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Crimea votes to join Russia[W:223]

MildSteel

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Well it looks like the people of Crimea has spoken. NINETY FIVE PERCENT voted to join Russia. WOW!!!

We'll see what the people in Washington say who have been pushing democracy and the will of the people.

Ukraine crisis: Early results show Crimea votes to join Russia - CNN.com

Preliminary results in Sunday's referendum on whether Ukraine's Crimea region should join Russia or become an independent state overwhelmingly show support for Russia.

With 50% percent of the ballots counted, more than 95% of voters want to become part of that country, according to Crimean Electoral Commission head Mikhail Malyshev.

Earlier, he'd announced that more than 80% of voters had cast ballots by the time polls closed at 8 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET) Sunday.

Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, citing exit polls, reported that some 93% of people had voted to join Russia.

Final results are expected later.
 
John McCain isn't a happy camper.

McCain: 'Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country'

Sen. John McCain returned from a trip to Ukraine on Sunday, calling for "a fundamental re-assessment" of the United States' relationship with Russian Vladimir Putin.

“No more reset buttons," McCain told Candy Crowley on CNN's "State of the Union." “No more reset buttons, no more ‘Tell Vladimir I’ll be more flexible.’ Treat him for what he is. That does not mean re-ignition of the Cold War. But it does mean treating him in the way that we understand an individual who believes in restoring the old Russian empire.”

McCain, who has been critical of the Obama administration's response to the crisis in Crimea, said the White House should target Russia's oil exports.

"Russia is a gas station masquerading as a country,” McCain said. “It’s kleptocracy, it’s corruption. It’s a nation that’s really only dependent upon oil and gas for their economy. And so economic sanctions are important. Get some military assistance to Ukrainians, at least so they can defend themselves. Resume the missile defense system in Poland and the Czech Republic. Look at Moldova and Georgia, both of whom are occupied by Russian troops as we speak, a path toward membership in NATO.”

Speaking in Kiev with a delegation of fellow U.S. senators on Saturday, McCain called for the United States to provide long-term military support — both "lethal and non-lethal" equipment — to Ukraine. "[It is] the right and decent thing to do," McCain said.

In a New York Times op-ed published Saturday, the Republican senator sharpened his criticism of the president.

"Crimea has exposed the disturbing lack of realism that has characterized our foreign policy under President Obama," McCain wrote. "It is this worldview, or lack of one, that must change."

McCain added: "Crimea must be the place where President Obama recognizes this reality and begins to restore the credibility of the United States as a world leader."
 
Any election done at the point of a gun is no real election.

Can you provide evidence that people were voting at gunpoint? I didn't think so.

NINETY FIVE PERCENT!
 
Can you provide evidence that people were voting at gunpoint? I didn't think so.

NINETY FIVE PERCENT!

You cast a vote after the region was been invaded by Russian troops. That is voting at the point of a gun.
 
Well it looks like the people of Crimea has spoken. NINETY FIVE PERCENT voted to join Russia. WOW!!!

We'll see what the people in Washington say who have been pushing democracy and the will of the people.

Ukraine crisis: Early results show Crimea votes to join Russia - CNN.com

All elections are real and show the true will of the people, especially those done at the point of a gun. As an example: Kim Jong Un 'elected' with 100% of the vote in North Korea, and with 100% turnout... amazing... WOW!!!
 
Remember the famous call?

Ukraine says not investigating bugging of U.S. diplomats phone talk | Reuters

Ukraine's state security service on Saturday said it was not investigating the bugging of a phone call between U.S. diplomats in which they weighed up which opposition leaders they should back for government in a reformed Ukraine.

U.S. diplomats tried to limit the damage on Friday after audio of the phone conversation was posted on the Internet. In it, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was heard using an expletive in reference to the European Union.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, already furious with Washington over reports that U.S. officials bugged her own phone, found Nuland's remarks "totally unacceptable", her spokeswoman said.

Here's a picture of Victoria Nuland with Arseny Yatsenyuk, a.k.a. Yats, taken on February 6 BEFORE THE COUP.

r


Nuland has been Washington's point person on Ukraine since a crisis broke in the former Soviet republic last November, bringing thousands of protesters out onto the streets of Kiev.

