The Crisis In Ukraine Has Much Deeper And Darker Roots Than Many Realize http://www.businessinsider.com/ukrainian-famine-2014-3#ixzz2wiy6ZDsH Growing up in a Ukrainian family, I always wondered where my Grandmother's frantic need to feed everyone originated. My grandparents didn't talk about how they suffered during the Holodomor — a forced famine in Ukraine perpetuated by the Soviets in the 1930s. I have seen pictures though, of them waiting in line for bread at a relocation camp. They finally fled Ukraine in 1943. My uncle was born during the journey somewhere in Poland. With mounting pressure from the West, Russian President Vladimir Putin has tried to defend his invasion of the Crimea section of Ukraine. Putin claims Russia has a right to protect the former government headed by President Viktor Yanukovych in a "lawless" country like Ukraine. But many people forget the history of oppression against Ukraine goes much further back than Putin's recent invasion. During Soviet rule in the 1930s, when my grandparents lived there, Stalin lead a genocide of Ukrainians. “The Ukrainians have a lingering memory of a previous union with the Russians that nearly broke the back of their nation,” Walter Zaryckyj, executive director for the Center for U.S.-Ukrainian Relations (CUSUR) told the National Review. In 1932, Joseph Stalin and his forces perpetuated a famine in Ukraine known as "Holodomor," meaning "death by hunger."As a communist leader, Stalin wanted to curtail the country's growing independence (declared for the first time in 1918). He considered wealthy farmers, known as "kulaks,"capitalist and, therefore, anti-socialist. Consequently, Stalin instituted "dekulakization," seizing families' estates and imposing heavy grain taxes.He hoped not only to feed his growing forces but also to force Ukraine to abandon their national pride and adopt Soviet ideals. No one knows how many Ukrainians perished, but historians estimate anywhere from 3 million to 10 million people starved to death. Some eyewitness accounts describe people eating their dogs and, horrifingly, their own children. But history often ignores Stalin's reign of terror. Currently, Russia doesn't recognize the Holodomor as a genocide, nor does Ukraine's ousted, pro-Russian president, Viktor Yanukovych.While Kremlin-supporters fail to acknowledge the genocide, many countries, as well as the United Nations Human Rights Council, recognize the event as exactly that. Even Raphael Lemkin, the man who coined the term "genocide," used the Holodomor as an example. While we can never call one tragedy "worse" than another, some historians claim Stalin killed just as many Ukrainians as Hitler killed Jews — possibly more. Although Ukraine declared independence 1918, that government soon collapsed, and the country wouldn't gain true independence until after the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. Decades later, Yanukovych has maintained a close relationship with Russia and Putin, a leader who makes no secret of his pro-Stalin ideology. Recently, he dedicated the Sochi Olympics to his favorite communist leader. On top of that, Yanukovych has refused to allow Ukraine to join the European Union and cut troubled ties to Russia. "For Ukrainians, E.U. membership means more than economic opportunities and mobility. It is about distancing themselves from Putin, who is said to revere Stalin, the very dictator who tried to erase Ukraine and managed to partition it, at least politically,"Andrea Chalupa, who studied at the Harvard Ukrainian Institute, wrote for Time. Although fewer than one-fifth of Americans feel the U.S. has any obligation to protect Ukraine from Russian invasion, according to a YouGov poll, history reminds us of the need to watch closely. Putin's affiliation with Stalin looks all too clear. And Hillary Clinton, among others, already compared the Kremlin's actions to those of Adolf Hitler. For Ukraine, this invasion just signifies another notch in a long line of abuses.
