re: #143 jvic

1. The situation in Ukraine does not affect the essential interests of the USA or EU, but it is important: not important enough for a shooting war which could easily escalate to nuclear, but arguably important enough for an economic war which the West would win at the cost of dislocation and discomfort to its citizens.

2. I’m not saying Wikipedia should be taken at face value, but the following is roughly consistent with my vague memory of events:

“You f**ked up. You trusted us.” The West to Ukraine?

The US has no stomach for such an economic war, and Barack Obama knows better than to even float the option. If the US and the EU tried that this year, the Democrats would be pummeled in November. The public would care nothing for the Ukraine and very much about the increased price of gasoline. Asking for such sacrifices from the citizenry is not done anymore here.