Here is Victoria Nuland passing out cookies to the protesters

1213-world-Nuland2_full_380.jpg


DANG!!! That a BIG bag of cookies!!!

Here's the article from back in December

Russia cries foul over Western embrace of Ukraine's demonstrators - CSMonitor.com

Though Moscow has done plenty of economic arm-twisting in its geopolitical tug-of-war with the European Union over Ukraine's allegiance, Russian leaders have on the whole kept unusually quiet as pro-Europe demonstrators blocked the central streets of Kiev over the past two weeks, barricading government buildings and setting up a tent city on Independence Square.

Moscow's wait-and-see approach is a big departure from the Orange Revolution of 2004, when Vladimir Putin reacted to a similar outpouring of pro-Western sentiment by personally and repeatedly voicing support for the eastward-leaning countercurrent.

In contrast, US and European officials have shuttled through Kiev to scold the democratically elected government of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych and often to schmooze with the protesters on Independence Square. On Wednesday, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland handed out cookies and bread to cheering protesters.

Ms. Nuland told reporters that she'd had a "tough but realistic" conversation with Mr. Yanukovych and believed it was possible to save Ukraine's "European future" if the Ukrainian president showed "leadership."

I wonder what the foul mouth diplomat said in that conversation. Maybe:

"Get out or we will kick your a$$ out!"

A little more from the article

State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki suggested the US might even impose sanctions on Ukraine, while the US government-funded think tank Freedom House called upon Yanukovych to resign and set early elections as "the only non-violent way to end the standoff with demonstrators."

And German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle toured the Independence Square protest camp with two opposition leaders and declared that "Ukraine should be on board with Europe."

All this prompted Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov to slam what he described as Western officials' out-of-line behavior Friday.

"Some of the comments that have been made by American officials over the last few days are shocking," Mr. Ryabkov said. "They are not even recommendations but bigoted demands that are put before the Ukrainian leadership, demands whose sharp wording reflects both a political course that we understand quite well and a certain play of emotions."

One can only imagine Nuland saying:

"You either do as I tell you, or I'm gonna put my foot in your a$$!"
 
You cast a vote after the region was been invaded by Russian troops. That is voting at the point of a gun.

How many people were killed in this so called invasion of Crimea?
 
I can't believe people are this naive to believe this election is legitimate.

I can't believe people are naive enough to believe the people were not going to vote that way. They want to join Russia.
 
I can't believe people are naive enough to believe the people were not going to vote that way. They want to join Russia.

Regardless if they would have voted that way or not, an election at the point of a gun, is still an illegitimate election. Also people don't have to die for an invasion and occupation to be a real an invasion and occupation.
 
You cast a vote after the region was been invaded by Russian troops. That is voting at the point of a gun.

That would only be true if
#1 they all had to vote regardless of whether they wanted to or not, since only 80% voted, I'd say no one forced anyone into the booth.
or #2 the voting is rigged.
 
All elections are real and show the true will of the people, especially those done at the point of a gun. As an example: Kim Jong Un 'elected' with 100% of the vote in North Korea, and with 100% turnout... amazing... WOW!!!

And had this been the same, I'd be right there with you. But with only 80% voting, clearly no gunpoint forced anyone to the polls. The fact that it isn't 100% vote for Russia also indicates that the voting was not coerced, though I leave open the possibility of fraud in vote counting.
 
Regardless if they would have voted that way or not, an election at the point of a gun, is still an illegitimate election. Also people don't have to die for an invasion and occupation to be a real an invasion and occupation.

do we really want to try to force the issue at this point?
 
Regardless if they would have voted that way or not, an election at the point of a gun, is still an illegitimate election. Also people don't have to die for an invasion and occupation to be a real an invasion and occupation.

You want to say it was at the point of a gun, but the fact is that the people there want it. I'm sorry, it's not at the point of a gun if it's something people want to do.

That dog ain't gonna hunt.
 
You want to say it was at the point of a gun, but the fact is that the people there want it. I'm sorry, it's not at the point of a gun if it's something people want to do.

That dog ain't gonna hunt.

