A SOBER LOOK AT WHAT IS BECOMING THE UKRAINE MESS!

(FRAZER CHRONICLE)

(All the News That Nobody Else Will Print)

 

“Get ready, get set…..go,” wow, can it be, another enemy…..no wait, the country never left the list of combative mongrel dogs on the list of American bad actors, or bad guys. Can it be…..the return of the Bear? The country is an 8^th bigger then our homeland (by the way, I hate that term homeland, it reminds me of Hitler, and WWII Germany) produces more oil than anyone on the planet, is number two in exporting petroleum, produces more natural gas than anyone else, supplies 34% of Europe’s natural gas, runs a huge trade surplus…..and has the second most powerful military in the entire known inhabited galaxy.

Who in hell am I talking about, well if the Bear didn’t give it away…..you are dumb, need to take a bathroom break, drink 8 ounces of toilet bowl cleaner….,and die, cause you are really out of touch. Russia, people, it seems to be our next and best enemy of the week, a worthy opponent, and one that we’d better walk lightly around.

The first paragraph of this week’s blog laid out some of the graphic differences between Russia and the United States. Is Russia and Vladimir Putin intimidated by the U.S. and the firepower that it posses, you’d better believe it, is the United States intimidated by Russia, I’m not sure, but I can tell you this, she had better be.

Russia has a history, and with little exception, that involves armed conflict, how else could it be when a loose knit country is inhabited by Eastern Slavs and Finno-Ugric peoples? Now I gotta admit I didn’t have a clue what Finno-Ugric peoples were until I looked the term up and learned it was the language of this group of people. Early in Russian history the land was home to Llmen Slavs, Veps, and Votes people…..and of course the feared Mongols.

The history of the inhabitants in Russia dates to 1.5 million years ago, and the facts were only discovered in 2006 by Kh. Amirkhanov, who found evidence of humans through carbon dating flint tools in the Dagestan region of the Caucasus.

My point is simple; Russia has been around for longer than some religious theologians want to know about. The Mongols invaded the Rus’ as it was referred to in 1223 A.D. That’s kind of in recorded history, before that, in 860, 862, and 882 A.D. there was the Rus’-Byzantine, the Rurikid Dynasty, and the Oleg of Novgorod conquer of Kiev.

Their (Russia’s) history is made up of literally hundreds of military conflicts throughout the country’s history and pretty much nobody was around to intervene on anybody’s behalf.  Of course there was the Russian Revolution and the establishment of the Soviet Union in 1922. Joseph Stalin ruled the country with an iron fist, and was responsible for up to ten million deaths during his regime…..and nobody lifted a finger to help the perceived down trodden.

Throughout Russian history, whatever conflicts were deemed necessary by whoever was either invading, or was in power was pretty much allowed to run its course. The Russian people are a hearty lot, and actually are used to conflict, and in some quarters look forward to it.

AND NOW WE HAVE THE UKRAINE, AND CRIMEA IMPENDING MESS

Sounds almost like a melodrama of some foreign play, populated by cheap first time actors trying to get a foothold unto the stage. Only this time, unlike a melodrama, this Ukraine-Crimean play just might have world-wide implications with regards to the differences between the West and our European counters.   

I’ve heard of Kiev, and Sebastopol, I didn’t equate them to the Ukraine, I just knew that they were two cities in Russia, or had split off from Russia during the 1991 break-up of the Soviet Union. Of course I’d heard of the Ukraine but what with my world geography being what it is, I wasn’t sure whether it, was a state, a city, or a range of mountains, quite like the Urals.

“That was then…..and this is now,” I looked up what a Ukraine was, and of course was surprised to learn that the Ukraine was actually a country in Eastern Europe, between Russia and Central Europe, with a land mass slightly larger than Texas, and home to about 44,573,205 Ukrainians.

The current chapter of history is being written even as I blog today, 3-13-14, and undoubtedly will play out no matter who intervenes, or what transpires, history in Europe has a habit of taking its own course, no matter what the reasons for the confrontation, or who the principles are.

The area (Ukraine) has a long history of being subjugated by foreign powers; this is even reflected in its name, which scholars believe means “borderland.” The country has only been independent since the summer of 1991, since the Soviet Union collapsed, and it broke away from mother Russia.

The Crimea is an autonomous republic, who supports and governs itself, and has since 1998 when it became a somewhat independent nation…..away from the Ukraine. Like the Ukraine, Crimea has a long and checkered past of being dominated by foreign invaders…..but, like its close neighbor, the Ukraine, it has survived.

Ostensibly the reason for the rift between the Ukraine, Crimea and Russia was the fact that protesters mostly in Kiev broke out after then President Viktor Janukovych rejected an expected deal for greater economic integration with the European Union. The deal was popular with Ukrainians, particularly in Kiev, and other parts of the country, although not by a big margin, about 42 or 43% support it.

Yanukovych’s has, since taking office in 2010, mismanaged the country’s economy and there has been increasing corruption. Viktor Janukovych is no stranger to claims of corrupting in government, back in 2004, Janukovych was blocked from the office of the country’s presidency because of accusations of voter fraud, and in a runoff, helped along by the Orange Revolution, Viktor Yushchenko was elected President, and in 2005 appointed Yulia Tymoshenko the first and only woman Prime Minister.

There is corruption in every government; it’s one of the reasons that foreign policy activity needs to be transparent in every aspect. In fact countries should curtail foreign policy activity to safeguard the autonomy of establish, or immerging nations.

The Ukraine is no stranger to corruption, the past three political leaders have tainted histories when it comes to what they’ve done, how they got to the positions that they held, and what they took from the Ukrainian people. Of course like many other countries, the Ukraine’s plead the 5^th when it comes to their complicity in the corruption.

AND THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION IS

You can call Russian President Vladimir Putin whatever you might figure is apt; however, I’ll call him an incurable romantic. Although he (Putin) has been highly aggressive in pushing the Ukraine to reject the European Union and accept, instead, the Moscow-lead Eurasian Customs Union, which consists of a few former Soviet states. Putin has threatened to impose economic sanctions on the Ukraine, like back in 2004-2006 when Russia shut off natural gas causing much financial damage.

Putin also is aware of the cultural connections which run deep between Russia and Ukrainian people, there is much shared history. The country is also a source of food, and is a transit hub for Russian energy exports, is economically strategically important to Russia.

Those foreign affairs officials in both the United States and Europe have long know how Vladimir Putin acts, and how he feels about foreign policies. Russia is little more than a bully boy on the block; they are used to getting their way. It’s much the same as the United States is with its endeavors throughout the world.

This is one of those blink moments when whoever blinks first losses, and Putin has already blinked…..oh wait, Obama blinked also…..that’s it, pack up the war machines, and the boats, we’re all going home.

It would be nice if it were that easy, but in this case, it almost is, believe it or not, the United States is war weary, and we have been in some altercation or another since September of 2001, coming up on 13 straight years. The military activity is taking lives, draining our bank account, and pretty much giving the name United States a pretty damn bad name world-wide.

This sure as hell is the 21^st century, and invading countries like Putin has, and like the United States did in Iraq back in 2003 is really early 20^th century activity. Cause when you invade a country today, it’s like the old axiom meaning, “you break it…..you buy it.” Today, when you invade, and conquer, you gotta support…..it’s the way the 21^st century works, baby…..and both Putin, and some in the U.S. political and military arena had better begin to understand.

 

HAVE A NICE DAY!