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[Owlbread]

Holy shit I can't believe this is happening. All of Britain's nuclear devices are located in Scotland. What the fuck do we do?

Cameron is going to make an emergency speech in the next hour. All those people...

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

When I did that in the North Korea thread last year on April Fools Day everyone admonished me. I had to remove the offending material because it in was bad taste. Not by Toady, it was just forumites, but I think Mainiac was one of the guys that told me off.

 I had a really good one though, I even found blurry photos of artillery attacks on a South Korean island and posted them, claiming thousands had been killed in a border city.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

I'm out on the eastern shore of maryland- I'm watching the Navy steam past.

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Grizzlyadamz cowers under a nearby rock, awaiting the appearance of toadyone and angry forumites. D:

[Zangi]

The idea of a Ukraine mounting an offensive campaign is absurd.
That's all there is to it.
My jimmies are starting to get rustled whenever you guys claim 'he's just got his ducks in a row in case Ukraine INVADES!'
FFS

With Putin's sudden conciliatory stance, this whole thing is really looking like a farce for shoring up Putin's popular support in Russia and securing the Sevastopol base.
The troops on the border are for intimidation while Russia tries to dictate Ukraine's constitution, ultimately, hopefully- to the russian gov, leading to a breakup into western & eastern states. One guess why that's being pursued.

--Mm, and apparently the west is going for it. Ukraine's to be unofficially divvied up eh? 

Well, he does have his duckies in a row in the worst case scenario, Ukrainian Armed Forces have stupid angry compulsive people in leadership positions.
And yes to the rest.

[Descan]

Talkin' to this bloke on Facebook, and I'm bothered by his saying "Only the Crimeans can say whether the vote was legitimate or not!"

I mean, yeah, I can see where he's coming from, but... A bad vote is a bad vote no matter where you stand, and it's pretty obvious that's a bad vote. >_> Certainly not one you should base such a seismic shift as leaving one country and joining another on.

[Knit tie]

I agree that this whole invasion is a farce for the purposes of gathering domestic support.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

snip

Well, he does have his duckies in a row in the worst case scenario, Ukrainian Armed Forces have stupid angry compulsive people in leadership positions.
And yes to the rest.

That's not my impression at all. What with their neutrality in both the riots (to the point of getting fired over it, in fact) & the crimean invasion, they don't seem very brutish at all. Quite the contrary, 'less you know something I don't.

[Sean Mirrsen]

I agree that this whole invasion is a farce for the purposes of gathering domestic support, with a side order of regaining control of the Black Sea naval base, strengthening national economy and infrastructure by forcing a stop to reliance on imports and foreign services, and honestly helping the russian population of Crimea - even if mostly just to achieve the abovementioned.

FTFY

[Knit tie]

I agree that this whole invasion is a farce for the purposes of gathering domestic support, with a side order of regaining control of the Black Sea naval base, strengthening national economy and infrastructure by forcing a stop to reliance on imports and foreign services, and honestly helping the russian population of Crimea - even if mostly just to achieve the abovementioned.

FTFY

Extremely debatable.

[GrizzlyAdamz]

Wait wait wait, you're claiming the sanctions were 'part of the plan'?

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[Sean Mirrsen]

Any given, specific sanctions? Not likely. But sanctions in general? Moves like this are not made haphazardly. There would have to have been some planning involved, and two things would have been obvious - the West wouldn't just do nothing, and the West wouldn't resort to military force as long as things went to plan. That leaves witty back-and-forth diplomatic banter and economic sanctions, and the two work well together.

The general gist of any sanctions would also be fairly apparent to proficient economists - Europe can't just up and close off its own metaphorical oxygen supply, so the primary method that would have been effective - refusing to buy Russian hydrocarbons - is plainly not feasible in any sort of short term. Any other means of effecting Russia economically would have to be refusing it more minor trades and services - which can in turn be used to drive for independence from such trades and services, because the capacity was always there and there was simply no need.

I'm not saying everything was planned out in advance - but if the original plan was to use the one-time opportunity that unrest in Crimea provided, and stop there without doing anything else, the repercussions from doing so would have been at least partially predictable. There's only so many ways NATO, the EU, and the US can react to such an event, and there are analysts far better than me out there to see them.

Speaking of sanctions, we might as well start a new Skippy's List, except with the list of things Barack Obama is now prohibited from doing in various cities in Russia. Like using public transportation, entering some stores and restaurants, etc. I haven't personally seen any around here, and many of the ones the news reported on could likely be typical works of Internet artisans, but a few definitely seem to be true, and I personally like that kind of humorous response.

[Ukrainian Ranger]

I agree that this whole invasion is a farce for the purposes of gathering domestic support, with a side order of regaining control of the Black Sea naval base, strengthening national economy and infrastructure by forcing a stop to reliance on imports and foreign services, and honestly helping the russian population of Crimea - even if mostly just to achieve the abovementioned.

FTFY

I think that the strongest economy in the world is North Korean. It was strengthened so many times

As for Crimea and helping local population... You ruined already fragile local economy of the region and even investing shitloads of money, I mean Sochi levels, will not fix it any time soon

[Sean Mirrsen]

I agree that this whole invasion is a farce for the purposes of gathering domestic support, with a side order of regaining control of the Black Sea naval base, strengthening national economy and infrastructure by forcing a stop to reliance on imports and foreign services, and honestly helping the russian population of Crimea - even if mostly just to achieve the abovementioned.

FTFY

I think that the strongest economy in the world is North Korean. It was strengthened so many times

As for Crimea and helping local population... You ruined already fragile local economy of the region and even investing shitloads of money, I mean Sochi levels, will not fix it any time soon

As many Koreans will undoubtedly be able to tell you, grinding is a viable way to self-improvement.

And we'll have to wait and see, I guess. There are a number of measures reported as being taken, and exactly what net effect it will have I have no frappin' clue. It's certainly being intended as a tourist destination, but I'm no economist to say if you're right about the "fragile economy" and the "ruining".

[olemars]

Former Putin advisor says Putin wants Finland and the Baltics, recommends show of force (original swedish article). Seems like said former advisor, now a fellow at the Cato Institute, has a few bones to pick with his old boss.

[Digital Hellhound]

'That's the handshake of an uncompromising man'. What a high-quality article.

I have to admit, I am beginning to lean towards NATO membership for Finland, though it's never been a popular idea here. I like to believe Glorious Nordic Defense Cooperation would keep us safe already, though. Glooorious.

[Guardian G.I.]

HOLY SHIT HEAVY RUSSIAN BOMBING IN KIEV

Edit: OBAMA VOWS MILITARY RETALIATION

Double Edit: Medelev announces "unrestrained warfare against the countries conspiring to undermine Russian security"

Triple Edit: Bohner just got on TV and announced "All Americans stand united behind the President" then hinted at regime change in Russia.

Quadruple Edit: Explosions seen at the NATO headquarters in Brussels[/ur].  We are officially fucked.

According to Russian news bulletins, this is the new Russian anthem, approved by Mr. Putin himself.

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