Wednesday 25 February 2015

Wars, Rumours of Wars, and the FTSE 100

What colourful times we live in, eh?  A single day's headlines include:
  • Russians limbering up for the expected assault on Mariupol  
  • Cameron commits military 'advisers' to Ukraine*
  • Ms Green the greenie publicly melts down into a puddle of green goo
  • the FTSE 100 reaches a record high!
Wow.  The next several months are going to be astonishing.

Seriously for a moment, I take all these items as grist to Crosby's mill.  We know that there will be all manner of happenstance making the minnow-parties look stupid - only the SNP are moderately proof against this.  Of course, Mili will take succour from any further green meltdown, but Cameron will take still more from the combination of war abroad and UKIP looking flaky at home.   I think he's mad to engage in Ukraine: power-mad, that is.  Proof of serious intent at a no-holds-barred elelction strategy.  This is William Pitt stuff: you gotta admire a pure power-play.

ND

* truth be told, UK military 'advisers' have been in Ukraine, on and off, for a number of years, much good it has done

7 comments:

James Higham said...

Why go there when the Falklands are coming up?

DJK said...

OK, I know we sent the British Army to Archangel in 1918 to fight the Soviets and beyond 100 years of suspicion and hatred it didn't really have any lasting ill effects. But still, sending 'advisors' to Ukraine to back the anti-Russian forces doesn't sound like the brightest of moves. Because, of course, British forces are so well prepared and equipped...

MyConcernedName said...

I have genuine concerns about a conflict with Russia; Concerned in the sense that it might actually occur.

I think we are seriously underestimating them and their willingness to engage militarily.

Diplomatically too they have run rings around the EU/US on Iran and Syria.

We know they are already active in Ukraine, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, around the Black Sea. They're undertaking military exercises in the Med too and I wouldnt be surprised to see a 'diplomatic incident' involving the Turks in order to press home their 'entitlement' to this access. The Iranians are - more openly - on the ground in Iraq, Lebanon and Syria too.

If Europe hasnt 'got the message' at this stage we're gonna find ourselves bumbling into a fuckin war.

Budgie said...

"Power-play"? It's more like Village-idiot-play. The man is disconnected from reality, one windmill short of a father-in-laws lucrative windfarm. Is anyone here still going to vote for him after this?

And as James Higham says what have we got to defend the Falklands against the Argentinians, never mind tweaking the Russian's tail.

Anonymous said...

Ms Green the greenie publicly melts down into a puddle of green goo

lol

Jer said...

Cameron is either:

1) Playing the international statesman to emphasise that he is less obviously a tosspot than EM.

or

2) Just reciting lines written by the US.

and

3) A stupid little boy.

Anonymous said...

I'm repeating myself, but the Russians are no threat to me and mine, unlike this government, the one before that, and the EU as well.

Odd though it is to see the oligarch wives and kids on the train to Barnes, it's not Russians who caused half a million white British to leave the soi-disant capital of the UK in ten years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-21511904