So, just how do we get rid of Putin?

[Churchill]

When Putin gets his arse handed to him on a plate over the Ukraine, his days are numbered.

That said, the little gay f*cker has nothing to lose so maybe he will press the shiny red button...

[xoggoth]

<Placeholder>

Churchy dies from Polonium-210 poisoning.

[Churchill]

<Placeholder>

Churchy dies from Polonium-210 poisoning.

It took more than that to kill Rasputin...

[administrator]

He is a mad ****er and has pledged to protect the ethnic Russians in Crimea so backing down will be a massive loss of face to his people - and I am not sure that he is capable of doing that. Going to be an interesting week or two to come.

And with his troops piled up only a short distance away is he likely to be handed his derriere on a platter?

[doodab]

I don't see the US stepping in unless a NATO countries borders are violated. They clearly haven't prepared for that eventuality in terms of build up thus far. Whether any of Ukraine's immediate neighbours might join the conflict is a different matter.

If he goes large in Ukraine it will be messy but he'll prevail without outside intervention.

[Churchill]

He is a mad ****er and has pledged to protect the ethnic Russians in Crimea so backing down will be a massive loss of face to his people - and I am not sure that he is capable of doing that. Going to be an interesting week or two to come.

And with his troops piled up only a short distance away is he likely to be handed his derriere on a platter?

He's going to have to be. The Ukraines have been sold the Western Dream. We can't back down now. We invited the Ukraines to the table in the first place. As for "ethnic Russians", that's a massive "social engineering" exercise.

[Ticktock]

He is a mad ****er and has pledged to protect the ethnic Russians in Crimea so backing down will be a massive loss of face to his people - and I am not sure that he is capable of doing that. Going to be an interesting week or two to come.

And with his troops piled up only a short distance away is he likely to be handed his derriere on a platter?

The biggest threat to him at the moment is probably Crimea joining Russia.

The Russian economy is failing anyway, add in the costs of maintaining Crimea and it gets worse. Or he takes Crimea, but does nothing to support it, in which case people there get pissed off and he has the extra costs of security.
Then you have the rest of the world actually looking serious about hurting Russia economically and things go from bad to worse. Already they're looking beyond hurting stocks and the currency, and more into hitting the commodities like oil and gas.

Will he lose directly? Probably not. But he will only hang on to power for so long before he loses internal support. He's been busy building a cult around himself, much like the Kims in N. Korea, which may keep the proles in line in Russia, but the rich and influential will have had enough of him sooner or later.

He can easily back out of Crimea - it's not like ethnic Russians there were actually under threat. So he can say "Our Russian brethren are fine, they are strong, they no longer need our help, but if it wasn't for us they'd all have been shipped to gulags persecuted and become political prisoners criminals in their own land".

[MarillionFan]

It took more than that to kill Rasputin...

Ra Ra.

So, just how do we get rid of Putin?

Has he been in a car with you when your map reading?

[doodab]

He's going to have to be. The Ukraines have been sold the Western Dream. We can't back down now. We invited the Ukraines to the table in the first place. As for "ethnic Russians", that's a massive "social engineering" exercise.

I think we can and will avoid military involvement. It'll be talking all the way. It does set an unsavoury precedent but I don't think anyone predicted a Russian response quite like this. Which is arguably a massive failure of strategic planning.

[mudskipper]

It took more than that to kill Rasputin...

No, it's Rumplestiltskin I'm thinking of - never mind...