The implications of the Russian invasion of Crimea- The new Cold war
In my other two threads, I talked somewhat in depth about the growing tensions with the government of Russia, and the resistance we've had when dealing with Russian in Syrian waters. Now, Russia seems to be emboldened by political successes at home, banning any propaganda which is does not promote "traditional values"[1][2][3], so vaguely worded that by itself it practically gives their government absolute authority over the country, and by their actions in Syria. After sending warships in an effort to block U.N. and American involvement in Syria [1][2][3], Russia quickly invaded Crimea after the previous prime minister resigned, in a period of weakness for Ukraine, and formally overtook the territory of Crimea. Now claiming to lack involvement in the uprisings in eastern Ukraine, bordering Russia, where numerous "demonstrations" have taken place, NATO and the U.S. have illustrated Russian support for the rebel forces, as well as direct involvement and movement of troops into the territory. [1][2][3]
The implications of this are staggering, as multiple embargos have already been placed on Russia, Europe, and the U.S., with Russia taking it the next step and banning food imports from these country's all together. Rather than act through a proxy, Russia has directly, with it's own troops, invaded the Ukraine, which is an extremely huge step up in military related problems. The U.N. general assembly has voted 100 to 11 to condemn Russia's actions; most everyone agrees that Russia is at fault, but since all actions risk total war, legitimate military resistance has been sparse, largely to try to persuade Russia to stop their actions through diplomatic means, which as of now have all but failed.
Russia initially denied it's involvement in Crimea, sending in military units without insignia or clear methods of identification, nor without announcing it (technically a violation of the geneva convention), but came clean after their military successes in the region, capturing it and placing it under Russian control. They now seem to be stepping up their involvement in Ukraine, and have tried to deny their involvement once again, by up to and including, suggesting that entire Russian military unit's went on vacations for the holiday in the midst of a warzone in Ukraine, naturally bringing all of their Russian issued equipment with them and massacring civilians. With all their guns and equipment and siding with the rebels and mowing down entire cities. The fact that this is an event that is occurring on the world stage boggles my mind. There are no words.
There's plenty of proof of Russia's involvement including satellite data [1][2][3][4], including NATO and the U.S. claiming they're there, plenty of photographic evidence showing soldiers in uniform and with specific weapons, including special forces, and providing equipment (such as tanks) and artillery bombardment [1]. They've mobilized forces under the guise of humanitarian support, which is likely going to destroy their credibility for a long time; particularly important is that they claimed to be delivering the aid with the support of the Red Cross, who did not actually support their actions. [1][2][3][4][5]
The question is, how do we respond to this crisis? Over 200,000 people have died in Syria, and there are over 3 million refugees.
Furthermore, if Russia succeeds in taking over all the areas in Europe it wants it'll violate the will and rights of the people, and lead them under an oppressive and discriminatory government. If we challenge Russia, we may witness major economic problem's, particularly for the average person, if not all out war. In the meantime, Russia continues to arm and back genocidal dictators and generally immoral people around the world, as thousands die from Russian arms sold to the country's for meager profits.
The only thing that keeps war between the U.S. and Russia cold is the presence of the nuclear deterrent, of which seems to be of lesser important in preventing Russia from engaging in conventional warfare. With the illusion of the nuclear deterrent shattered, Russia has taken upon itself to begin invading eastern Europe, barely containing their involvement, just enough to make it appear as if the rest of the world will be making the first move, and has more or less continued to ignore the international community.
I fear this is the start of another cold war, or some significantly worse. With Russian bomber planes flying closer to the U.S. and NATO at any point during the cold war, now weekly, we are closer to an all out nuclear war than the world has ever seen; this may even be the beginning of WWIII.[1][2][3] With an attempt to desensitize the American populace of an incoming Russian attack, these test flights not only allow them to gather data about how to best respond to our defenses, but allow them to get closer to the U.S. without the ability to truly predict if the next wave of aircraft will truly be there for an attack, meaning the nuclear bombing of the U.S. could be just around the corner. Or an accidental attack of Russian craft, thus starting a war of some kind.
"I know not with what weapons WWIII will be fought with, but WWIV will be fought with sticks and stones"- Albert Einstein.
Edited by Manoka, 18 November 2014 - 10:04 PM.