Britain is currently embroiled in a bit of a tiff with the Great Bear at the moment with Ruskie diplomats being asked to empty their desks and nick off back to Russia.
Fully aware that Russia could quite easily put us over its wobbly knee and give us a hiding anytime it chose, we have been looking to our EU partners for support but received only the international version of Euro countries tapping their watches and mumbling, "Wow, is that the time."
With the exception of France, nobody is looking to tangle with the largest country on the planet and to be honest, who can blame them.
Russia is yet to retaliate to the expulsion of its diplomats but has told our Government to expect 'serious consequences'.
The British line has since undergone a dramatic change from the initial macho 'Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough' to the snivelling 'we act with deep, deep regret'.
I am sure this will blow over after the Russians send a few of our own diplomats back to Blighty with a flea in their ear but it is a warning to our new Prime Minister to not punch above our countries weight.
Better to stick to taking on countries softened up after 10 years of sanctions and severely depleted armed forces if you want to act tough.
6 comments:
Hmm. I don't know. I'm admiring this a bit. That poisoning stuff was nasty business.
It's ironic that only the French are lining up, after being called cowards by so many chickenhawks on this side. But then again, we were kind of wrong, eh?
That (ras)Putin is a nasty piece of work alright. I think we should invade his country and steal his oil.
Seriously though, when I first heard about this, I thought: "Is this the ethical foreign policy that Tony Blair always talked about but never got around to actually implementing?".
So while I'm hoping this doesn't escalate to a full-on 'incident' (i.e. with economic consequences), I'm also quite glad that our government is getting the message across to the Russkies that we don't take kindly to assassinations being carried out on our turf... Well, not when you don't ask us first anyway.
Especially when it involves that nasty polonium-210 stuff.
I am loving this for purely selfish and nostalgic reasons. I miss the Cold War.
Nixon. MX Missiles. KGB. Iron Curtain. Dr. Strangelove. Cuban missiles. Paranoia. Bomb shelters. Nuclear Annihilation. The Day After. Kruschev. Brezhnev. Andropov.
Ahhh. Memories.
Ook ook
I would be fully behind the UK government in bashing the Ruskies but...we have turned down 19 applications from Russia, including one for Akhmed Zakayev who is wanted in Russia for 13 charges of terrorism and Boris Berezovsky who is openly plotting a violent overthrow of Putin. Our moral high ground seems very shakey when we have granted these people asylum here.
The economic imperative will eventually quieten down this silly political posturing, Lucy. Money always speaks the loudest!
Cheers!
It is just posturing daniel. It reminded me of the comdy sketches when a guy is at the front of a crowd beckoning on a large mob thinking he has everyone behind him and when he turns around everyone else has left and he is stood there alone.
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