Display:
I sympathise, but I think it was a "damned if you do, damned if you don't" decision.

there were no good outcomes and the least worst were fairly bloody, but when we remember that the worst outcomes include burning houses, mass refugees and groups of men & boys being herded into woods never to be seen again I'd say I think it's "worked" so far.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed May 7th, 2008 at 06:32:01 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The current situation on the gorund was not in a crisis mode. The EU could have continued the boring job of staying in, and supervising the province so that a modicum of prosperity happens and people think less about the politicial/nationalist issues.

Maybe it would not have worked anyway, but fanning the flames directly (at the cost of numerous precedents of international law breach) is irresponsible - and is predictably stoking tensions with Russia: but maybe that was the real goal.

In the long run, we're all dead. John Maynard Keynes

by Jerome a Paris (jeromeguillet@yahoo.fr) on Wed May 7th, 2008 at 08:44:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
The current situation on the ground was not in a crisis mode.

At that particular moment in time, yes that's true. But the trend was looking bad and there's not many good recent precedents in that area to call on to reassure anybody that the lack of crisis would continue.

So it was a case of do something or do nothing. We've tried "do nothing" in that region before and it didn't work out well. We can argue for ever and a day, and god knows I feel like I have, about what actions might have been for the best, but it comes back to the problem there isn't a best, just a range of "least worst". What we did was amongst the range of least worst.

keep to the Fen Causeway

by Helen (lareinagal at yahoo dot co dot uk) on Wed May 7th, 2008 at 09:26:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Display:
Login
. Make a new account
. Reset password
Debates
Campaigns
Occasional Series