Are we about to get dragged into something very messy?

Discussion in 'Off-Topic Discussion' started by Fat Controller, Mar 1, 2014.

  1. Fat Controller

    Fat Controller 'Cuddly' Scottish Admin! Staff Member

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    I'd be the first to admit that my grasp of international politics is poor at best, but I find this whole situation more than a little worrying.

    Apparently, David Cameron and Barack Obama both warned Putin not to aggravate things, but Putin went ahead and did it anyway?

    In fairness, if David Cameron told me grass was green, I would still take a look to check, but am I wrong in thinking this could turn nasty?
     
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    • Phil A

      Phil A Guest

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      It's a bit of a worry, but this is my take on the whole situation.

      Ukraine new government doesn't want (and can't have) a conflict with Russia.

      Crimea wants to remain Russian.

      The country will get divided in two.

      Hopefully without any more loss of life.
       
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      • clueless1

        clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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        I think the short answer is yes. We will get dragged into something messy. It will be like the two balkans wars that have happened in my lifetime (the break up of Yugoslavia and the break up of Czechoslovakia).

        I sincerely hope I'm wrong, because in both cases it was horrific. But I think Russia will at some point soon use full blown military force against the Ukraine, as they did when Georgia made a break for it. I also think there will be a lot of paramilitary activity involved, and I pray to every god I've ever heard of that I'm wrong, but I believe the pro Russian factions and the pro independence factions will try to eradicate each other in that region. Britain and the US, with token elements from the rest of NATO will send peacekeepers to go and watch, and there'll be a lot of huffing and puffing between NATO and the (former) USSR.

        As awful as it is, I hope we and the yanks have the good sense to stay out of it as much as politically possible. Russia is run by backward idiots who simply can't grasp the fact that the soviet union no longer exists. The Ukraine is not much better from what I can gather. Their recent 'peaceful' protests involved tearing up public property and throwing rocks at coppers, then claiming outrage when the coppers fired rubber bullets at them in an attempt to regain control. There are also, very openly, pro-nazi elements there, and folk who openly claim that being gay automatically means you're also a paedophile. The pair of them (Ukraine and Russia) want their heads knocking together, and we should stay well out of it until one or other side starts making sense.
         
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        • Jack McHammocklashing

          Jack McHammocklashing Sludgemariner

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          It will be violent and bloody, so long as Obama and the EU stay OUT,

          IF Obama and EU stick their oar in then we are looking at WWIII in the making

          There is a lot more going on than we know about, as in all Communications in and out of Ukraine have been blocked, Russian forces in position, Black sea ports well secured by Russia

          Putin just needs to give one order, and all Gas to UK will cease to flow

          Putin is already angry at one letter, the letter S Obama stated initially there would be costs, amended to their will be a cost (The inference of the costs is retaliation the inference of cost is just financial)

          I am OK I have made a hat of tin foil and sat in my bunker, I phoned Faslane as a volunteer for a boomer but she has already left early :-(

          Jack McH
           
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          • clueless1

            clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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            I wonder if that's why Camoron is so keen on fracking under my house.
             
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            • Jack McHammocklashing

              Jack McHammocklashing Sludgemariner

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              That and the fact it will make SCOTLANDS OIL worth a lot less :-)

              Jack McH
               
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              • clueless1

                clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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                Here's a thing. Call me paranoid, call me a conspiracy theorist, whatever, but here goes.

                A couple of years ago (or whenever it was), lots of interesting things seemed to happen at once:

                * An aerospace company in Britain announced it was going to be laying a lot of people off. A few days later it was on the news that it had been miraculously saved by the government, who offered to pay a retainer if they kept all their staff on.

                * Talk of the new aircraft carriers being scrapped suddenly went quiet, with the aircraft carriers going ahead as planned, but with slight modifications to the original design.

                * The former British Steel site, which had been mothballed, and contractors I know that worked on it said off the record it would never start again, because the shut down had been done in such a way that most of it was knackered, suddenly was saved and started producing at an all time record rate.

                * Here in Redcar (a town that may seem insignificant, but accommodates a large percentage of the workforce that runs the former British Steel, former ICI, and Teesport which is a major hub for stuff coming in and out, got some interesting new developments. The sea wall is so OTT it is more like a massive barricade. In places, as you walk along the prom, the wall (several feet of reinforced concrete) is higher than head height. We also got a new tower to see further out to sea, and an old building was redeveloped much taller than before.

                * An offshore wind farm was built, and if you look at it, it is quite clear that you can no longer get anything large close to Teesport without coming straight at it from further out to sea, otherwise you'll simply crash into the wind farm.

                * For the first time since WW2 (apparently), London saw a full scale military deployment, with a battleship on the Thames, anti aircraft missile batteries in the parks, and big machine guns on the roofs. Apparently to stop terrorists attacking the olympics.

                I remember commenting to several people around that time, only half joking, that it looks like we're gearing up for war.
                 
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                • Scrungee

                  Scrungee Well known for it

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                  What on earth was John Major playing at, getting us committed to this http://www.express.co.uk/news/world...rpath-with-Russia-to-stop-invasion-of-Ukraine

                   
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                  • shiney

                    shiney President, Grumpy Old Men's Club Staff Member

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                    On the news at 4 a.m. this morning they said that Putin was taking a step back and trying to cool things. Don't know how true it is.
                     
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                    • Scrungee

                      Scrungee Well known for it

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                      Oh dear, The Ukraine appear to be saying they've still got nukes!

                      I thought they were all supposed to have gone to Russia for dismantling after the Budapest agreement.

                      johnmajor.jpg

                      P.S. I didn't know that John Major was a Nazi.
                       
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                      • clueless1

                        clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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                        Well, I just hope that somehow this can be resolved without turning into genocide. Governments often use war to help them win an election. Personally I'd be more impressed if they demonstrated the much greater strength and resolve needed to make peace.
                         
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                        • Scrungee

                          Scrungee Well known for it

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                          "You just don't in the 21st Century behave in 19th Century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped-up pretext," Mr Kerry told the CBS program Face the Nation

                          Wasn't Iraq invaded in 2003?
                           
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                          • clueless1

                            clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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                            Yes, and between Dick Cheney and one of the other members of the US government whose name I forget, all the contracts for managing the oil and transport infractures, as well as logical contracts for the operation, went to companies linked to afforesaid key people.

                            Back to present day, Russia now has total control of Crimea according to the latest news, and has publicly stated that it reserves the right to use military action to resolve the crisis and protect 'Russian citizens'.

                            As I see it, there is no way now that this can be resolved without violence. I hope I wrong. Russia can't back down without being seen, in international eyes, as "all mouth and no trousers". Ukraine can't back down because half of their territory has been seized by a (now) enemy force, and if Britain, France and the US back down, given that we all have a treaty with Ukraine to protect it, we all lose face, and will be bitterly resented by Ukraine, who will then very quickly become pro-Russia, and our new enemy.
                             
                          • clueless1

                            clueless1 member... yep, that's what I am:)

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                            Just as an aside, I wonder how much other stuff is not making the news. I wouldn't mind betting that there's a fair amount of activity going on now among our forces. The only thing that puzzles me is that I've noticed over the years that there is always a massive recruitment campaign for the armed forces just before a new war, but I haven't noticed such this time.
                             
                          • Ian Taylor

                            Ian Taylor Total Gardener

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                            I was in Kosovo in 1999,
                            And this looks like its going the same way.
                            NATO won't put boots on the ground
                             
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