tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8321906230110554212.post7953429665275920818..comments2024-02-26T07:50:38.929-08:00Comments on Da Da Da Da Life Goes On*: Bad News DayDuncan McDougallhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08993501047174297314noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8321906230110554212.post-81967363560570483972014-07-21T13:11:17.713-07:002014-07-21T13:11:17.713-07:00Yes I am concerned, and I too felt dread at the sh...Yes I am concerned, and I too felt dread at the sheer stupidity of those pro-russian rebels aiming at a jet at 32000 feet. What kind of callous and perverted world view would give these rebels that kind of weapon and power. My fear now is that Islamic terrorists will buy several of these things and start shooting at all western commercial airliners. What then?<br /><br />David HadallerDavid Hadallernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8321906230110554212.post-6817686002740298812014-07-18T05:37:32.487-07:002014-07-18T05:37:32.487-07:00Further, I believe that if Russia now admits that ...Further, I believe that if Russia now admits that the shooting down of MH17 was done in error, it can save face by arresting and punishing the people who gave the order to fire at the plane. That alone would take much of the onus off of Putin & Co.Duncan McDougallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08993501047174297314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8321906230110554212.post-57497362205343300372014-07-18T05:29:49.325-07:002014-07-18T05:29:49.325-07:00Thank you, Luci, for your command of history, and ...Thank you, Luci, for your command of history, and for your cogent expression of your views. While I understand your point about the cultural aspect of the separatist movement in Eastern Ukraine, and while I hear your prediction that that movement will ultimately prevail, and form a new Russian, or Russian-culture territory, I think that Russia should step up immediately and arrest, try, and convict all those individuals responsible for the firing of a SAM at a passenger plane. Unless they do so, they are in effect a state that supports terrorism. Mistake though it may have been, it was inexcusable.Duncan McDougallhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08993501047174297314noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8321906230110554212.post-24788349192411613922014-07-18T04:17:23.601-07:002014-07-18T04:17:23.601-07:00A moving article, indeed. However, I deem the enti...A moving article, indeed. However, I deem the entire issue is rather about a cultural misunderstanding than about doomsday or a re-enactment of 1956 or 1968.<br /><br />At the beginning of the 1990's,there had been agreements that Eastern Europe should be left as a gray zone, between the West and Russia. Tacitly and bit by bit, these agreements were sidelined, with NATO and the EU pushing eastwards.<br /><br />From the economical perspective, Romania was fortunate, as being part of the last wave of extension before the Great Recession brought all the years of growth to an abrupt still.<br /><br />However, none of the newly-Europeanized countries was Russian in ethnicity (apart for minorities in the Baltic states, which had nonetheless been part of Poland or Germany for most of their history). Ukraine, on its Eastern part,is inhabited by a Russian majority, though.<br /><br />Therefore, we may infer the situation is more similar to what happened when Mexico seemed to turn to the German side back in World War I - and the US asserted its commitment to the Monroe Doctrine by sending its fleet to block German shippings of weapons - than to a revival of the Brezhnev Doctrine. And, most likely, if the people of Eastern Ukraine have the desire to separate, they probably will, as the nations of Yugoslavia had done.Luci CJhttp://www.calatorie-fotografie.netnoreply@blogger.com