KUHNER: Will Russia-Ukraine be Europe's next war?

You fail to mention that half of the Ukrainian population is pro-Russian and would like to strengthen ties with it's neighbor, who shares it's faith, language, and ethnic roots. As an American living in Ukraine for nearly 10 years, I can assure you that as much as America wants Ukraine in NATO, the people here are overwhelmingly against NATO. But in todays world it doesn't matter too much what the people of Ukraine want, does it? What matters is what the States and Russia want... I thought we were supposed to be spreading democracy!?

How far America has fallen, this article would make Goebbels proud. Truth is 75% of Ukrainians do not want to join NATO. A majority of the population supports independence of Abkhazia and S. Ossetia. Soon Southern and Eeastern Ukraine will voluntarily unite with Russia and the Nazi loving west Ukraine can cling to resource poor and dying West. The hubris and rank foolishness of Neo-Cons never fails to amaze. Our financial system and the country itself is collapsing under debt, along with our sweat-shop empire. Yet at every turn they try to drag the besieged American people into a war. Soon we may not even have the money to bring our troops home let alone wage a war. Incidentally the Russian press is freer and fairer than American.

I live in Ukraine. I will echo what the other residents have written in comments. Ukrainians are generally not interested in belonging to NATO. Those who are want to do it for ephemeral reasons. They think it is likely to bring membership in the European Union and make it easier for them to travel. Nobody except for the Pres. Yushchenko seems to be concerned about a Russian invasion, and Yushchenko's motives are so transparently political, desperately political, that they should be written off 100%. The first thing Kuhner fails to mention about South Ossetia and Abkhazia is that both of them bolted from Georgia immediately after the collapse of the Soviet Union, a long time ago. Both of them are largely populated by ethnic minorities, the remainder of the millennia old Alan tribe in South Ossetia and a scattering of others in Abkhazia. Given that they are too small to be independent states, they would rather be friends with Russia than with Georgia. Kuhner's other, much more serious oversight is literally, who shot whom. Georgia invaded South Ossetia, not the other way around. Please notify Mr. Fukuyama that for the first time since the second world war yes, one democracy did attack another. It was our friends and our weapons that did the attacking. It was irresponsible of us probably to arm Georgia as impressively as we did. Wait -- a third oversight. Russia was given a casus belli. They could have just kept Georgia, all 4 million people, and said well, they started it. But they did not. After mauling them fairly well, as a lesson that you don't mess with the Russian bear, Russia pulled back. They did accept a somewhat different status for South Ossetia and Abkhazia, but it is a status that those citizens would have selected had they been given a plebiscite. Russia is hardly anybody's favorite country. They are bullying Ukraine, Western Europe, and just about everybody else. They don't play nice. But just as throughout the history of the Cold War, neither are they stupid. They are not going to start a new world war by picking a fight with Ukraine. That is too crude even for Russia. They will encourage dissension within Ukraine, and do what they can to take advantage of it, but they're too smart to send in troops. Please have the neocons in Washington look someplace else for potential trouble. It is not here.

I am commenting on these comments and many of them are leaving out crucial pieces of information that are necessary to understand Ukraine's history in context. I agree with Grahamseib that Russia is very smart. They want people to see Yushchenko as being political as to cause dissention and bring back Moscow-backed Yanukovich as a presidential contender. Meanwhile, allow me to point out that Yanukovich does not even speak Ukrainian. That would as if the President of the United States did not speak English. As for Russia sending in troops, if they were to do it, it would be under the guise of something else. As for dparkins, where did your statistic of 75% come from? And as for Nazi loving West? You are sorely misinformed. I have known many Ukrainians from the WESTERN part of Ukraine who were taken to slave labor camps and were sent to concentration camps. None of them were of Jewish descent and I assure you that none of them loved the Nazi's. Please conduct intelligent research before you decide to post. As for Jakeknotts, what part of Ukraine are you living in? Do you speak to Ukrainians in Ukrainian or in Russian? There is a difference, you know. Also, if half of Ukraine is pro-Russia, that is only because the Russians took the Ukrainians from their homes in Eastern Ukraine and sent them to Siberia. Again, I personally know people who were taken to Siberia from Ukraine. The motive behind this was to take the Ukrainians out of the mineral and gas rich Eastern part of Ukraine and replace them with Russians. This way, Russia would always have more of a hold on Eastern Ukraine, whatever the outcome might be. Russia has no interest in the peasant farms of the West; they are concerned with the mineral rich East. Perhaps you are not aware of this seeing as how you have lived in Ukraine for 10 years and these events occurred around 60 - 70 years before you arrived in Ukraine. One last point I would like to make: if the majority of Ukrainians (according to those who have posted) did not want to be affiliated with NATO, why did the majority of Ukrainians vote for the Western leaning Yuschenko? His stance was known with regards to NATO at the time of the election.

