Beacon2Light

Update:  04/23/2014 Ukraine crisis: Russia 'to respond if its interests' attacked My analysis: Now it is just a matter of when. Perhaps they are also signaling what the new entity would be like. Just Google South Ossetia.  Watch and pray.   Update:  04/22/14 I believe that recent events are indicative of a Russian invasion of Eastern Ukraine, if not all of Ukraine, before the May 25 elections.  The Rhetoric The head of a Russian think tank affiliated with Putin compares Putin to pre-1939 Hitler - the comparison is meant to highlight Hitler's efforts to unite German speakers in one country (i.e. Putin with Russian speakers in Eastern Europe) There are no Russian forces in Eastern Ukraine (but then Putin said the same thing about those in Crimea -- and now he admits they were Russian) The recent violence Deaths of pro-Russians at military checkpoint, torture deaths of two men (one who was a politician in the Ukrainian acting presid...

Update: Putin Asks Russia’s Senate to Use Military Force in Ukraine By ALISON SMALE and DAVID M. HERSZENHORN   MARCH 1, 2014 As Russian-backed armed forces effectively seized control of Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula on Saturday, President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia requested — and received — authorization from the Russian Senate to use military force in Ukraine. My opinion:  I think President Obama should send rapid reaction forces to the Ukraine.  We need to follow the George H.W. Bush model in the Persian Gulf War -- a build-up of forces (perhaps with NATO allies) to secure the rest of the Ukraine against a Russian takeover (like he protected Saudi Arabia from Iraqi invasion with the goal of the removal of troops from Kuwait).  We should set a red line at the border of the Crimea and do all we can internationally to get the peaceful withdrawal of Russian forces from the Crimea peninsula.  I don't think we should threaten war over Crimea, unfortun...