4 ms·

I think the strange/comical part of this is that Russia thought that "we'll just take off our logos" was a good strategy for keeping a secret or saving face.

gk1 13y ago
My guess is it's just to give them short-term deniability. By the time anyone proves who they are it'll be too late.
rangibaby 13y ago
I think it was actually a brilliant FUD strategy to buy the Russians time and stop the West from intervening in a timely (from their perspective) fashion.
- smsm42 13y ago
  As if somebody would be intervening. EU bureaucrats plan to hold "emergency meeting" on Monday - because occupation of a foreign country and potential war near their borders is not a reason to work on Sunday, you see. One can be sure nothing would come out of it on Monday either but empty "we are very worried" declarations.
  - dragonwriter 13y ago
    > As if somebody would be intervening. EU bureaucrats plan to hold "emergency meeting" on Monday - because occupation of a foreign country and potential war near their borders is not a reason to work on Sunday, you see. Or because the actual work to develop options and brief on the facts prior to the emergency meeting of decision makers is going to happen through Sunday. Most of the work related to any meeting of decision-makers, even an emergency meeting, happens before the meeting.
    - smsm42 13y ago
      They must prepare a lot of briefings if it takes 2 days. Even UN is moving faster.
      - dragonwriter 13y ago
        > They must prepare a lot of briefings if it takes 2 days. Not really. > Even UN is moving faster. Yeah, but all the UN would do in even an ideal (in terms of ability to decide on approach) situation would be to declare broad principles and call on other countries to take action of broadly-specified types to acheive them (with Russia's veto on the UNSC and role in the current crisis, there's about zero chance of even that happening unless Russia's rep gets lost on the way to the chamber.) OTOH, the EU is more likely to need to evaluate not just what it wants to achieve, but what it can actually concretely do with its real actual resources to achieve its goals, which mean that there is, in practical terms, a lot more substance for the EU to address than the UNSC.
lambda 13y ago
I suspect it's just a formality so they can increase the security around their base, without yet having formally requested authorization from their parliament. In both international law and the law of many countries, there are substantial distinctions made between troops in uniform wearing their country's flag and those not. I don't think that there was any intent of being secret or saving face, just that because formal authorization from parliament hadn't yet been made, they couldn't move in under Russia's flag.

gk1 13y ago

My guess is it's just to give them short-term deniability. By the time anyone proves who they are it'll be too late.

rangibaby 13y ago

I think it was actually a brilliant FUD strategy to buy the Russians time and stop the West from intervening in a timely (from their perspective) fashion.

smsm42 13y ago
As if somebody would be intervening. EU bureaucrats plan to hold "emergency meeting" on Monday - because occupation of a foreign country and potential war near their borders is not a reason to work on Sunday, you see. One can be sure nothing would come out of it on Monday either but empty "we are very worried" declarations.
- dragonwriter 13y ago
  > As if somebody would be intervening. EU bureaucrats plan to hold "emergency meeting" on Monday - because occupation of a foreign country and potential war near their borders is not a reason to work on Sunday, you see. Or because the actual work to develop options and brief on the facts prior to the emergency meeting of decision makers is going to happen through Sunday. Most of the work related to any meeting of decision-makers, even an emergency meeting, happens before the meeting.
  - smsm42 13y ago
    They must prepare a lot of briefings if it takes 2 days. Even UN is moving faster.
    - dragonwriter 13y ago
      > They must prepare a lot of briefings if it takes 2 days. Not really. > Even UN is moving faster. Yeah, but all the UN would do in even an ideal (in terms of ability to decide on approach) situation would be to declare broad principles and call on other countries to take action of broadly-specified types to acheive them (with Russia's veto on the UNSC and role in the current crisis, there's about zero chance of even that happening unless Russia's rep gets lost on the way to the chamber.) OTOH, the EU is more likely to need to evaluate not just what it wants to achieve, but what it can actually concretely do with its real actual resources to achieve its goals, which mean that there is, in practical terms, a lot more substance for the EU to address than the UNSC.

lambda 13y ago

I suspect it's just a formality so they can increase the security around their base, without yet having formally requested authorization from their parliament. In both international law and the law of many countries, there are substantial distinctions made between troops in uniform wearing their country's flag and those not. I don't think that there was any intent of being secret or saving face, just that because formal authorization from parliament hadn't yet been made, they couldn't move in under Russia's flag.