Tripilia, I am aware of the difference between Russian and Ukrainian, the city I live in, Chernigov, speaks mainly Russian but is aligned with the western part of the country politically. The majority of Ukrainians voted for Yuschenko because they were fed up with the former gangster capitalists who were robbing the country and not enforcing the law. Yanukovich had spent time in prison twice and represented corruption. Need I remind you that even back then during the Orange Revolution (which I witnessed first hand) it was a very small majority and put the new government in power. You speak as though all of Ukraine was behind Yuschenko when in reality the majority of Ukraine was behind him, nonetheless, the country was still polarized then as it is now. Regardless of why they elected him then, today the nation has lost all faith in him and is currently against joining NATO. As for Russia's interest in Ukraine, I highly doubt that the mineral rich east is what Russia is eyeing. That contributes far less to Russia than does a friendly neighbor between it's borders and the EU and NATO, along with it's Black Sea fleet and pipelines. As for Yanukovich not speaking Ukrainian, again, half of the country doesn't speak Ukrainian and he represents them. If he is elected and his party holds the majority in Parliament, does he speaking poor Ukrainian nullify the electorate and their wishes? I personally don't support Yanukovich at all, I think Tymoshenko's centrist position is much more helpful and hopeful for the economic and political stability of Ukraine. Just so you know, Yuschenko has completely lost his support and probably will not even be a political contender in the future. He was given a golden opportunity with the world's support and blew it. If you are still hoping in him, I suggest reading current newspapers from Ukraine.

To both jakeknotts & Triplilia: One does not have to be a citizen of a nation to grasp its agenda. That was true of the Russia of Stalin, and the Germany of Hitler, as well as the Italy of Mussolini, and the Russia of Nicholas. The issue is one of personal freedom--obviously something neither of you understand or want for your homelands. It is one thing to be "against" a political figure, and quite another to be for violent implementation of an agenda. Acceptance of the opposition's policies--temporarily--is what democracy is all about--and again, obviously something neither of you grasps. If one absolutely cannot accept the opposition's program, whatever form that may take, as in taxation, or military force to achieve one's objectives, then one must revolt--but accept the consequences. In order to to have personal freedom, there must be respect for the opposition, but not tolerance of intolerance. You seem to be right at home with the far lef in this country, the same ideology that produced "communist Russia," or the Soviet Union. Actuatlly there has never been a true example of a communist society in this world, as there has never been a pure democracy--the two are synonymous, and neither are tenable, as no society can function when everyone's opinion is always consulted about every issue (nothing ever gets accomplished!). Perhaps you should simply avow what you believe, autocracy.

jsyantiss, You said, "The issue is one of personal freedom--obviously something neither of you understand or want for your homelands" and "Acceptance of the opposition's policies --temporarily--is what democracy is all about--and again, obviously something neither of you grasps." I find your comments to be arrogant and misguided as you assume to draw these conclusions from dialog about what the people in Ukraine want right now, facts about the electorate, not opinions about the tension between democracy and communism. Regarding a war over Ukraine, Russia's interest in Ukraine, NATO, the history of Ukraine, and the current political situation in Ukraine, you have said nothing. These are the issues at hand, not whatever it was you were ranting about.

The article has all but truth . The author does not get out of trenches cold war. Discuss nothing, a complete delusion.

Mr.Kuhner, are you allright? Those guys like you and your idol Dick Cheney will never succeed in provoking a confrontation between Russians and Ukranians. We're too close to each other historically and have too much in common to react on that. I cannot wipe out 1/3 of Ukranian blood from my vienes as many Ukranians cannot wipe out Russian blood out of theirs if just his highness Cheney says so. It has nothing to do with democracy since US neo-conservativism and Russian putinism are of a common nature. Give limited rights to those who like you and grab them from those who don't. Under silly quasipatriotic flags. My god.. You sound like a blind Soviet journalist.

Я Українець. Я живу в Києві напротязі всього життя і можу сказати з повною відповідальністю що все що написано в цій статті є дійсністю. Український народ свєю незалежністю не поступиться.

Товарищ Кухнер, то что вы написали в своём опусе, может наваять учащийся 7-го класса средней школы находясь по воздействием каннабиса за 3 минуты. Если Вы, товарищ, считаете что Ваша писанина достойна внимания общественности, напишите лучше в спортлото или в какую-нибудь The Sun. Там будет самое место этой "статье". Разбирайтесь лучше со своей экономикой, которая показала всю свою несостоятельность и не лезьте за пределы своего континента. А с хохлами мы и сами разберемся. У нас с ними больше общих интересов чем у вас.

Чепуха, высосанная из пальца.

Mr. Kuhner, are you on crack? I suggest you go to Ukraine and Russia, talk to people there and see what they say. And please stop smoking sh..t, it kills your brain cells!

Tripilia: Ukraine: Neo nazis planned to bomb synagogue http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3608385,00.html Many of the Ukrainian jews now living in USA were forced their by Neo-nazi activities, according to my neighbour from lvov

Mr. Kuhner - are or non-professional journalist or well-paid provocateur. This "article" make me think about (usa) government order, because there is only one reason of war with russian - our proamerican president (with 5% rating in this moment vs. 45% at begining of his term) drawing Ukraine into NATO, however most of Ukrainian against this choice... Washington Times! What about responsobility? Why do You publish so non-objectiv articles, which makes growing ultranationalism in our contry? You don`t care?