Who has all those military and troops on the Ukrainian border - are they all on Russian paid working vacations? Russia Divide and Ruin strategy.

Our $5 billion coup has unleashed neo-Nazis in Western Ukraine and given neo-Stalinists a cause in Eastern Ukraine to the point that Putin had to come out this week condemning neo-Bolshevism in Russia.

And we and Israel helped spawn ISIS in Syria and now Iraq.

Our neoconservative militarists should be kicked out of the Obama-Biden administration - wait: that would mean Biden too - and Congress.

Cooler heads must prevail.

A land war in Eastern Europe against the Russians?

Madness.

How did that work out for Napoleon? For Hitler? For the Ukrainians throughout their own history?

We must evolve beyond the 18th and 19th century. Wake up. It is 2014. Nuclear armed states can not be involved in direct warfare. A settlement is better than millions of displaced Ukrainians. Sending young kids, conscripted to fight a modern and well funded Russian army is morally wrong. I have seen the entirely inadequate training that Ukraine has provided for the National Guard units. I have seen the columns of Russian tanks stretching for miles entering into East Ukraine.

There must be a ceasefire immediately.

Failure to do so will mean a military defeat for Ukraine, Russia will simply dictate terms. I have no particular love for Russia, I am simply being a realist. No serious military analyst believes Ukraine has any chance whatsoever to win an open war with Russia, a war that has begun.

Pundits in the West talk of "increasing costs" for Russia through providing more funding and training for Ukraine. That time has passed. There is no more time. There is no way to rebuild, re-equip and retrain a new Ukrainian army now.

Russian tanks are streaming west in their hundreds as this is being written.

The Russian Federation has satellites, drones and its own GPS systems. Ukranian soldiers are being killed, in the hundreds, by accurate long range artillery before they even know they are under attack. If a ceasefire is not agreed to entire battalions, thousands of men, will be brutally and pointlessly killed.

The anti terrorism operation has failed. Further, desperate acts, such as enlarging conscription will serve only to worsen the conflict for Ukraine. More needless damage and loss will make reconstruction more difficult.

The United States must agree to a settlement with the Russians. Obviously foreign powers have been manipulating Kiev from the US - EU and Russia, all seeking to further their own agendas.

Those involved have made serious errors and continued to compound them. Unless Putin has some form of a face saving way out that he can sell to the Russian people he has no choice but to continue to support for the Separatists.

A federalized solution, regional autonomy is the only solution. Like Iraq Ukraine is an arbitrary construction, composed of various provinces from different countries over the last several hundred years. The ethnic and regional differences are significant.

The United States must learn to step away from defending the borders of countries we did not create. Borders that arguably should not exist.

Case and point Iraq. If the various regional and ethnic groups want Independence it isn't worth a single American life to tell them otherwise. These are regional issues that we should not become embroiled in.

"Mr. Obama has already acknowledged that the White House does not “have a strategy yet” to deal with the Islamic State. Does he have one for anything else?"

No... havn't you noticed the American economy at any time in the last 6 years?

Next question!

Best Info on Ukraine Civil War:

https://twitter.com/NewsCov...

No Russian Invasion in Ukraine William Binney, frmr senior NSA head writes 2 Merckel

http://www.zerohedge.com/ne...

http://consortiumnews.com/2...

No Russian invasion according to the Steering Group, Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity

William Binney, former Technical Director, World Geopolitical & Military Analysis, NSA; co-founder, SIGINT Automation Research Center (ret.)
Larry Johnson, CIA & State Department (ret.)
David MacMichael, National Intelligence Council (ret.)
Ray McGovern, former US Army infantry/intelligence officer & CIA analyst (ret.)
Elizabeth Murray, Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Middle East (ret.)
Todd E. Pierce, MAJ, US Army Judge Advocate (Ret.)
Coleen Rowley, Division Counsel & Special Agent, FBI (ret.)
Ann Wright, Col., US Army (ret.); Foreign Service Officer (resigned)

Gee.. Remind us all again what Hunter Biden, son of the currently serving Vice President of the United States is doing these days?

Selling girl scout cookies in Donetsk you say? Riiiight..

I'm a rancher and farmer. Not a damned thing you do puts food on my table.. It is quite the opposite.
I make my own diesel. My operation is closed circuit.
I'm your worst nightmare. An independent whole human who has no interest in your scams and frauds.

