The most important thing to consider should be the rights and desires of the people of the Ukraine who don't want Putin and his thugs running things, however they will be let down by the EU and USA so I am sure you are right......
Highly unlikely that the US or the EU will go to war over the Ukraine, as Vegster posted this is good old Cold War Intervention a la Hungary in the 1950's and Czechoslovakia in the 1960's to remind the locals who runs Eastern Europe.
Olympics over and back to business for Putin...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26318816
What price the Russian Army having to rescue the Ukraine from this Coup?
I must have lived through a different 1989 to you - there was no 'gradual erosion of communism' - it fell apart in weeks!
And what is your problem with people deciding the outcome of how they want to live?
Totally agree that Putin is a c*nt - what else would you expect from an ex KGB Man?
I know that it is not as important as whether or not there should be one or two strikers up front or who is the World's Hardest Creature, but people are being shot dead by their own Government in Kiev so perhaps there should a thread about this?