It's always in the best interest for the people to vote to make the one with the gun happy. Just look at North Korea.
 
Elections at the point of a gun??? Can you please provide evidence of someone threatening someone with a gun?

Read the news. Watch the TV. Open your mind and see the facts. Until you're prepared to do that, there's nothing anyone can do to help you see the light. Others in this very thread have answered this same question.

This is like when my kids ask me for an answer and they don't like the answer. Asking the same question over and over again isn't going to garner you the answer you're looking for.

Russia invaded Crimea with armed force by the Russian military.

And the long post you keep putting in multiple threads? Dude, you're surprised by a US foreign diplomat taking pictures of them in a foreign country? Meeting with foreign leaders? Handing out cookies to people in the street that are protesting for freedom? Seriously? This is supposed to show some nefarious intent?

Open your mind. See the facts. Educate yourself regarding International Relations. Each country's IR is based on what's in the best interest for that country. The US having friends in that region is in the best national interest of the US.

Russia invaded Ukraine. They started in Crimea and have moved now into Ukraine proper. This is an invasion. We don't know if anyone has been killed, but we do know many have been arrested and have disappeared.

Any election conducted under those conditions cannot by any reasonable standard be trusted to be the true will of the people who are under the threat of force.

The vote was 95%? Only 58% of the population is ethnic Russian. There's no reasonable way to believe that 100% of that 58% would vote the same way. And even if they did, that means that 88% of the remaining ethnic groups would have had to vote the same way, if they were allowed to vote at all????

Do you know if the non-ethnic Russians were allowed to vote? And what percentage did vote if they did at all?

Seriously... let's all use logical thinking about this.
 
I can't believe people are this naive to believe this election is legitimate.

95% :eek:

Putin seems to be more popular than Obama.

I wonder how many hanging chads there were ?

Maybe they should have asked for ID at the polls and the election would have turned out differently ?
 
Russian invades the Crimea, occupies the Parliament building with its Soldiers, uses that Parliament building to issue a decree through a new Prime Minister of Ukraine, a man who's "Russian Unity" party was founded only in 2008 and only won THREE out of one hundred seats in 2010, a man who runs an organized crime syndicate in Crimea, to hold a referendum in 10 days time which will be established and run by the Russian military.

That is democracy? Its ****ing sickening what people find acceptable, especially considering all the pissing and moaning that goes on about how Obama is a "dictator" when an actual dictator comes up on the radar its met with a resounding apathy or quite approval.

This is not democracy, this is not an election, its a obvious move by Russia to give a thin veil of legitimacy to what is nothing more than a military conquest of another nation's territory.
 
Regardless if they would have voted that way or not, an election at the point of a gun, is still an illegitimate election. Also people don't have to die for an invasion and occupation to be a real an invasion and occupation.

I didn't saw/hear any voter at the point of the gun.
I didn't saw any Russian troop around the poll stations.

Crimea is doing it's changes by the vote, Kiev should take lessons from this.
Because there are more and more illegal actions occurred during January-February-March from the ex-opposition and current government of Ukraine.
 
It's always in the best interest for the people to vote to make the one with the gun happy. Just look at North Korea.

You can't provide evidence that people were voting by gunpoint. You can't provide evidence of people dying in this so called invasion. As a matter of fact, you have no evidence of an invasion.
 
95% :eek:

Putin seems to be more popular than Obama.

I wonder how many hanging chads there were ?

Maybe they should have asked for ID at the polls and the election would have turned out differently ?

Kim Jung Un got a 100% of the vote, he must be really popular right? This is what an actual dictator looks like.
 
You can't provide evidence that people were voting by gunpoint. You can't provide evidence of people dying in this so called invasion. As a matter of fact, you have no evidence of an invasion.

The God damn Russian Military is there, there's a million pictures of them being there, how the **** can you say there's no evidence?
 
And had this been the same, I'd be right there with you. But with only 80% voting, clearly no gunpoint forced anyone to the polls. The fact that it isn't 100% vote for Russia also indicates that the voting was not coerced, though I leave open the possibility of fraud in vote counting.

You have an open mind. That's all I'm asking.
 
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