re: Hat's off to Putin - he knows what he is doing

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The missile shield was one of the biggest blunders IMO. You don't give up something that significant for nothing. We should return to building the shield since Russia continues to be aggressively moving towards bringing the Soviet pieces back into its orbit.

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We didn't give it up for nothing. We cancelled ground based long range interceptors. The Russians, in return, cancelled plans to deploy medium range missles on their western border which would have threatened our European allies. Going forward, an updated 4 phased missle defense system has been ongoing since this time. I'm still not sure how a missle defense system in Poland had any bearing on the situation in Ukraine. We still have boomers patrolling the North Atlantic with enough fire power to level that side of the world several times over.

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Putin is great Huge fan of his corrupt and tyrannical style. Obozo could learn a thing or two from watching him instead of embarrassing us by not being the world police.

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A lot of prominent Americans were big fans of Hitler prior to WWII, some because he was going to take care of the "Jew Problem" and use his dictatorial powers to help them make money. Henry Ford was one as was William Randolph Hearst, Charles Lindbherg, John D Rockefeller. They all proved to be fools. So you can at least tell folks you think like a tycoon.

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The Russians, in return, cancelled plans to deploy medium range missles on their western border which would have threatened our European allies.

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LOL. You are either ignorant or a liar. Russia threatened to place missiles along their western border unless we abandoned our plans for a missile defense shield.

Well use your brain, if your fearless leader had backed up his bullshite threats over Syria maybe this would not have happen. Thus him doing something about it before it even got started. You get that sonny boy? Do you understand English?

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LOL. You are either ignorant or a liar. Russia threatened to place missiles along their western border unless we abandoned our plans for a missile defense shield.

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Wow, are you ever misinformed. We didn't abandon the missile defense shield. It's there now, and it is continuing to grow and get better. You really should do some research before posting about things you don!'to fully understand.

Show me a link to missile defenses operated by the US in Poland.

What will Russia become in the next decade or so?

How do we prevent Ukraine from economic collapse, which they are on the verge of?

What is the long game solution?

Inside Russia there is much disagreement on what to do with Ukraine and Putin may appears rather clumsy by what's happened in Russia. By seizing Crimea, the Russians may always have control Crimea but will lose the Ukraine forever. The Ukraine is very territorial and will never forgive Russia for invading. We could see military conflict down the road also, but not every Russian speaking person in the Ukraine supports Russia occupation. There are ~48 million people living in Ukraine with 20 million who are not Russian. We don't see any persecution of Russians in the Ukraine or Crimea.

A more strategic answer to the Ukraine is the "Finland" model where close ties remain with Russia but no military alliances with any country. Finland has the opportunity to expand economically through trade with the rest of the world without interference. Money will becomes the issue with Ukraine. The are 4 sources: 1) The World Bank, IMF US 2) European Union 3) Russia 4) Ukraine Oligarchs who have billion hidden in London etc.. Everyone needs to chip in to keep the Ukraine from spiraling into chaos.

The process through the US lens is going to take time but our goal is a stable Ukraine that is also economically free. You don't play ball with Russia under military threat. Understand that in the long run Russia will be moving towards Europe as China rises. They have stolen land from China over centuries and there is naturally bad blood that remains between both countries. They see China as a major threat on their borders. This is a chess game, no doubt. Still, we are seeing tactical moves by Russia not necessarily strategic.

Long Term
- Russia wants to move towards Europe. Even if this is post Putin it's inevitable. Their geopolitical interest are at odds with China in the long run.

- Ukraine should fall under the "Finland" model which means no military alliance. This also means economic freedom to deal with Russia, Europe, the US and the rest of the world.

- The west needs to step up and provide economic security along with Russia in order to avoid years of bloody wars that only hurt everyone's economic interest.

What happens if Russia continues to escalate situation in the Ukraine?

Economic consequences may get Putin’s attention because it got the attention of investors in Russian markets. The ruble plummeted to “historic lows” against the dollar and euro today and the MICEX fell more than 10% as Moscow investors panicked:

Russian stock markets Monday crashed almost 10 percent and the ruble plunged to historic lows in value against the dollar and euro, as alarm grew over the potentially disastrous economic consequences of military intervention in Ukraine.

Russia’s central bank hiked its main interest rate in an emergency move to stem capital flight and the losses for the ruble, amid what risks becoming at least Russia’s worst economic crisis since 2009.

Military intervention will drain further resources from a Russian budget already stretched by costs like the Sochi Olympics, alarm already nervous investors, limit Russia’s economic ties with the West and force Russian companies into huge write-offs in Ukraine.

"Sochi was already expensive. Military adventures and strained relations with the West can be much more expensive than that,” said economist Holger Schmieding at Berenberg Bank in London.

“Russia cannot afford that in the long run,” he added.

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Hat's off to Putin - he knows what he is doing

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Thanks, I needed a good laugh. The man crush over Putin is hilarious. You obviously don't know shite about the guy.

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How about you clowns actually offer what up the US should be doing instead of sucking Putin's dick while shitting on your President.

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Its a critique of our leadership that is finding validation in our impotency in this situation.

Its not a "I prefer Putin over Obama" dichotomy, as much as it is "our govt is reckless and stupid, our govt is reckless an stupid, our govt is reckless and stupid....oh look how being reckless and stupid for a decade or more makes our govt impotent to act effectively in this scenario." At least that's how I view it.