I agree with that. The big guys are always blamed. Its like ISIS...no one tells a man to cut another's head off. No one makes men rape boys, girls, and women. Power vaccum or not the US invasion and leaving does not make people do that. You might rationalize it since you cant comprehend why another would do that but that is 100% on there own. No one forced Russia to invade and occupy another. You wait its just begun over there. Putin has big plans and he is slowly implementing them.
Of course it's the EU and Nato's fault. Just because the cold war is over it doesn't mean that the concept of realpolitik is dead. The Russians were always going to see the expansion of Nato and EU influence into eastern europe as a security threat, and they were always going to react the way that they did. Whether the Ukranian people wanted the EU deal or not, we never should have even offered it. Ukraine was acting as the perfect buffer zone between the EU and Russia, now it's just a war zone. No matter how much people stipulate that democratic peace and economic interdependency theories apply to great power politics in the post-cold war era, it's simply not true. Russia won't accept the idea of eastern europe, particularly the border states, falling heavily in to the Nato and EU sphere of influence, and why the hell would they? What reason do they have to believe that the EU/nato march east will stop at the Russian border? Mearsheimer has probably written the best piece on this so far http://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/141769/john-j-mearsheimer/why-the-ukraine-crisis-is-the-wests-fault
A great deal of the EU's in action comes from the fact the vast majority of the EU's natural gas comes from Russia via a pipeline which Putin has in the past cut off. Literally the vast majority of houses are kept warm in the winter via natural gas. The vast majority of cooking is done via natural gas. Piss putin off and he can throw all of the EU into a frenzy over it. They will continue to be silent on the issue today and in the future as a result.
Why shouldn't Ukraine trade with the EU? They have to cultivate trade with somebody, and clearly the Ukrainian people would rather have closer economic ties with the EU than Russia. Some people just have to blame "the West" for everything wrong with geopolitics. Whose fault is it that it's a war zone right now, maybe the one who annexed part of Ukraine and funded anti-government rebels? I've read that article, he makes a few good points but his opinion is definitely not the be all end all of the situation
Just curious, are you basically saying that the Russians will always react in a barbaric manner so it's other's faults? Consider your position in a wiser manner.
what exactly do you you mean by "fault"? EU did not send in troops nor military support. Russia did. it's Russia's "fault" for thousands of dead people on both sides of the conflict. that to me is the bottom line. but you could look at Ukraine as a "buffer zone", sure. yet why shouldn't people there be able to make a free choice? since when do you put a blame on someone who simply offered a choice. it is your opinion that Ukraine should've stayed loyal to post-soviet Russia and all the crime and corruption that came with it. the article you quoted is a b.s. Russian propaganda... far-reaching and idiotic. again let me make it simple. it was Russia that sent in military into a sovereign nation therefore not only violating international laws, but also causing mass casualties on both sides. young Ukrainian people did exactly what they felt was needed to get the freedom from Russia-control government. it was a conflict confined to Ukrainian territory and should have stayed that way. Russia didn't have to provide military support nor even a safe-heaven for their comrade, former Ukrainian president that was thrown down. somebody threw out similarities or "friendship" between Russia and china... but i fail to see any Chinese or north Korean support of Russia's actions. nor military nor politically, surely they must be concerned about the west taking over their world. yet they are not because Russia has very specific interest in Ukrainian territory and therefore it makes a lot more sense for them to attempt to destabilize the region, which is exactly what was putin's game there.
Honestly I don't see the need for a civilian militia to arm themselves with automatic rifles.. BUT with the fact that it is so durable and easy to use hmmm. Perhaps there's a deeper darker reason... Or Perhaps he's trying to stop a flow of income for certain Rebel groups In the US http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/sep/30/north-korean-minister-visits-russia Russia is the only major world power other than China to keep a close relationship with North Korea, with ties going back to the Communist period. Kim Jong-il made a rare foreign visit to Russia just before his death in 2011, travelling into the country in an armoured train. On an earlier trip, in 2002, he travelled all the way to Moscow on his special train, allegedly having live lobsters helicoptered in en route. In 2003, Putin dispatched a plane full of horses to Kim as a birthday gift.
