[smoothy]

They kicked Russia out of the G8.

That's a good start... now if they take away their veto in the UN...

[tomder55]

The government of the Ukraine needs to demonstrate their legitamancy and hold elections, then negotiate with Putin to avoid any incursions.

Clete . The Ukraine gvt will never be given a chance at legitimacy . Putin will undermine it . Don't you remember what he did to Victor Yushchenko ?

BTW ,the last time a nation's Parliament ousted a President who was acting unconstitutionally was in Honduras . The emperor also supported the rogue President against the elected government that ousted him for acting unconstitutionally. You think Putin forgets that?

[paraclete]

Tom I don't think Putin forgets anything that is why he called your bluff in Crimea. Look, he knows the US is a toothless tiger, for you to act takes a tremendous act of will. He has the ability to act unilaterally, your President does not. I don't think he is foolish enough to start a war but he will press around the edges and particularly where he thinks he has the support of the population. He has a large military, bigger than anything you could put on the ground to match him in the short term and he knows this, so if he fights, he is fighting from a position of strength, where as, logistically, you are hampered. But he has a lot to loose, particularly economically. Losing his market in Europe would devastate his economy so let's not talk this up too strongly

[tomder55]

Losing his market in Eu

rope would devastate his economy so let's not talk this up too strongly

all the more reason to put the pressure on him economically . There is his vulnerability . You shouldn't look at military strength in just numbers . Our military is the best at what they do ;has superior equipment ;and is battle hardened fighting the hardest kind of fighting .. counter-insurgency.

[paraclete]

Whilst you say you have superior equipment, you still have to get it there, Russia and the Ukraine are not as assessable as Iraq, can't see you using Turkey as a staging area and Russia would quickly put a stop to a naval bombarment as you used in Iraq and Libya. You have stealth aircraft but again, distance is a factor. Russia is the one country who might mirror some of your capabilities and whilst your troops are battle hardened, what toll has that taken of you? You should not think in terms of aggressive action. Sanctions may work, but Russia has a long history of overcoming your sanctions and is much more integrated in the world economy these days You have numerical advantage in personell and various weapon systems but Russia also has advantage in other weapon systems but logistics is the factor; putting troops on the ground

[lol brix]

The situation in Crimea will not become WWIII. Now that Ukranians are resisting, Vladimir will PROBABLY not get what he wants. Those are just my opinions and I could be wrong. I wouldn't worry.

[tomder55]

So you ask what we should do ?

Lithuania’s energy minister, Jaroslav Neverovic, pleaded in emotional terms for U.S. help, saying his country is “100 percent” dependent on Russia for natural gas and has to pay 30 percent higher prices for it than other countries in Europe.
“This is not just unfair, this is abuse,” Neverovic told the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee.

Lawmakers from both parties used the hearing to urge the Obama administration to speed up natural gas exports as a hedge against the possibility that Russia could cut off its supply of gas to Ukraine and other countries.
Four Central European nations — Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic — made formal requests for U.S. exports as Moscow moved to annex part of the Ukraine. Concerns about energy security threaten the region's residents on a daily basis, ambassadors to the four countries said in letters to House and Senate leaders.

http://news.yahoo.com/senate-hears-p...-politics.html
This is a close to a no brainer as there is .

[paraclete]

commercial arrangements are commercial arrangements. Tell me, Tom, where in your nation are goods sold in small quantity at the same price as goods sold in large quantity? I'll bet it doesn't happen often. What we have here is someone trying to panic the US into action. If they want to buy gas from some other source, fine, but do they have the inferstructure to do so? Who is going to provide that inferstructure short term? They shoudl have thought about the implications when they signed on. The reality is we are all paying more for gas and oil products, so I don't get upset about an obscure country on the Russian border paying more for gas because they don't have the industrial might to negotiate better contracts

[tomder55]

forget prices. Who wants their supply shut off ? I lived with Arab boycotts twice in the 1970s and it wasn't pleasant ....and we have domestic sources. These countries are completely reliant on the Russian supply ;and that in turn dictates policy . You want to know how to get energy to these countries ? Anyway you can ... by road ,by train.. Poland has ports . The Port of Klaipėda in Lithuania is ice free . This is not only a short term concern. It should be US policy to export energy to our friends not only for strategic concerns ;but also as part of regular trade policy.

[paraclete]

Yes go for it, but understand when you go down that road you may have to commit a lot more than you think. look if there is a new market going we would like some of that too