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March 3, 2014
Ukraine isn’t a country:
it’s a Frankenstein monster composed of pieces of dead empires, stitched together by Stalin.
It has never had a government in the Western sense of the term after the collapse of the Soviet Union gave it independence, just the equivalent of the family offices for one predatory oligarch after another–including the “Gas Princess,” Yulia Tymoshenko. It has a per capital income of $3,300 per year, about the same as Egypt and Syria, and less than a tenth of the European average. The whole market capitalization of its stock exchange is worth less than the Disney Company. It’s a basket case that claims to need $35 billion to survive the next two years. Money talks and bullshit walks. Who wants to ask the American taxpayer for $35 billion for Ukraine, one of the most corrupt economies on earth? How about $5 billion? Secretary of State Kerry is talking about $1 billion in loan guarantees, and the Europeans are talking a similar amount. That’s not diplomacy. It’s a clown show. - - Spengler Ukraine Is Hopeless … but Not Serious
Posted by gerardvanderleun at March 3, 2014 9:38 AM. This is an entry on the sideblog of American Digest: Check it out.
Your Say
Though correct, for the most part, I think what Spengler misses is that the Ukraine is serious like the Rhineland was serious in 1936.
What has happened is Putin has exposed, for all to see, the toothlessness of US or EU support.
The Iranian rioters learned this back in 2009.
The Syrians are learning it now.
Our (by our I refer to the US AND the EU) lack of any meaningful response emboldens Irans, Russia, possibly China, and maybe (God forbid) North Korea.
For this administration, this is not a bug, its a feature.
They wanted the US to be just another country among many.
The disdained american exceptionalism.
Obama has managed to loose Iraq and Afgahnistan.
He's in the process of loosing Libya and Egypt.
He is furiously trying to sell out our only real ally in the mid-east, Israel.
The Phillipines and Japan are feeling the chill, I'm sure.
Obama and his effete clique of experts, through their smart diplomacy have created a power vacuum.
Nature abhors a vacuum.
We reap the whirlwind.
Let's hope we get some adults back in office before it's too late, if it isn't already.
Posted by: Tim P at March 3, 2014 10:18 AM
The difference between Ukraine and Egypt is that Ukraine can feed itself. Egypt can't.
Posted by: Fat Man at March 3, 2014 4:10 PM
People who say the same thing about Israel are called.....
I'm sure "Spentler" will be as accurate in his predictions about Ukraine as he is about Iran,
Posted by: ErisGuy at March 3, 2014 7:00 PM