kaur---these go to support the theory that I linked to previously ---an article from a former Russian national security council member/advisor that stated openly there were always plans for the Crimea in the cabinet and secondly the Russian Army never moves without a plan---what appears on the surface to be speed is in fact based off of a long term plan that has been practiced.

What concerns me is that it is now evident that both the Russian Defense Minister and the Foreign Minister do not make a move without full approval by Putin much like in the Communist days.

So when the Russian DM/FM both declare they are not going into Crimea--does one believe them or not?

Yesterday I linked to a article released in the States about the intelligence being seen by the US from Foreign Policy---basically the analysts were saying the same thing---this is what we see but it does not match what we are hearing so we cannot make a decision one way or other.

Putin is honestly weighing his options and he is not above going into the Ukraine.

Yesterday Bill M over on the blog provided a solid insight into the Russian Nationalism that is driving Putin which many here seem to brush over as secondary---but with Putin it is not secondary it is his primary driver.