It's a great article -- I have one question ...

[Jericho]

They do, but probably Germany will be ok if that's the case but Eastern European countries won't, can't remember the exact year only can recall it was a very cold winter when Russia closed the taps for a while, issues were solved before major problems occurred!

From today's Guardian, great article

http://www.theguardian.com/commentis...ne-middle-east

Thank you Stella,
A very good article.
J

[bakers dozzen]

Would Putin go against NATO ??

That'd be WW III !

Surely he wouldn't ?

Then again , his actions are not that of a rational man , as it is ..

What's the solution ? Is there one ? Stand by and allow him further , and farther into Europe ?

Putin should not be underestimated and neither should his army, after all Russia still has a sizeable nuclear capability which Putin himself has pointed out its only a short step to ww III should the west get involved.
The entire world is at conflict at the moment to one extent or another and if you take the war in Iraq and Afghanistan as examples of the power of western intervention I am afraid it can only be seen as a dismal failure which cost countless lives on all sides and has left both countrys in a worse state than before the conflicts.
The emergence of Islamic state is another problem spawned out of western interference and all in all poses a bigger threat to the west at the moment in my opinion.
So should the west get involved in a military action in the defence of the Ukraine the may well find themselves fighting a war on two fronts one against a regular army and another against a gorilla force. This begs the question of weather or not the west can afford such a conflict if it arises.
So I ask you would it not be prudent for the western powers to just stay out of it ? after all it was western interference that played a major role in destabilising the regions in the first place.