The vast majority of imported AK designed rifles are not automatic weapons. But that only takes a little bit of research to find out. Surprise.
Then you need to brush up on some history. Big governments ALWAYS become corrupt. It was true when America was founded and it is true now. That's why the second amendment was written. The founding fathers knew that you cannot have democracy unless the people are stronger than the government. I agree. I don't think this ban is about gun control hey man. ba-a-a-ack off. I can be a sheep all I want!
All things always have been corrupt and always will be because there comprised of people. It can be something small like a hook up or something big like a defense contract steered somewhere. To pass the Emancipation Proclamation Lincoln had to wheel and deal. He had to make all sorts of promises...many were impossible to keep to the politicians who were voting for it. That itself was "corrupt". No one does anything for free or without gain just about...you, myself and everyone.
All the more reason free people should be allowed guns hey man. ba-a-a-ack off. I can be a sheep all I want!
No, I'm saying that all countries will. It's how international politics works. 1955 the CIA and MI6 overthrow Mosaddegh because he threatens western interests. 1991 a US coalition invades Iraq in response to a threat to US interests in Saudi Arabia. 431 BCE the Spartans and the Peloponnesian go to war with the Athenian empire over fears of its expansion. We tend to look at international relations through rose tinted lenses in the modern day because we are protected by the global hegemon, and no credible threat exists to our own national security. The nature of power politics, however, hasn't changed in thousands of years. The international community of states still exists in a system of international anarchy in which everyone seeks to survive through maximisation of resources and power. States automatically react to perceived threats through the consolidation of power and military expansion. What we currently face in Ukraine is a classic case of a security dilemma. Nato and the EU have spent the last 20 years slowly expanding their influence in the east in order to maximise their own power, but they ended up with an increase in their own enemy's sphere of influence, exactly what they wanted to avoid. The Russians were always going to do something. Western leaders don't look at international relations through rose-tinted lenses, and they certainly knew that the Russians would eventually have to respond to the threat of Nato and EU expansion. They probably also knew that Ukraine would be the last straw. Putin acted in order to consolidate and maximise his power in the face of a national security threat, as all countries do, as all countries must in order to survive. I'm not saying that Putin isn't a bastard. He is. He's a cruel dictator who cares very little about his own people, and only about his own power. What I'm saying is that the war in Ukraine didn't need to happen. It was made inevitable by the actions of the west, and there's absolutely no way that western leaders didn't see it coming. Yes, the people of Ukraine have the right to choose who their country is run by, but this war isn't about that. It's just another west vs east proxy war that is tearing the country apart.
"1991 a US coalition invades Iraq in response to a threat to US interests in Saudi Arabia". I really thought the physical invasion of Kuwait, initiated that action. There is an exponentially change in National relations since the end of WW II. We are dumbasses for many of our interventions, but Russia is acting more out of a position of envy rather then a perceived threat. Putin grieves the loss of Russia's influence and power that existed just a few years ago. The petty clerk (KGB), wants to restore it's might.
Couple interesting headlines http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/banning-russian-made-ak-47s-sets-off-a-us-buying-frenzy/2014/08/31/ad6cbbde-2e0a-11e4-994d-202962a9150c_story.html And today http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/8/obama-gun-control-push-backfires-as-us-firearms-in/
Also a fasinating interview with the Kalashnikov Group's CEO. http://www.thefirearmblog.com/blog/2015/04/08/exclusive-alexey-krivoruchko-the-ceo-of-the-kalashnikov-group-has-answered-your-questions/
Are you an American and Obama supporter by any chance ? You seem to appear when either are criticized.
Rather old post. I believe you can see a whole lot of bashing (and mostly misguided) that I have not uttered a peep on.