Comments by "Nicholas Conder" (@nicholasconder4703) on "Amanpour and Company" channel.

Something that Mr. Kasyanov did not mention, or is perhaps not aware of, is that had Putin not attacked this year, he would have been forced to negotiate with Ukraine for control of Crimea. Back in 2014, following the annexation, Ukraine blocked the canal that supplies Crimea with most of its water (from the Dnieper River). Prior to the invasion this year, the reservoirs in Crimea were at 7% capacity. In other words, by mid-summer this year, Crimea would revert back to a salt marsh semi-desert region, and everyone would have to leave or die of thirst. All the money that Putin sank into building the Kerch Strait bridge and military bases would be flushed down the proverbial toilet. It would make him look like a fool and doom his regime. Of course, he has now shown himself to be a vicious, cruel, murderous fool instead, who, as one analyst said, has just torched over 30 years of Russian (and Chinese) diplomacy.
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@donaldkasper8346 Crimea has rolling hills and some mountains, but also areas of salt marsh. It is probably similar to the American West, in places like Wyoming and Colorado. However, it is also semi-arid with very few sources of fresh water. Kerch, Simferopol and Sevastopol all have populations around 300,000, numbers that cannot be supported without the North Crimea canal, even with water rationing (apparently water was only available for 3-5 hours each day). Agriculture has also suffered, being reduced from 130,000 hectares under cultivation in 2014 to just 14,000 ha in 2021.
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@amitkp6957 However, Putin doesn't want to look weak. He is always posing as a strong leader. He thought he could run a quick campaign, take Ukraine and make it into a puppet state, fulfilling his wish to recreate a new non-communist version of the USSR. He also has his eye on Ukraine's oil and gas reserves.
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@donaldkasper8346 If they did hit an aquifer, the water that they got from these wells was insufficient. For whatever reason, the reservoirs in Crimea have gone from 100% capacity in spring 2014 to 7% in winter of 2020, even with water usage restrictions. In spite of shipping truckloads of fresh water across the Kerch Strait, this is the status of the water supply in the region. So obviously digging wells did not work. There is a reason why the former Soviet regime dug that canal, and Putin overlooked this in 2014.
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If you look at the negative population increases in many countries (like Japan), that trend is starting to be reversed.
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I saw this stuff coming when the Tea Party started up in the Republican Party. At that time, I said during lunch one day at the time that within two decades I could see brown-shirted Republicans goose-stepping down the mall in Washington and trampling all over the Constitution and Bill of Rights while "trying to save them". I wish I had been wrong.
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The bulk of the Nazis were "oath keepers" as well (ex-military, talking about protecting their country, etc.). And both groups of "Oath Keepers" sought to overthrow legally elected governments. The Nazi's were successful, and we know from history what sort of government they established. And the "Oath Keepers" would do the same because they believe in control and authoritarianism. Read the history and see the parallels.
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@GilmerJohn If you read history, those "good German officers" all swore oaths to serve Hitler, and helped him start the war. Many, like Halder, worked with the Nazis until he was fired by Hitler, rather than resign or leave the country. Had they truly been committed anti-Nazis, they could have resigned en masse in 1936 and left Hitler with no army at all. I am surprised you support the Oath Keepers. If they truly believed in a Constitutional Government, why were the beating the cops over the head and assaulting the security guards at the capitol? Why were they forcing their way into the Capitol instead of just protesting outside? Why were they armed and carrying restraints? Who were the people threatening to hang the Vice-President because he wasn't supporting their attempt to usurp the certification of the election results? That is not supporting your Constitution. That is a flagrant violation of it! They were violently trying to alter the results of an election that even Republican State Officials had verified, repeatedly. So the people who were supporting law and morality were not the Oath Keepers, but rather the elected officials who were overseeing the registering of the results of the election. You expect people to think that Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats have ANY sway over the Republican officials in multiple states who certified the elections? The Republican sponsored "Cyber Ninjas" could find no fraud, all the court cases brought against the various elections were tossed out, and every single recount has yielded almost identical results. In fact, in most cases, Joe Biden actually PICKED UP VOTES in the recounts. So sorry, the Oath Keepers were not trying to correct a wrong, they were dupes being used by a malignant narcissist in a vile attempt to overturn a legally elected government. In other words, they were partaking in an insurrection and in sedition.
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@ItsaRomethingeveryday If they can work out the serpentine network of shell companies and overseas assets he has.
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I foresaw something like this happening 12 years ago when the Tea Party movement first showed up in the Republican Party. It was a sign that the Republican Party was becoming radicalized. Watching the candidates during the Primaries 4 years ago scared the you-know-what out of me. With the exception of Kasich, they were all extremists from my point of view (as a non-American). Given the lies being spread deliberately by members of the right-wing media, and the inability of Republican lawmakers to stand up and speak the truth, I am not surprised this happened. It's 1920s and 1930s Japan and Germany all over again. And if history shows us anything, I'm concerned the US is going to be in for a very rough decade indeed.
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