Originally posted by lil bitchiness
As if I am going to read all that post. It all just says ''Russians are bad, we are good''.
First of all, refusing to read the post because it defeats your post is unworthy and you know it.
Secondly, it didn't say that at all- it didn't say anything about who is good or bad (though frankly Russia's moral position has never been tenable), it simply said that Russia was far weaker than you make it out to be.
Thirdly, Russia deliberately issued Russian passports into those areas just to get that excuse for intervention. It was cynical manipulation and all intelligent people see it for what it was. And don't pretend that intervention on that scale had the slightest bit to do with humanitarian concerns.
Putin does indeed have huge Russian support. So did Stalin- and apparently, so DOES Stalin. So that doesn't impress me one tiny bit. And anyone saying that they want to ignore everyhting the free western press says about Russia... are making fools of themselves. That type of view brings you outside the area of reasoned opinion. The press in thw west is not a mouthpiece for the political viewes of western Governments (whom they continualyl savage), it is instead a snakepit of debate, analysis and scoops- within which insightful analyysis can easily be found. You discard this at the cost of your own rationality.
Russia is now depserately trying to get a gas deal done with Ukraine before gas prices plummet as much as oil prices have. Due to crappy infrastructure, Russia's gas production is falling, and gas prices tend to follow oil by half a year. This is a massive crisis for Russia whose entire budget depends on these revenues. Their current spending plans absolutely depend on oil going for $70 a barrel; it may well end up far below that. And if Ukraine holds out for a better gas deal, Russia will, frankly, be buggered, and all possible sympathy Russia could have has been destroyed now because its innocent customers in Eastern Europe are paying the price for this.
The EU is not impressed by this recent gas politics of Russia, and have now issued a very strong statement for Russia to sort it out immediately. Russia will have to listen- because they are so totally dependent on these Western customers. Without them, Russia would be bankrupt again.
This has nothing to do with 'shitting' over Russia. It's just about pointing out the truth and countering the ridiciulous claims some people have made about Putin and Russia, which seem to be based on some strange psychological need for Russia to be a strong country despite it being anything but. Putin is simply a politically-connected businessman in it for the money and the power, and there is almost nothing laudable about that. Russia as a country has fallen prey to the worst excesses of commercialism, where nationilsed industries lead you to polticial power, but we know what happens to those who live by the sword.
Russia will have to change entirely again to ever be a viable world power once more. And they'd better be careful- because China jis doing a much better job than they are. Frankly, on a world political level, people can fairly much not give a crap about Russia. China, yes. India, soon. Russia- nope.