You said the key. NATO. When he touches NATO, we'll step in militarily. ** -- Stork 03/03/2022 3:32PM
They would not be surprised. The biggest issue now is that there were no -- HokieNLot11 03/03/2022 1:54PM
I was pondering the same thing yesterday about... -- MP4VT2004 03/03/2022 12:02PM
Probably not a good idea to run NATO right up to Russia's borders -- mancunian 03/03/2022 11:22AM
Sure, let Putin do what he wants, annex Crimea, invade Ukraine. Next? ** -- knuckle junction 03/03/2022 11:58AM
The Crimea was historically and ethnically Russian, ceded to the -- mancunian 03/03/2022 12:24PM
Are you suggesting Putin will stop when the 1954 borders are restored? ** -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 12:28PM
Those borders were restored in 2014. -- mancunian 03/03/2022 12:30PM
Ok, so what was your point in responding to -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 12:33PM
Ooooh there's it is. "mancunian is a big ole Commie-Nazi!" ** -- mancunian 03/03/2022 12:41PM
I didn't say that and you didn't answer the question. ** -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 12:44PM
I was pointing out the Crimea annexation is boob-bait -- mancunian 03/03/2022 12:46PM
Ok, so not much. ** -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 12:52PM
Yeah historical context is pretty pointless. ** -- mancunian 03/03/2022 1:21PM
I said "not much", not nothing. Intentional nuance. -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 1:26PM
The Crimea deal was a response to the coup that overthrew -- mancunian 03/03/2022 1:33PM
Actually, the Crimea deal goes further back than that, but -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 1:45PM
It blows my mind that the Crimea was personally owned -- mancunian 03/03/2022 1:57PM
Yes, that is pretty wild. Heck even Khrushchev's decision to "give" -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 2:12PM
I read somewhere that Khrushchev was drunk -- mancunian 03/03/2022 2:17PM
No one ever said that ** -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 1:51PM
Are you sure about that? -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 2:08PM
Oh, he was mocking me; but I hadn't said that. -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 2:23PM
No worries :-) ** -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 2:29PM
Actually that was me being a smart ass. ** -- mancunian 03/03/2022 2:16PM
No worries :-) Side note: I do believe there are some people -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 2:21PM
But it's easier to just say Putin bad -- Vienna_Hokie 03/03/2022 3:11PM
That is very true too. I think that is why I find politics so fascinating -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 3:24PM
Invading Poland is a popular choice. ** -- HokieNoVA 03/03/2022 12:08PM
In retrospect not a great idea. But that cause was a distant second. -- HokieNoVA 03/03/2022 11:51AM
Putin knows no European NATO nation -- HokieR 03/03/2022 1:06PM
Putin was always going to do it - doesn't matter- just needed an excuse ** -- bigbadbird 03/03/2022 11:41AM
Which particular run up are you referring to? ** -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 11:33AM
The Baltic States, Poland, proposed membership -- mancunian 03/03/2022 11:38AM
You think keeping Poland out 23 years ago would have lead to a neutral and -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 11:44AM
Well, yeah. I have no trouble understanding the idea -- mancunian 03/03/2022 11:49AM
Yeah, that nation really disappeared... -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 11:58AM
All of the USSR's forward bases in East Germany and the rest -- mancunian 03/03/2022 12:28PM
Like the nation, the threat weakened, but never went away, clearly. -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 12:34PM
Yep. Putin is the latest in a long line of Hitlers. Thinking about how -- mancunian 03/03/2022 12:40PM
I didn't say that and it isn't that looking at how we got here is bad, it's -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 12:46PM
You honestly believe that the Russians, post 1991 -- mancunian 03/03/2022 12:51PM
Another falsehood. There was no agreement to go back on. -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 1:01PM
It was a private assurance from Bush to the Russian leadership. ** -- mancunian 03/03/2022 1:06PM
Let me know the answer to your last question after he decides to drop a -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 11:47AM
What else should we give him, just to make sure he's happy?** -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 11:47AM
It's not about making sure someone is happy or not. -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 11:53AM
