| | | World War II is long gone.
This isn't just about WWII.. In fact, the deliberate starvation of the Ukrainian people was PRE-WWII.. It had NOTHING to do with the Nazi invasion or retaliation for collaboration with the Germans (that was the Tartar population of Crimea that suffered that fate)..
And it doesn't matter if you care or not.. The Ukrainian people haven't forgotten what the Russians (communist or not) did to them.
Putin is not Hitler and occupying Crimea is different from Hitler's anschluss and conquests. How? Stalin ethnically cleansed the Tartar population there after WWII and shipped them to Uzbekistan. Crimea was FAR MORE ethnically Tartar than it ever was Slavic, prior to the 1940's.
notevenpast.org
where at least 20% of them apparently died over the course of 5 years. (See table III)
iccrimea.org
And btw, Hitler had stated to some of his confidantes (as I recall reading) that had France or Britain actually stood up to him when he marched back into the Rhineland, he would have had to back down (and likely lose his power).. Germany was not prepared for war at that time, and it was a serious gamble on his part.
Who knows what Putin wants, eventually.. I think he, like others full of themselves and their perceived power, may suddenly find himself taking advantage of any opportunity that presents itself. And just because they aren't hiding behind Marxist ideology doesn't mean the Russians don't have a greater agenda. They don't like being "blocked in".. Whether in the Baltic, or the long-time desire for a warm water port.. or the Dardanelles.. or even the Kuriles.
So IMO, it's in our interest to assist those who are confronting Putin and help them to help themselves.
And btw, how are YOU, or even Putin, defining what a "Russian" is? I mean, his country is made up of 185 different ethnic groups.. Is being Russian an ethnic quality, or merely because they happen to speak Russian as a Lingua Franca?
en.wikipedia.org
mapsofworld.com
Look.. I'm an American who as 10% of Mexico illegally living in my country. In the town I grew up int, the demographics have changed to nearly 40% Latin (and not English speaking, or legitimate residents)..
So the precedent that Putin is suddenly setting is something that I find a bit disturbing..
Is that all that is required? Shift a large ethnic population into a region, alter the demographics significantly, and then have the originating country claim they have the "right to defend" their ethnic brothers?
Does that mean we now have the right to intervene in any country that speak English?
Hawk |
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