Bernays has no sway over me, even in it's advanced forms of lifestyle marketing and manufactured consent.

I'm not alone. Many others are now waking up from your dying paradigms.

I suggest you get a real job.

Has the USA ever thought of 'The day after" in Iraq, Libya, Syria? The USA foreign policy is made of senseless reactions to events with short term goals, as if they are waking up from long naps kicking haphazardly where it itches. A horde of incompetent and arrogant witches have been driving the US foreign policy from the White House. What can we expect from an overwhelmed Obama?

Don't be such a drama queen. NOBODY ever thinks of "the day after." The leader of every loser (and many winners) in every conflict could rightly be accused of not having a good enough plan.
Did the Russians have a good plan when they in Afghanistan? Did the French have when they fought Russia or Prussia or Germany or Viet Nam? How about Germany's planners in the last century? How about George Bush's plan for Iraq? or his dad's plan for Iraq?

The Russians (when it was the Soviet Union) have made mistakes in Afghanistan. The new Russian administration now have very well thought of "the day after" in Georgia, Crimea, Ukraine and Syria and until now they are right. On Libya they were fooled by the West into a ambiguous UNSC resolution. They learned to mistrust the UNSC and they put it into practice by vetoing any unclear resolution.
The USA failed in Iraq, Libya, Gaza, Syria, Ukraine and the list goes on....
The USA suffers from a structural deficiency in their decision making in foreign policy, that's why they are bound to go on creating more disasters than they solve.
Now Obama is thinking so much about the day after that he is doing nothing.

What ever was US program for Ukraine, it is obvious now it will fail. Generally is considered that US wanted to take away Ukraine from Russian orbit, with integration to EU and NATO. The method applied, was wrong. The means to achieve the objective were largely insufficient. The US invested in regime change in Ukraine $ 5 bn. The change was done in a manner usually used in non developed countries, with 90 % of illiteracy. This will not suit to Ukraine with 46 millions, 100 % literacy, and hundreds of high schools and universities. The $ 5 bn mention above was spent to develop sense of animosity towards Russia, and organize peaceful protest and bloody coup to oust legally elected president of Ukraine, by killing 100 Ukrainians, and wounding another 1000. The killers were payed by US money. All Ukraine knows that. New PM was picked up from street trash by Victoria Nuland, as well as all other members of government. All Ukraine knows that new junta government lacks any legitimacy, and country is governed by foreign power. After installing puppet government US/EU arranged loans of $ 5 bn to Ukraine. At the same time US ordered junta to wage full scale war against population of East Ukraine, for not recognizing it s legitimacy. All $ 5 bn loans were wasted on war. War was lost, Kiev army simply refuse to fight for anti Ukrainian interest of US, soldiers trowed their arms and went home. As Ukrainian sovereign and independent state is not existing now, the same is truth for army. And when Ukrainians look what had happened to their country after 6 months of governance by US, they are frightened. The same people in Kiev who protested for US, now are protesting against US and Kiev puppets. Kiev junta days are numbered.

You're right.. Obama had little to do with this..

Yeah, this smashed up blackberry pie has Brzezinski's fingerprints all over it.. Including us supporting a bunch of Ukie neo-nazis..

There were better ways to handle this.. But since left hand has no idea what right hand is doing these days.. Best way to describe our current foreign policy is as an epileptic brain surgeon.. The prognosis is NOT good..

With Obama in the White House one has to wonder why the conservatives and neoconservatives are beating the War Drums advocating a WWIII against Russia.

The World War III currently contains one variable which comes into play that should give pause. It is the fact that the American people cannot count on President Obama to prosecute a war effort to such a degree that America can expect to be successful. In fact, Obama is the man to engineer a total communist subversion of the United States.

The United States will never employ first strike options so long as Obama is the Commander-In-Chief. The United States is being set up for defeat.

Obama’s past and present communist affiliations and every action he has taken, since becoming the President, has served to undermine the American people and American military might. The Obama treason quotient is precisely why, one cannot accurately predict the course of World War III.

If conservatives want to protect our country, put down the war drums and pick up the peace pipe until we have our pre-selected President Romney in the White House.

LOL!.. Looks like you got this charlie foxtrot hacked as well..

NOBODY is advocating WWIII with Russia. NOBODY. So toss that thinking out.

