Ukraine's Migraine

It seems too early to know exactly how to view the developing crisis in the Ukraine, as yet. But it certainly seems to be precipitated mostly by a dogmatically totalitarian President, who rules a predominantly corrupt government that cares more about enriching their own pockets with Russian graft then it does about representing the interests of their supposedly democratic populace. Rather than acquiesce to the wishes of the people who wanted to strengthen ties with western Europe, President Yanukovich accepted 2 billion dollars from Russia, which was rightly seen as a bribe from Putin to forgo the European interests, and to retain their more Soviet-style relations with Russia. As a consequence, he fomented the popular revolt that has brought about rioting in the streets, which he answered with military sniper fire that has killed 80 some demonstrators, and injured hundreds more. Not surprisingly, the demonstrators are fighting back with their few guns, and have shot some of the military's troops as well. If this isn't the prelude to an all-out civil war in the not too distant future, I don't know what it is.

This seems to be playing right into Putin's greedy little hands. He has been expected to be waiting for any excuse to start re-absorbing the former Soviet satellite nations back into Russia's control for some time now, and a bloody civil war by their next door neighbor seems to be just the ticket to allow him to move his armed forces into the Ukraine, in order to "stabilize the situation". Afterwards, Russia's military will simply decide to stay.

The Ukraine's close proximity to the middle-east has not escaped my interest either. With all I've written lately about my expectation that Putin may soon find some excuse to invade Israel, whether he is the Russian leader that God refers to as Gog, or not, I suspect that bringing the Ukraine back under Russian dominance should have some significant part to play in that prophicied invasion. I just can't guess exactly what that might be, as yet. But it certainly would not be desirable for him to send a military force into Israel, by way of Syria, while leaving an independent country like Ukraine with a measure of hostility towards their former Soviet dictators directly in their rear. If Ukrainian forces were not a threat to come to the aid of Israel, they could be perceived as possibly serving as a sympathetic base of operations for a N.A.T.O. force that might. Remember, whomever this "Gog" commander will be, it's certain he will not place any credence in the Ezekiel 38, &39 prophecy that tells of the western nations' collective limp-wristed response to his hedgemonistic invasion. So we can see at least that Putin would not want the Ukrainian people to develop closer ties with the western N.A.T.O nations.

UPDATE: 2/23/'14-
Things seem to be going the way that the Ukrainian protesters want them to go, but hold on a second; Putin still carries the trump card here. Can he sit still and watch perhaps his most valued former Soviet member force their dictatorial Soviet-leaning government to resign in favor of a new western-democratic government right next door to Russia? Not only that, but to have it brought about by a largely unarmed popular revolt, against an oppressive Soviet-style military crack-down by their government, must be causing Putin ( Russia's former head of the dreaded K.G.B.) to just about gag over his lack of "diplomatic control" over the situation. But remember, when diplomacy fails, Russia's trump card has always been to invade the country that has the gall to try and force democratic principles on their government, rather than maintain close relations to Russia's own totalitarian demands. Remember the Soviet invasion of Checkoslavakia in the 1970's? Well maybe we're about to find out just how much Russia has changed from the old Soviet era. How a Russian invasion of the Ukraine could possibly be connected to Russia's apparent maneuvering in preparation for their prophecied invasion of Israel, I can't guess, beyond my speculation above. But, I strongly suspect that there is a connection, and that Putin knows what it is. So don't be surprised if Russian tanks begin crossing the border into the Ukraine soon, and perhaps this expectation may be causing the present Yanukovich government to seem to be acquiescing to the protesters' demands, knowing that any changes they agree to will be very short-lived.

UPDATE #2: 2/24/'14
I have always acknowledged upfront that I'm not vain enough to imagine myself to be some form of modern-day prophet, if there is such a thing. I just try to connect the dots between what God has already revealed to us in Biblical prophecy, and what we see unfolding in the news around us, today. Hopefully, God helps me to see things clearly enough to alert others who may not be paying attention to world developments enough to recognize what's going on.

Yesterday's Update stated that I wouldn't be surprised to see Putin order his Russian Tanks into the Ukraine to "stabilize the situation", meaning rather to conquer the nation that is unwilling to maintain a dependent relationship with Russia, later deciding that the Tanks should simply stay permanently. This was my own opinion, based upon a longstanding distrust of Putin's governing style, which seems to differ from his Soviet predecessors only slightly. I had heard no one speculating similarly, until after I had published my opinion.

But shortly afterwards, I heard Washington Post commentator George Will express a very similar concern on T.V.'s Fox News Sunday, followed later by an interview of National Security Adviser Susan Rice voicing the same concern ( I think it was on N.B.C.), along with what seemed to be an official White House warning that Putin would be well advised not to do so, because doing so would bring about, "serious consequences"! After I managed to stop quaking in my shoes from the sheer terror that that threat implied, I was gratified to realize that I had recognized the potential threat of Putin's next move before either of these highly esteemed prognosticators had pronounced similar concerns. Now, granted this doesn't mean squat about predicting what will happen, but merely what might reasonably happen. Still, it is gratifying to realize that I'm on the right track, and that well-known pundits ( one on the Right, and one from the Left) reached the same conclusion, after I published mine. Not exactly on the scale of being one of God's prophets, but it will do for me!

Hmmm...! I wonder if these two pundits read my blog before they appeared on T.V.? Well, so much for keeping my vanity in check.

UPDATE: 2/27/'14
What a "Koinkydink"!!! My swollen vanity is now telling me that Vladimir Putin is also reading my blog! I apparently gave him the idea about invading the Ukraine, and yesterday he sent his troops on "Maneuvers", (surprise!...)right along the border between Russia, and the Ukraine. Not very imaginative of him, either. I guess he can't make up his mind what to do, so he has to borrow his ideas from my blog. What a dilemma! I've been telling President Obama what he should do for a long time now, and when he doesn't do it, I've been implying that I could easily tell him what he can do with himself, as well! So now I guess I'm advising the other side as well. Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be much difference between the two sides that I can see, between the White House and the Kremlin. Putin wants to invade everyone else's country, and Obama wants to watch him do it while making lame threats like, "there will be consequences, if you do." Oooh! That sends shivers down my spine just to think of all those "consequences"! I'll bet Obama is ready to stamp his foot, and say, "I'm so mad I could just spit!" And then 10 minutes later he'll rip off a searing "Diplomatic Protest", before crying himself to sleep.

All sarcasm aside, the very real "consequences" will be dire for the people of the Ukraine. The country seems to be split right down the middle, geographically, as well as ideologically; the eastern half of the country seems to be more sympathetic to Russia, while the western half seems to want closer ties with the western European nations. There has been speculation that Putin, if he does invade, might try to annex the eastern side, only, claiming that they are mostly Russian descendants anyway. Hmmm! That sounds familiar...Oh! I've got it! That was the same excuse that Hitler used to rationalize his invasion of the Sudetenland, and annex it from Checkoslavakia, I believe. That was the first stage of his precipitating World War II. Not to be out done, I suppose Putin intends to use this as the first step in starting World War III, followed by his invasion of Israel. In the mean time, Obama probably plans to sit on his hands, and maybe spit once in a while, if he gets angry enough!