collapse of the economy will be used to say democracy is not working, they must become a totalitarian state. Vlad the terrible or Vlad the mad will be the guiding light back to a great Empire. Such a scenario would demand great media theatrics. Wow the people with showmanship, they will not care that none of it makes sense.