Althouse: "Putin won his war in Ukraine."

September 8, 2015

"Putin won his war in Ukraine."

Did you notice?

21 comments:

exhelodrvr1 said...: Yes, I noticed. But I didn't vote for Obama.; 9/8/15, 7:05 AM
exhelodrvr1 said...: And on a related note:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/obamas-syria-achievement/2015/09/06/961b416a-50de-11e5-8c19-0b6825aa4a3a_story.html?postshare=9001441625060370; 9/8/15, 7:13 AM
Humperdink said...: The Vladiator vs. King Putt?

That war was over January 21, 2009. As was Iraq, Afghanistan.; 9/8/15, 7:14 AM
traditionalguy said...: The Crimea was always Russian. The ethnic Russians inside Ukraine are the Rebels supplied by Putin. And they want to keep their land.

I say we send in John Kerry to arrange a surrender to Putin.; 9/8/15, 7:26 AM
mikee said...: Name a place on earth that is better now than in 2008, and list the actions taken by President Obama that made it so.

I'll wait, but I'm going to sit down and relax, because I think this will take a while.; 9/8/15, 7:34 AM
Hagar said...: Crimea was Tartar, and a and Moslem part of the Ottoman Empire, until Potemkin conquered it for Catherine the Great in the 1780s. Not that long ago.
The Russians moved in to their new port on the Black Sea, and the Soviets moved more Great Russians in until they were in the majority. This is recent history, but "facts on the ground."

The State of Ukraine was created by the Soviets and takes in a lot of people besides the Ukrainians. In the eastern part, the Great Russians are at least half, but the western part is the Ukrainian homeland, and they hate the Russians with a passion - and especially those with a Bolshevik history like Putin.

Putin has not quite got all of the Ukraine yet, but he is still working on it and probably will. Then what is next? Belarus? The Baltic states? The 'stans?
Putin wants to recreate the Russian Empire and hopes future generations will make the Soviet Union rise again.; 9/8/15, 7:57 AM
Larry J said...: mikee said...
Name a place on earth that is better now than in 2008, and list the actions taken by President Obama that made it so.

For starters, there's the DC Beltway. Out of the 10 wealthiest counties in America, either 7 or 8 of them are in the DC area. Obama is a big part of that. I hear New York bankers and Wall Street have benefited from Obama as well. As for the rest of the world, not so much.; 9/8/15, 7:59 AM
Hagar said...: Turkey still controls the Bosporus, but Russia has a base on the Mediterranean coast by an agreement with Assad's Syria.
Putin is going to protect that forcefully.; 9/8/15, 8:01 AM
jr565 said...: Did Obama notice? I. Sure Romey is shai,I got hose head off on the sidelines.; 9/8/15, 8:10 AM
Robert Cook said...: "Name a place on earth that is better now than in 2008, and list the actions taken by President Obama that made it so."

Name a place on earth that is better now than in 2000, and list the actions taken by President Bush that made it so.; 9/8/15, 8:36 AM
MayBee said...: That face!; 9/8/15, 8:53 AM
Anonymous said...: You mean, our nutcase State Department's excelllent Ukrainian adventure didn't unfold quite as planned? What a shame. Oh well. At least the Middle-East/North African outings are going swimmingly.; 9/8/15, 9:23 AM
Peter said...: "Then what is next? Belarus? The Baltic states? The 'stans?"

Estonia seems the obvious target. Higher risk because it's a member of NATO, but far greater reward as NATO will be declared dead when it fails to go to war to defend it.

As it will. It's not as if columns of Russian tanks will cross the border. It will be destabilized by ethnic Russians within, then Russian military will enter (all the while declaring they're really pro-Russian Estonians).

It's not that Russia is so powerful, it's that Europe (and thus NATO) are so weak. Not because they have to be, but because they choose to be. Western Europeans at least know that Europe is dying anyway (or at least being transformed into something that is not-Europe) and since there's no future anyway, what's worth fighting for?

So Europeans will live for today and let Putin take what he wants.; 9/8/15, 9:25 AM
Hagar said...: Qui vivra, verra.

"The best laid plans of mice and men gang aft agley."

And you are a little hard on the West-Europeans, I think. The United States took the lead after WWII and organized them under NATO - a wholly owned U.S. subsidiary - to resist the Soviet Union's expansionism, Bolshevism being considered the primary enemy of the United States government.
After 70 years of being told what to do by the U.S., it is more than a little confusing to them to suddenly find themselves being cut loose from the apron strings and obliged to manage for themselves.

And what "them"? These are 50 countries more used to warring with their neighbors than getting together about anything at all.
Thy need the U.S. to lead them.

Again, heckovajob, Barry!; 9/8/15, 10:06 AM
MayBee said...: So Europeans will live for today and let Putin take what he wants.

Ditto Iran.; 9/8/15, 10:18 AM
mikee said...: Cookie: Name a place on earth that is better now than in 2000, and list the actions taken by President Bush that made it so.

Iraq was much better off in 2008 than in 2000. And Obama blew that success between 2009 and now.; 9/8/15, 10:24 AM
Drago said...: Althouse: "Putin won his war in Ukraine."

That is not possible.

Who can forget this timeless classic?

garage mahal: "Russia invaded the Ukraine? LOL"
7/19/14, 11:50 AM

Thanks lefties!; 9/8/15, 10:24 AM
Drago said...: Robert Cook: "Name a place on earth that is better now than in 2000, and list the actions taken by President Bush that made it so."

I am not surprised a noted conspiracy theorist such as yourself fails to see the rather basic illogic in that question.

Better yet, why don't you simply ask everyone to name a place on earth that is better now than in 1865, and list actions taken by President Lincoln that made it so?; 9/8/15, 10:26 AM
Achilles said...: Robert Cook said...
"Name a place on earth that is better now than in 2008, and list the actions taken by President Obama that made it so."

"Name a place on earth that is better now than in 2000, and list the actions taken by President Bush that made it so."

In 2010 Obama and Biden were gushing about how well things were in Iraq. Remember Biden predicting a stable democracy? Girls were going to school. Women were voting.

Then you people got your way.

Now we have genocide and sex slave markets. That is your doing you piece of shot.; 9/8/15, 10:47 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Yes, I noticed, thanks. But I've noticed things aren't going so well in Egypt, in Yemen, in Sudan, with our VA...I've noticed a lot of things that don't seem to make headlines. Oddly those things mostly appear to make the Obama Admin and it's current and former State Department personnel look bad. Probably a coincidence those stories don't get much coverage.; 9/8/15, 11:23 AM
HoodlumDoodlum said...: Ooh, don't forget that in order for sanctions against Iran to "snapback" once they've broken their side of the nuclear deal we'll need Putin's help (and the help of nations who depend in part on Russian cooperation).
Driving down oil and natural gas prices hurt Putin more than most of the of Obama admin smart diplomacy "reset" crowd (also more than Bush admin diplomats, to be fair). Encouraging fracking and oil exploration was one of the Bush admin's best diplomatic moves.; 9/8/15, 11:30 AM