Things are so far far far far far from over. I'm just shaking my head at what's about to happen. Those of you saying, "nothing is going to happen" and "we aren't going to war over Crimea" etc etc aren't seeing the big picture. It's so far from over. Putin has only just begun. Intelligence from field has White House 'very concerned' about Russia invading more of Ukraine – possibly soon (CNN) - Based on intelligence, Obama administration officials are very concerned the Russians are not being truthful when they say their forces near Ukraine's eastern and southern borders are merely there for training exercises, sources tell CNN. Officials assess that Russia – as early as coming days – could use any number of pretexts to justify further military incursions into Ukraine. Moscow could express a need to protect Russian-speaking Ukrainians, or to protect transportation lines from Russia to Crimea, or the energy supply to Crimea from the rest of Ukraine. Russian troops could accomplish this quickly, officials say, and theoretically before any other nation could even raise objections. Officials publicly attribute their skepticism to previous Russian assurances that proved false, and privately say intelligence from the field has bolstered this view of Russia’s plans. Asked for a candid assessment of White House worries about a possible incursion, a senior administration official told CNN, “We’re very concerned, but it’s by no means certain.” Separately, National Security Adviser Susan Rice said Friday the Russians have said they intend to conduct military exercises. “Obviously given their past practice, and the gap between what they have said and what they have done, we are watching it with skepticism," she said. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spoke with his Russian counterpart, Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu, on Thursday. Shoigu provided “assurance that the troops he has arrayed along the border are there to conduct exercises only, that they had no intention of crossing the border into Ukraine, and that they would take no aggressive action,” according to a Pentagon read-out of the call. http://thelead.blogs.cnn.com/2014/0...ssian-incursion-ukraine-possibly-coming-days/
Agree, the low-risk repatriation of Crimea is enough to make people forget he lost the Ukraine. Even the economic take down of the oligarchs actually just increases his internal control. The people will blame the West for any hardship that results. Starting a shooting war though is an exponential escalation of his risks.
Putin is going to continue taking other parts of Ukraine to "protect Russian speaking people". The west and the EU will step up even more sanctions and Putin will tell his own people that the west and the EU are wanting to destroy Russia and that the west are moving into Ukraine, Georgia, Moldova, Belarus which will give him even more incentive to for example go into Georgia and protect the Russian speaking people there from the west. And Putin will have his entire country behind him... and then if the west or the EU wants to step up with Military, Putin will claim that Russia is being attacked and once again he'll have the full support of his whole country if it goes down this way and any fighting will take place on his own turf - and history has shown that nobody goes into Russia and wins (look at napoleon and look at WWII). If by chance there is military action, Putin will be on the defensive because it will happen on former soviet soil. You guys can't possibly think Putin is going to stop at Crimea? I would expect him in other parts of Ukraine within 2-3 weeks or less. I'll bump this when it happens.
Since when has the US invaded and stolen a country's land recently? Stop coming in here and saying one-liners that don't make any sense. This isn't comparable. Russia is grabbing land and putting their flag on it. The US doesn't do that. The US invaded to "stop terrorism" "weapons of mass destruction" "oil" "Iraqi freedom" or whatever and yeah it's all BS but they don't land grab so it isn't comparable. If Russia has nobody to stand up to them and stop them Putin will continue is land grab on all the smaller countries around him. This is why eventually the US and the EU will have to help out. And why shouldn't they? Should they just let Russia conquer every other smaller country who can't defend themselves properly?
Wrong. In January 1893, the planters staged an uprising to overthrow the Queen. At the same time, they appealed to the United States armed forces for protection. Without Presidential approval, marines stormed the islands, and the American minister to the islands raised the stars and stripes in HONOLULU. The Queen was forced to abdicate, and the matter was left for Washington politicians to settle. By this time, Grover Cleveland had been inaugurated President. Cleveland was an outspoken anti-imperialist and thought Americans had acted shamefully in Hawaii. He withdrew the annexation treaty from the Senate and ordered an investigation into potential wrongdoings. Cleveland aimed to restore Liliuokalani to her throne, but American public sentiment strongly favored annexation. http://www.ushistory.org/us/44b.asp
Here's the very last line from your link. "Hawaii remained a territory until granted statehood as the fiftieth state in 1959."
The most important takeaway from all of this is, get yourself some WMD's to stay safe. There would have been no Iraq, Libya, or Ukraine mess. Don't know if that's for the better or not, but its obvious what you need to keep external players out.