The are all sorts of ways to help the Ukrainians w/o moving a single U.S. soldier closer to Russia than any are located today. You ship them ordinary infantry weapons. Munitions. Medial equipment. You offer to train any number of them outside ot Ukraine so they are more effective at defending their country. You loan them money. You make a case at the UN that what Russia is doing is nothing less than old fashioned Imperialism... you know the kind that used to hold sway all over the Third World. Any of you guys in Africa or Asia want that to come back?

You do know that ~20 years a go the U.S. signed a treaty guaranteeing the borders of Ukraine, don't you? It was the deal to convince them to give up all of their nukes. 'Course had they known people like you and Obama figured our word wasn't worth ink on tissue paper they'd have kept 'em and the issue before us today would be far, FAR different.

If Liberals want to protect our country. grow a pair (figuratively speaking) and learn what a backbone is and stand up in the name of international law and U.S. signed treaties and to oppose those like Vladimir Putin who want to turn back the clock and reconstitute horrible institutions like the Russian Empire.

Romney is no different. If you think so, you have been chowing down on the BS.

I agree, its a one party two sides of the same coin state.

The most frightening thing about all of this is when Mr Sanders concludes:

"Mr. Obama has already acknowledged that the White House does not “have a strategy yet” to deal with the Islamic State. Does he have one for anything else?"

I think we are witnessing the collapse of US foreign policy before our eyes..... and the intellecutal collapse of the US foreign policy establishment...

There is clearly no strategy for anywhere...Obama is caught between the US People who do not want any more foreign adventures and the neocon foghorn media who, in their usual Pavlovian manner, are calling for more war. He is also the victim of prior foreign adventures, the result of which, defeat upon defeat, is unbearable for many Americans...the stupidity and crimes have come home to roost...

The Obama/Clinton foreign policy can best be illustrated by the following:

https://search.yahoo.com/se...

Where US intervention has led to the US embassy in Tripoli being closed down and US diplomats fleeing from the very people they "liberated".... That says it all....

There is clearly no strategy for anywhere...

US cannot have strategy, least of all in Ukraine, because the establishment doesn't operate in the actual reality. They DO, indeed, believe own propaganda, which is no surprise, when one looks at the backgrounds of those people. As Stephen Cohen stated--NO American senior statesmen the scale of Henry Kissinger or James Baker are simply allowed into the White House. The intellectual level (or lack thereof) of State Department is also well illustrated by people such as Nuland or Samantha Power. It is a sad picture, really.

Indeed

US foreign policy run by Susan Rice, Samantha Powell and F*ck the EU Nuland..............whose experience of life is restricted to Washington cocktails parties and wiping babies' bottoms...

And the men of any stature frozen out.....along with this (inevitable) total disconnect from reality....OMG...

This is more than sad...It can only be described as madness...and when even the Editors of this magazine finally agree with us, you know we are in very dangerous territory...,,

There is nothing more dangerous than a big wounded animal....

More like a chimpanzee playing with a live grenade in an ammo dump..

Even a fair amount of distance may not be enough...

Frannce, GErmany, Spain, Italy, Sweden. Danemark, Norway - wake up! Ukrainian refugees run away to Russia, not to Europe! Poroshenko is bombing his own citizens in dozns, he let burn 80 people alive in ODessa, how come that such things are possible in Europe? When will there be tribunal for Poroshenko?

The refugees run to the nearest place that isn't being bombed. And since "Russia" is bombing Unlraine, and Ukraine is not bombing "Russia", that's where they run to.
When will there be a tribunal for gangster Putin?

you liar, where is your logics? refugees will never run to the enemy, you liar.

Now don't call me names you POS, russian scumbag, a##wipe; you are going to hurt my feelings. Refugees run to wherever they can. And there has not been a single documented instance of Ukrainian military shelling "russian" territory.

oh you liar! Poroshenko is bombing his own citizens, not Putin, Putin Provides the help and aid to citizens of Ukraine and even gives medical help and food to its soldiers.

"Russian" criminal military is bombing Ukrainian territory; Ukrainians are not bombing "russia".

