It would be inappropriate for me (a Canadian) to sign any petition on whitehouse.gov, but that doesn't mean I can't point them out to people who can sign them. Here's one I think is worthy - please at least tell others about it even if you don't sign it.
http://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petiti ... m/XMjbTltM
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Okay, now I gotta ask: what effect would this have? I mean, of course there's the obvious fact that the PotUS can disregard this... But I mean if it were taken seriously and Russia was deemed to be supporting terrorist actions... What would the result of that be? Would they reach as far as the UN? Would the EU recognize it? And even if everyone else took our side, what would Russia's reaction be?
From the petition:
Quote:Specifically, armed operatives of Russia, acting under disguise, attempt to influence the policy of Ukrainian government by intimidation or coercion. They also try to affect the conduct of a government by assassinations and kidnapping, taking by force government buildings, police posts and military bases of Ukraine.
The nerve of those Russians, emulating US foreign policy.
To paraphrase Ben Franklin: Destabilization of a foreign government is always legal in the first person, as in "our efforts to undermine Ruritania". It's only in the third person, "their terrorist acts" is it illegal.
-- Bob
---------
Then the horns kicked in...
...and my shoes began to squeak.
If this report I've heard from a person living in Kyiv is accurate:
Quote:SBU arrested a team of people delivering nuclear materials from the RF-controlled Transnistria region through the Ukrainian border. There's some indication that the intent was a construction of a dirty bomb.
then there's no question that the RF is sponsoring terrorism. Where else could the "nuclear materials" have come from?
BA, I understand that there are certain export, import, and travel restrictions that kick in as soon as a nation is declared to be a state sponsor of terrorism.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Yeah, but I'm pretty sure that at that point Putin will declare war. God only knows how he'd rationalize it, but I'm sure he will.
robkelk Wrote:If this report I've heard from a person living in Kyiv is accurate:
Quote:SBU arrested a team of people delivering nuclear materials from the RF-controlled Transnistria region through the Ukrainian border. There's some indication that the intent was a construction of a dirty bomb.
then there's no question that the RF is sponsoring terrorism. Where else could the "nuclear materials" have come from?
He's provided a
http://www.sbu.gov.ua/sbu/control/uk/pu ... t_id=39574]source for that claim.
And, for those who don't speak Ukranian,
http://forums.sjgames.com/showpost.php? ... tcount=105]a translation:
Quote:Counterintelligence of SBU confiscated from illegal possession a source of ionising radiation containing up to 1½kg of U-235
30th of April of this year, on the territory of Chernigivska region, SBU detained 9 persons: citizens of Ukraine and, by preliminary information, one citizen of RF.
The material has been brought to the territory of Ukraine from the self-proclaimed Near-Dnister Moldavian Republic [Transnistria/PMR] on an automobile with foreign number plates. Radioactive material was held in a container of improvised construction.
During the urgent investigation SBU gained information, based on which it can not be excluded that the objective of the detained group was the creation of a «dirty» bomb and its use during mass actions in South-Eastern regions of Ukraine for the purpose of destabilising the socio-political situation in the state.
Based on this fact was began a criminal investigation based on part 1 of article 265 (illegal actions regarding radioactive materials) of the Criminal Codex of Ukraine
Investigative actions continue
That's a heck of a lot of U-235.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Though I do wonder what they hell they were gonna do with that? Detonate a dirty bomb in Crimea? That'd go over like a lead balloon, and not in Russia's favor.
Yeah. I suspect this was the "bright" idea of some mid-level person who wanted to curry favour in the Politburo, rather than a well-thought-out plan.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
Actually what I imagine would have happened is that the dirty bomb would have been used against the pro-RF personnel and used as an excuse to invade. Or better and safer "found" by pro russian forces as proof that the Ukrainians can't secure their borders and thus the RF forces invade to secure Russian interests and security similar to when they invaded Georgia in the 1800s.
Of course, that trick is so old hat that it's become moth-eaten. Of course, the RF wouldn't dare lat anyone examine the bomb to determine where the radioactive materials came from in the first place.
Again, from my Ukrainian corespondent:
Quote:A car has been detained which contained armoured vests, camouflaged clothing, petards and an unknown chemical. Suspicions are that the driver was aiding in the spread of terrorism Westward. The car lacked a number plate. Passengers and driver couldn't give a consistent answer where exactly they're from and what they planned to do in Lviv.
So it wasn't a one-off operation, alas.
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012