U.S. Puts 8,500 Troops on High Alert as Tension Rises Between NATO & Russia over Ukraine

[Uncle Joe]

[Rhiannon12866]

1. Ex-KGB Putin is attempting to recreate the USSR

He's already gotten the atrocities down...

[Uncle Joe]

2. I believe he's smarter than that,

his best bet would be to negotiate a diplomatic agreement on Ukraine and our best bet would be to push forward with Green New Deal policies that in the mid-long term diminish the price and stranglehold of oil which seem to feed military adventurism in a host of nations.

[Rhiannon12866]

3. That sounds like a sane solution, but I also believe that Putin's chief motive is power

That's what TFG tried to "channel" him, that's all he cared about as well.

[Uncle Joe]

4. I agree in regards to his primary motive

but I believe he also knows the demographics and history of Ukraine would not be conducive to Russia or him holding power for any length of time, it would an Albatross.

Having said that, with the oligarchs of the world and Putin is certainly one them, things are different, ie: if he or they are insane all bets are off.

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Well, it was also true for what was Soviet Georgia

I visited there in the late '80s before the USSR fell, visited the USSR with my grandmother and her peace group. We were actually scheduled to visit Kyiv, but then Chernobyl prevented that. And Georgia appeared to have little in common with Russia, different language and traditions, struck me as more Middle Eastern instead. One thing that puzzled me were the abundance of statues of Stalin since he was out of favor at the time in Moscow. So I asked and was told that Stalin was quite popular in Georgia "since he killed so many Russians." Stalin was Georgian, not Russian.

[Uncle Joe]

6. I hear you but I believe Ukraine is more developed

not to mention on NATO's border, the risks to Russia and for that matter the world would be much greater.

[Rhiannon12866]

7. Oh, I agree.

My only point was the vast difference didn't stop the USSR from taking over Georgia. Citizens were required to use the Russian language, even the signs were all in two languages.

[Uncle Joe]

8. That would suck