Today, after a Crimean election where 95% of the voters chose to secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia, the U.S. government along with Europe placed what I call “sanctions lite” against a few Russian individuals. This in my opinion was the only plan that the struggling Obama administration could come up with to attempt to save face. That will not work.
If major U.S. economic sanctions were to be implemented against Russia, which would be a grave mistake, Putin’s stated response would become more likely, and that would be a very dangerous situation. If the EU went along with brutal sanctions, they would be immediately harmed, and its supply of life sustaining energy could be greatly curtailed if Putin’s threats were to be implemented.
If in fact Putin and Russia began to upset the monetary system by demanding all payments in Russian money or gold, or by dumping U.S. treasuries, and if China joined Russia in that effort, economic hell could break loose around the world, especially in the west. That could lead to a world war in which the major players are all heavily armed with nuclear weapons. That is madness, and I think the reason that the impotent U.S. sanctions applied today were so subdued.
The U.S. has threatened to levy much harsher sanctions, but that would be a terrible mistake, and one that could have deadly unintended consequences. Russia is not some third world defenseless dictatorship, it is a large and viable country, and one with strong allies. It is a major producer with customers all over Europe and beyond, and does have the capability to harm the U.S. economy, one that is already sitting on the edge of collapse.
Those like the warmongering idiot John Mccain are already calling for war, and any war with Russia could lead to global disaster. These neocons, along with their warmongering leftist partners on the other side of the aisle, are risking all out aggression and world war over a U.S. staged coup in Ukraine meant to antagonize Russia and Putin, and hopefully gain a geopolitical edge. That plan has already backfired, and the only sane possible conclusion should be a full retreat by the U.S. government immediately.
Anything other than calming these waters and attempting more negotiation could be horrendous. Any scenario other than that would immediately destabilize the situation, and put the world at risk.