I read the reports every day, but one thing that I think is important which you never mention is the Orange Revolution. I was in Kyiv in the summer of 2004, and there was a lot of talk about the Presidential transition from Kuchma to Yanukovich who was clearly Kuchma's successor. One friend suggested that they would do what Yeltsin and Putin did in Russia. Kuchma would resign and appoint Yanukovich. I returned in the summer of 2005 and stayed for the next nine years. The thing is that the Orange Revolution was a rejection of Yanukovich just as Maidan was a later rejection of Yanukovich. Everyone was filled with stories about how they went to Maidan and stood in the snow against Yanukovich. There was a buzz in the air. Ukrainians thought that they had stood in the snow for six weeks and changed Ukraine forever. I was pretty skeptical, because I thought it would take more than that. Yanukovich hired Paul Manafort to massage his image and he eventually rose to power again. I don't think we can fully understand the relationship between Russia and Ukraine without understanding the Orange Revolution. As soon as Yushenko came to power there was trouble with Putin, and he turned off the gas in winter at least twice to break Ukraine and failed. That was the time when Putin began to seek a way to bypass Ukraine with the natural gas transit to Europe. The Russians blamed Ukraine for stealing gas, but that was false. Putin started proposing different routes for pipelines because it was obvious that he wanted to control Ukraine by controlling natural gas.
By the way, the Russians also blew up a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan when the price of gas dropped below the contracted price that Gasprom had with Turkmenistan. They claimed that it was terrorists, but they didn't repair the pipeline until the price rose so that they could make a profit reselling Turkmen natural gas. I never see this mentioned anywhere.
Here's an article about the natural gas pipeline which was blown up by "terrorists." If anybody believes that story, then I have a bridge to sell them. For those who can't imagine the Russians blowing up their own pipeline, they have done it before.
Not surprising that this information has not been much discussed. I suppose some who have inspected the pipeline know if external or internally caused, but they aren't saying anything. So the propaganda wars continue.
Got it, the Russian were evil in 2009. I would not be surprised if they also did it to the Nord lines as well. Hersh tells a very good story, not clear why. Until those who inspected the break give us more, who knows? OTOH, if the Russians did it once, then they might d it again.
It's sad to me that the likes of Tucker and Greenwald are so about war. Who ever wants war? Yeah, it's expensive. Not as expensive as a global war if constrained to UA. Understand about the nuke threat and discount it. I don't think the Russians, even Putin, wish suicide. At this point the US could end the oil field production in Russia in a day, no nukes needed - something I suspect both nations understand. Someday we must address nuclear blackmail. I see Iran-Israel and that's a very real worry. Now I think Tucker, who I appreciate, is simply wrong. Perfectly OK to say we aren't sending troops but money it seems grows on trees if needed. The world sovereign debt crisis suggests you are well placed to grow your own stuff. I'm too old to worry much about that. Lucky to even still be here. Sorry for my stream....
I read the reports every day, but one thing that I think is important which you never mention is the Orange Revolution. I was in Kyiv in the summer of 2004, and there was a lot of talk about the Presidential transition from Kuchma to Yanukovich who was clearly Kuchma's successor. One friend suggested that they would do what Yeltsin and Putin did in Russia. Kuchma would resign and appoint Yanukovich. I returned in the summer of 2005 and stayed for the next nine years. The thing is that the Orange Revolution was a rejection of Yanukovich just as Maidan was a later rejection of Yanukovich. Everyone was filled with stories about how they went to Maidan and stood in the snow against Yanukovich. There was a buzz in the air. Ukrainians thought that they had stood in the snow for six weeks and changed Ukraine forever. I was pretty skeptical, because I thought it would take more than that. Yanukovich hired Paul Manafort to massage his image and he eventually rose to power again. I don't think we can fully understand the relationship between Russia and Ukraine without understanding the Orange Revolution. As soon as Yushenko came to power there was trouble with Putin, and he turned off the gas in winter at least twice to break Ukraine and failed. That was the time when Putin began to seek a way to bypass Ukraine with the natural gas transit to Europe. The Russians blamed Ukraine for stealing gas, but that was false. Putin started proposing different routes for pipelines because it was obvious that he wanted to control Ukraine by controlling natural gas.
By the way, the Russians also blew up a natural gas pipeline from Turkmenistan when the price of gas dropped below the contracted price that Gasprom had with Turkmenistan. They claimed that it was terrorists, but they didn't repair the pipeline until the price rose so that they could make a profit reselling Turkmen natural gas. I never see this mentioned anywhere.
Here's an article about the natural gas pipeline which was blown up by "terrorists." If anybody believes that story, then I have a bridge to sell them. For those who can't imagine the Russians blowing up their own pipeline, they have done it before.
https://www.rferl.org/a/Pipeline_Explosion_Stokes_Tensions_Between_Turkmenistan_Russia/1608633.html
Not surprising that this information has not been much discussed. I suppose some who have inspected the pipeline know if external or internally caused, but they aren't saying anything. So the propaganda wars continue.
Look at the date.
Got it, the Russian were evil in 2009. I would not be surprised if they also did it to the Nord lines as well. Hersh tells a very good story, not clear why. Until those who inspected the break give us more, who knows? OTOH, if the Russians did it once, then they might d it again.
It's sad to me that the likes of Tucker and Greenwald are so about war. Who ever wants war? Yeah, it's expensive. Not as expensive as a global war if constrained to UA. Understand about the nuke threat and discount it. I don't think the Russians, even Putin, wish suicide. At this point the US could end the oil field production in Russia in a day, no nukes needed - something I suspect both nations understand. Someday we must address nuclear blackmail. I see Iran-Israel and that's a very real worry. Now I think Tucker, who I appreciate, is simply wrong. Perfectly OK to say we aren't sending troops but money it seems grows on trees if needed. The world sovereign debt crisis suggests you are well placed to grow your own stuff. I'm too old to worry much about that. Lucky to even still be here. Sorry for my stream....