Quote:
Originally Posted by Uncle Peter
Text-book operation up to now... well it would have been in the 1950s or 1960s anyway. If Putin wants to annexe Crimea then he should be careful what he wishes for as should the ethnic Russian Ukrainians on team Ruskii. This is potentially anoter proverbial crap sandwich of similar magnitude to Chechnya and he's not going to be able to get away with the type of cultural vandalism and oppression meted out by Stalin to assert authority and weed out any potential opposition.
Putin needs to concentrate on watching his own back at home rather than what's happening beyond his borders.
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You wonder what his thinking is. There is little benefit to annexing Crimea, other than some emotional appeal and grandstanding, and a litany of drawbacks. At the very least they're creating an unstable situation on their border and they're also finishing off any prospect they had of convincing Ukrainians to look to the East. They'll alienate other prospective allies in the region as well all of whom may be looking over their shoulders. The result of aggression towards Georgia was seeing them increasing their relationships with the West not the East.
This is likely like a calculated move and more like a madman randomly lashing out...