Dear Russia: Listen To Your Friends

To all Russian citizens:

Mark Adomanis has long been one of the most sober, thoughtful, and balanced observers of post-1998 Russia. He has always shown genuine respect for Russia's amazing achievements, as well as deep empathy for its historical tribulations. Most of all, he has long been one of the sharpest critics of the Russophobes and neo-con ideologists of US Empire who have unfairly demonized Putin and contemporary Russia in the past.

Mark Adomanis is a true friend of the Russian people.

If anyone from Russia is reading this blog, you must read Mark's post on why Russia's decision to send troops into Crimea was the worst geopolitical blunder of its modern history.

Commentators on Russia Today sneer that since the US committed the crime of violating Iraq's sovereignty in 2003, it is rankest hypocrisy to argue Russia should not intervene in the Ukraine.

Please understand that the US invasion of Iraq was a colossal disaster for us. It cost the lives of thousands of Iraqis and US citizens, it drained $2 trillion of our national wealth, it earned us the hatred and scorn of the entire world, and it left nothing behind but an endless civil war in what used to be one of the most modern, secular nation-states of the Middle East. My country has never really recovered from the debacle.

Don't make the same mistake we did.
 
If violence breaks out in the Crimea, the result will be a human, economic and political tragedy which will devastate both Ukraine and Russia.

There is still time to avoid an epic disaster.

Talk to the Ukrainians. Work out a peacekeeping mission in Crimea and help the EU, UN and OSCE send peacekeeping observers elsewhere, to make sure no Ukrainian suffers from any form of ethnic hatred or linguistic discrimination.

Everything Russia has achieved since 1991 is at stake.

There is still time.