Although I think Putin's response to American interference has been clumsy, Putin is making it clear that the west will be rebuffed and will have to eat its own poop for a change.
I'm mostly troubled because this has given the American war party, and that clown who runs NATO -- an excuse for re-starting the Cold War.
Russia will survive the sanctions, and the message has been delivered that the usual games are not going to be tolerated.
Time for the west European populations to rise up and demand that NATO be disbanded and give a mighty middle finger to the American government that wants to constantly push them toward one conflict or another.
In the end, this will be good for the American people as well.
Most of the world knows that the American push for "democracy" is a craven sham, a desire to tie everyone to its financial and geopolitical apron strings. Like a delusional husband who does not realize that his wife long ago found better sexual partners, Uncle Sam keeps sending pictures of his Johnson to everone and thinking that's attractive.

Yeah, because if you have a murderous irratic and violent neighbor attacking smaller neighborhood houses, the best thing to do is to disarm and take down your fence. Pftt. Best thing to do is to rearm Europe. As for democracy, a much bigger part of the world is free and more prosperous due to the US policies than before. China is a very imperialist power, you see it in Tibet and the Japanese sea.

Yeah, disband NATO and watch Putin move to the Atlantic. Like the Europeans could defend themselves. Uncle Sam took their guns away and sent them to bed without supper 50 years ago. They will rise up and demand, all right, at the European Court for Justice, Integrity, and the European Way. Good luck on that one.

Ridiculous.
Russia would be incapable of such a "move" and has no interest in occupying all of Europe.

+AqlA If not all, how much then? 10%? 50%? You seem to know, russian, are you not? In a certain position?

LOL.
Your type of ignoramus seems to need to try to guess the race,nationality or wardrobe of people they feebly try to "answer."
Zero interest.
Putin can buy French wine and Spanish olives, no need to occupy the places they originate.

One of the signs of an amateur in the area of global affairs is the tendency to spout this kind of irrelevant comic-book stuff. He has a much bigger, nicer office now.

In general, the psychological analysis of geopolitics fails, in my view. Putin is a guy having a mid-life crisis (he looks very butch on a motorcycle) but that's not the core of his motivation, which is nationalistic.

As expected, neocon "F*ck the EU" Washington:
1) creates mayhem in Putin's backyard.
2) supports neo-fascist Kiev to launch an unnecessary war and refuse ceasefires and negotiation
3) then washes its hands and says..."OK, Europe, you pick up the pieces and pay billions to sort out the whole mess and bury the dead"

Seldom have I seen such a cynical, hypocritical and criminal policy pursued by any country, let alone the US which claims to be for peace, freedom and democracy..

This brings shame on the whole American People, just like Iraq and all the rest...

The US has become an evil aggressor and criminal rogue state

Are you saying that communism and fascism don't coexist in a single state? Ukrainian Civil War is just Moscow-facing facists fighting western-looking fascists. Both sides will find a way to subvert democracy and screw average Ukrainians.
There are certainly are no Communists left in this fight. They quit pretending to be Communists long ago. Look further east if you want to find fascists still pretending to be communists.

If you haven`t seen countries use hypocritical, cynical, and criminal policies before, you haven`t been looking. The "will to power" scoffs at your pretended outrage. The U.S. will crush Russia like a bug, unless it starts playing by our rules. More at www.fritzthecat.net Read the Dark Side

The "bug" has a large stockpile of nuclear weapons and more-than-adequate delivery systems. This blog is a place for serious, informed contributors, not adolescent onanists.

If it were required to be a "serious" contributor, the Russian PR elements would have banned long ago. Face it. This board is not all that serious... more like the Wild West.

"Unfortunately, commendable and appropriate desires to deter Moscow and
help Kyiv in the short-term are obscuring some unfortunate realities and
some painful lessons from other civil wars."

This sort of talk drives me mad. I know the five second hate for Russia is a required cleansing right before any criticism of American policy in Ukraine but our support is support for the indiscriminate shelling of the people of Eastern Ukraine. Murder, unnecessary murder.

America would have pressured Kiev to negotiate before the war started but negotiations were never tried. Instead we support this transparently fallacious 'anti-terrorist operation' and our State Department blatantly lies and obfuscates about the humanitarian situation and the killing of civilians.

Why speculate on something even you admit would not happen under most probable scenarios?

Yes Washington did think it through. It spent five billion dollars over ten years to create the current shambles. It is part of Washington's Divide and Ruin strategy, dividing Ukraine and EU from Russia while ruining their economies. Allowing Washington to rule. The chaos in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria, etc is a result of the Divide and Ruin strategy, and now it is Ukraine and Europe's turn.