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It's a little more complicated than that, I think. Legolas Send a noteboard - 01/03/2014 07:42:20 PM

I have zero sympathy for Putin and his pathetic games, but I do have some sympathy for the position of the ethnic Russians in the Crimea. Look at what the Ukrainian parliament did as one of their first acts after Yanukovych fled - overturning a law voted two years ago that allowed Russian to be used as an official language on local and regional levels. As symbolic acts go, it doesn't get much clearer than that - then what did they expect the reaction would be in places like Sebastopol where 90% of the population speaks Russian? Yanukovych's regime was bad, but it remains to be seen what the new one will be like, part of the coalition against him does consist of aggressively nationalistic and anti-Russian elements, and such open signs of hostility towards the large Russophonic minority are not a good sign.

I think you and I both have a pretty good idea of how powerful language questions can be in politics, considering our nationalities. We should not blithely assume that those people in the Crimea are fans of Putin and of what he stands for - but with the anti-Russian sentiments among large parts of the revolutionary Ukrainians, it's understandable that they'll take any help they are offered. The West needs to stand up to Putin, yes, but it also needs to show strong support for the rights of the Russophonic population of Ukraine.

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Don't Make me Laugh, Mr. Obama - 01/03/2014 03:14:50 AM 1443 Views
i like obama and even i think that was dumb of him. *NM* - 01/03/2014 05:24:39 AM 517 Views
yep yep. why do you hate on Kerry, though ? *NM* - 01/03/2014 08:11:52 AM 422 Views
He's a useless asshat. *NM* - 01/03/2014 04:14:54 PM 433 Views
He's not the only lame duck in this, though. - 01/03/2014 05:41:01 PM 975 Views
It's a little more complicated than that, I think. - 01/03/2014 07:42:20 PM 832 Views
It's always more complicated... - 01/03/2014 08:57:54 PM 824 Views
Yes yes yes. This. - 01/03/2014 09:11:19 PM 767 Views
Well, we split on that then - I most certainly do not support such an annexation. - 01/03/2014 10:25:48 PM 774 Views
Any reason you keep misspelling Sevastopol? - 02/03/2014 12:52:01 AM 962 Views
You write "the Ukraine", while calling me old-fashioned? - 02/03/2014 01:57:58 AM 834 Views
Yes. Dropping "the" is an anti-Russian move. It will always be the Ukraine. - 02/03/2014 02:58:32 AM 840 Views
Just because there's an article in Russian doesn't mean there has to be one in English. - 02/03/2014 11:21:25 AM 780 Views
I say the Sudan and the Congo. - 02/03/2014 02:17:33 PM 834 Views
You do? Why? - 02/03/2014 03:21:56 PM 913 Views
its going to be hard to find support from the West - 01/03/2014 06:37:15 PM 779 Views
Obama is weak and is viewed as a joke by most of the world. - 03/03/2014 04:12:25 PM 713 Views
Don't worry, not as much as the ape before him *NM* - 04/03/2014 03:23:14 PM 451 Views
So what's your plan of action? - 03/03/2014 11:25:59 PM 793 Views
My plan of action is to let Putin have Ukraine. We have no interests there. *NM* - 04/03/2014 01:29:45 AM 462 Views
Ehem. Why are you being anti-Russian? ;-) - 04/03/2014 01:25:37 PM 814 Views
Of course we do - 04/03/2014 04:57:09 PM 809 Views
Wrong. - 04/03/2014 06:04:31 PM 724 Views
that ignores the point - 06/03/2014 02:01:09 PM 964 Views
No, it doesn't. - 06/03/2014 02:57:16 PM 747 Views
Re: No, it doesn't. - 06/03/2014 06:22:32 PM 804 Views
Yes, the US violated the agreement. - 06/03/2014 07:27:23 PM 866 Views
I have answered your question but you have still refused to answer my point - 07/03/2014 01:48:53 PM 789 Views
You assume that the Ukraine's borders should be inviolate. - 09/03/2014 05:56:45 PM 811 Views
Russia signed an agreement to not violate those borders - 10/03/2014 12:18:37 PM 766 Views
Oh, and now the West is talking about $15 billion in loans for Ukraine. - 05/03/2014 11:41:12 PM 757 Views
And you see that as the same thing as sending in troops? - 06/03/2014 01:37:28 PM 754 Views
I think you've listened to too much propaganda from the 1990s. - 06/03/2014 03:06:18 PM 720 Views
More like the 80s - 07/03/2014 01:50:43 PM 771 Views
So I guess traveling to Russia extensively is of no value. - 09/03/2014 05:58:00 PM 720 Views
in this case no it doesn't. - 10/03/2014 12:20:13 PM 733 Views
The junk they used in Chechnya was laughable... - 16/03/2014 01:51:28 AM 908 Views
Its a great time to throw some missiles in Poland - 04/03/2014 03:43:24 AM 815 Views
Call me crazy, but I like this idea! - 04/03/2014 12:31:07 PM 866 Views
There are no longer two super powers *NM* - 04/03/2014 04:40:16 PM 425 Views
Under Obama, it would seem there are none. *NM* - 04/03/2014 06:15:27 PM 406 Views
at Poland *NM* - 04/03/2014 08:09:14 PM 412 Views
In case you're not familiar with BMD - 04/03/2014 11:13:06 PM 820 Views
I know what you're talking about, I was just kidding around *NM* - 04/03/2014 11:41:20 PM 437 Views
*NM* - 05/03/2014 12:38:54 AM 435 Views
*NM* - 05/03/2014 01:00:57 AM 400 Views
Ron Paul, interestingly enough, agrees with me. - 04/03/2014 02:38:44 PM 756 Views

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