But there was no actual threat. He sees ghosts. He can see them anywhere. ** -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 11:55AM
Unless you are in his shoes, then you don't know what he does or doesn't -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 12:17PM
I did not say he doesn't feel a threat; in fact the opposite. -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 12:23PM
My response was to this part of your statement -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 12:40PM
I believe I was clear that he felt threatened and that is the part that -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 12:49PM
It isn't besides the point though because it helps to explain Putin's -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 1:08PM
Which is my point: If you don't know, why acquiese to the unpredictable? -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 1:22PM
Hey don't spill the beans -- mancunian 03/03/2022 1:11PM
The beans were already spilled by James K. Polk, who is the only -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 1:22PM
Polk knew how to by God get things done. ** -- mancunian 03/03/2022 1:24PM
Manifest Destiny my friend. Manifest Destiny. :-) ** -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 1:31PM
Polk is an under-examined figure in American history. ** -- mancunian 03/03/2022 1:35PM
Yes, he is ** -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 1:52PM
We were mostly of the "isolationist" mindset back then. Tired of -- Coach McGuirk 03/03/2022 11:15AM
NATO is scared of Putin's nuclear arsenal and probably rightfully so, he -- HortHokie 03/03/2022 11:00AM
Putin is quick to bring up Nukes, because NATO would kick his ass -- Fatman 03/03/2022 11:27AM
Are the Russians really getting their asses kicked? -- mancunian 03/03/2022 11:45AM
I'm not positive what their ultimate goal was, but I'm pretty positive they -- reestuart 03/03/2022 12:54PM
That's the thing. I have zero trust in any of the media -- mancunian 03/03/2022 12:55PM
You could have stopped after "coverage" ** -- EDGEMAN 03/03/2022 1:40PM
It's heavily biased for the Ukraine. That's for sure. But at the same -- reestuart 03/03/2022 12:59PM
This quote really stuck with me -- mancunian 03/03/2022 1:03PM
No. Much harder than it should have been for the perceived Russia? Yes. ** -- RTFC 03/03/2022 12:20PM
Completely different world now. Economies are inter-connected. The economic -- HokieHigh 03/03/2022 10:59AM
It's been going on longer than that..2008 he did the same in Georgia ** -- Vienna_Hokie 03/03/2022 10:47AM
He's not done with Georgia either ** -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 11:00AM
Adolph and stalin played off each other in aquiring territories pre-WWII -- kingofcassell 03/03/2022 10:32AM
It is believed that Stalin planned to sit back and watch Hitler -- HokieDan95 03/03/2022 10:51AM
US and NATO won't step in until he invades a NATO country. Which he won't. ** -- NokieHokie 03/03/2022 10:24AM
I think that's probably right - hope so. -- RTFC 03/03/2022 10:43AM
Well some Americans would still think it doesn't "matter enough" even if a -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 10:53AM
I wonder if people of Vermont wish we got taken over -- VermontDDS 03/03/2022 12:45PM
What about Finland? ** -- EDGEMAN 03/03/2022 10:25AM
What about it? ** -- NokieHokie 03/03/2022 10:35AM
Finland and Sweden aren't members of NATO ** -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 10:27AM
Sweden -- Vippie1 03/03/2022 10:51AM
It may be a red line, but that doesn't mean NATO would engage the enemy. -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 10:56AM
I'd like to think it is a moot point -- Vippie1 03/03/2022 11:05AM
Except Sweden isn't a member of NATO and that matters in terms of the PR -- VTHokie2000 03/03/2022 11:12AM
He's shown his military can blow random things up - not conquer anything ** -- bigbadbird 03/03/2022 10:18AM
I spoke this morning with -- VTUD 03/03/2022 11:53AM
Me reading your post: Hey this should be interesting! ..... Oh. ** -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 12:03PM
Well, he was successful in his first Ukraine invasion -- EDGEMAN 03/03/2022 10:19AM
But different in that the local population -- Vippie1 03/03/2022 10:48AM
Yeah, there was very little resistance there. Way different now. ** -- reestuart 03/03/2022 11:46AM
I think they were mostly unarmed at that point ? ** -- bigbadbird 03/03/2022 10:22AM
And it was just after the major upheaval of the government (Euromaidan) ** -- jmanatVT 03/03/2022 11:37AM
That's the razor's edge the world is walking on right now. ** -- Upwind of uva 03/03/2022 10:16AM