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Subject: Vladimir Putin: The Return of the CommuNazi
SYSOP    8/28/2014 3:05:16 AM
 
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TRAD    Stupid is as Stupid Does   8/28/2014 7:12:12 AM
The Russians for centuries have had a belief that there security resides with expanding their geographical borders. To this end they have sacrificed their economy and maintained a military with great effort. Putin has laid the groundwork for the expansion of NATO, may give the Japanese grounds for recovering lost territory and numerous other countries who border the periphery of Russia to do the same. It is a matter of timing and capability.  
 
Russia is a demographic nightmare with a declining population only being bolstered by Muslim citizenry who believe in something greater then the here an now.  His actions have solidified the orientation of Ukraine against Russia, and if the West wants to go beyond reaction to targeted exploitation of vulnerabilities Putin will be the stupid who did it.  
 
Alliance with China as a junior partner is a strategic error of great magnitude as the Chinese have territorial rights to appropriated land and are the one country in the world that needs more space and more resources---all of which are conveniently to the North. He has placed his country in a strategic death spiral for possible short term gains. 
 
The British discovered as did other colonial powers that the cost of controlled empire is expensive. Even if Russia recovers all of Ukraine, a not likely outcome, they could not digest the years of resistance.  I cannot accurately comment on the brilliance or lack there of of our leadership in dealing with this as much  is likely being done below the surface, but there are times like this that a squadron of A-10's might be a tempting game changer.  
 
 
 
 
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Steele    Psychopaths   8/28/2014 7:21:49 PM
Dr. Andrew Lobaczewski declared that Stalin was a psychopath, but no one has definitively declared that Hitler was a psychopath, even though Stalin and Hitler shared the characteristics of psychopaths as described by Dr. Hervey Cleckley and Dr. Robert Hare. Dr. Hare also declared Jeff Skilling, CEO of Enron, as a psychopath after Skilling was convicted of fraud in the largest corporate failure in history. John Wayne Gacy murdered thirty-three young men and was assessed as a psychopath. Casey Anthony was assessed as a psychopath after her little daughter was murdered. About one percent of all people are psychopathic, but most just destroy their own families and do not start World Wars, perform serial murders, or kill their own children. Putin and the militant Islamists have the characteristics of psychopaths, and no one knows what to do, because almost no one understands what causes psychopathy and what corrective measures can be taken.
 
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Husker    Psychopaths   8/28/2014 7:42:58 PM
 
"almost no one understands what causes psychopathy and what corrective measures can be taken."
 
The corrective measures are for OTHER people to be educated-- to understand that because a man smiles and makes corny jokes and talks a lot, doesn't mean he is a good person and can be trusted-- and to understand that actions are what count, not words-- and to hold people accountable and not just forget the worst things they've done.
 
 
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avatar3    "Piece in our time"   8/28/2014 7:48:44 PM
What does Putin want? Putin wants what Stalin wanted! What did Stalin want? Everything we let him get away with!
 
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Col. Harrumph       8/29/2014 5:59:06 AM
I'd like to be an optimist here, but I think optimism invites delusion.  What depresses me most is the expectation that our intelligence services haven't improved since the cold war.  The CIA, remember, was really good at assessing Soviet strengths but had no apparent interest in their weaknesses and vulnerabilities.  Thus the USSR's implosion came as a complete surprise.
 
Putin certainly has vulnerabilities.  He cannot be quite the free agent he seems; For all his power he is not a Czar.  We are told that after the Crimean adventure his popularity at home rose into the 80th percentile.   Czar Vladimir the First wouldn't concern himself with that, but Putin must.  He is trapped by his own success, and now must win more land from Ukraine to maintain himself on a tippy pedestal, or fall fast and far.  What can the West do to kick that Pedestal over?  Who is waiting in the wings?  Russia being Russian, does it matter?
 
BTW, a small historical nit: German soldiers didn't assault a border station.   The Nazis simply took command of a German radio station located near the Polish border, one night, and interrupted the regular broadcast with a stream of bombastic provocations in the Polish language.  As "proof" of an unprovoked attack on Germany, the corpses of concentration camp prisoners were artfully displayed in and around the station, dressed in Polish uniform.
 
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avatar3    Good Points!   8/29/2014 8:14:19 AM
Good points about the CIA's cold war abilities and Putin's popularity.
 
I had not heard the story about the Radio Station, I will be filing that away for future use.
 
Unlike the days of the Cold War, I am now afraid of both our political parties. The Republicans and Democrats no longer seem interested in doing the peoples business. Frankly, I long for the days when I was afraid of only one party, The Communist Party!
 
 
 
 
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CJH       8/30/2014 9:06:34 PM
"Kremlin propagandists, however, blamed a navigation error. The Russian Army column had been patrolling the border zone and a crossed section "into Ukraine by accident." An "aw, shucks, no big deal" big lie. Or perhaps a play on Peter Pan -- you know, Lost Boys?"

Is it normal for army columns to "patrol" borders in peace time?

 
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CJH       8/30/2014 9:09:00 PM
"The Russians for centuries have had a belief that there security resides with expanding their geographical borders."

The Pakistanis call it strategic depth especially regarding Afghan matters. That's apparently why they interfere in Afghanistan.

 
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CJH       8/30/2014 9:12:03 PM
"Alliance with China as a junior partner is a strategic error of great magnitude as the Chinese have territorial rights to appropriated land and are the one country in the world that needs more space and more resources---all of which are conveniently to the North"

This might be an apt non-aggression pact analog. The Chinese egg on Putin. Stalin egged on the German Nazis. Stalin hoped for a repeat of 1914-1918 to his advantage. Perhaps the Chinese see Putin as their useful idiot.

 
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CJH       8/30/2014 9:17:12 PM
"I cannot accurately comment on the brilliance or lack there of of our leadership in dealing with this as much is likely being done below the surface, but there are times like this that a squadron of A-10's might be a tempting game changer."

If that were a realistic possibility then so would be a foregoing firm Washington stance against Putin (No reset and ABMs). It may be that both are equally unlikely.

 
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