I agree. The problem with sanctions against Putin when we put them against Russia they harm the Russian people. In an ideal world the Russian people would vote Putin out. However, he is more popular than ever with a popularity in the high 80s. When you consider Obama is in the 40s this is something to think about.
Why is his approval so high? He is standing up to the U.S. and Europe. This is very nationalistic and presently popular. Russia feels somewhat betrayed by the U.S. and Europe ever since the Soviet Union Collapsed in 1991. So, there is this build up of anger that the U.S. and Europe didn't do more to save the Russian people from what they experienced from 1991 until Putin took over from Yeltsin in the early 2000s. So, to Russians Putin saved them from a really bad economic mess and most of them have jobs and food on the table which wasn't the case most of the 10 years from 1991 until 2001 or after.
So, if we are imposing sanctions to stop Putin this has failed. If we are imposing sanctions for some other reason we might want to think about what that reason that is? Will the Russian people throw out Putin because of what he is doing in Ukraine, Crimea and Syria? Unlikely. So, before the Russian people watch their economy completely collapse and they can't get food and their jobs go away, Europe and the U.S. need to think more about this sanctions strategy. Because it is counterproductive to what we want to happen right now.
begin quote:
Russia 'may face chaos' if extra sanctions imposed: Germany
12 hours ago
"The goal was never to push Russia politically and economically into chaos," Gabriel told the Bild am Sonntag.
"Whoever wants that will provoke a much more dangerous situation for all of us in Europe," he said, pointing out that Russia was a nuclear power.
The aim of the sanctions imposed against Russia so far was to steer the country back to the negotiating table.
"Those who want to destabilise Russia economically and politically even more are pursuing completely different interests," said Gabriel, who is also Germany's economy minister.
Some in Europe and in the United States want to see the old arch-rival Russia on its knees, but Gabriel said: "That is not Germany's or Europe's interest."
"We want to help solve the conflict in Ukraine, not to force Russia to its knees," he said.
The
West has repeatedly accused Russia of stoking the Ukraine crisis, by
supplying weapons and troops to the rebels. Moscow denies the charge.
Sanctions
imposed by the European Union and the United States, along with
plunging oil prices, have sent the ruble crashing by some 40 percent
against the dollar last year.
View Comments (1927)end quote from:
Russia 'may Face Chaos' If Extra Sanctions Imposed: Germany News
Russia 'may face chaos' if extra sanctions imposed: Germany
AFP via Yahoo! News13 hours agoTougher sanctions may destabilise the situation further in Russia and plunge the country into chaos, German deputy chancellor Sigmar Gabriel warned in a newspaper interview on Sunday. "The goal was...
My wife complained that I shouldn't make my comments unless I have a solution to the problem. She mad the point that the sanctions the U.S. puts on North Korea causes 22 million people to live in poverty while the 1 million soldiers and diplomats are the only ones with access to enough resources to live a decent life.
My thought is that we are doing the same thing to Russia now that we did to North Korea and we might wind up with exactly the same result as North Korea which is a nuclear state that is nuts with most people starving.
Only in Russia's case it might just use nuclear weapons out of pride. And then where would we be?
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