Sanjuro: I'll play devi... Yanukovich's advocate (for one post only).
He might not be the best president there is (I agree, he is not), but he was elected president. If you think he's a crook, a tyrant or whatever, just declare impeachment on him ([url=http://www.cnn.com/WORLD/europe/9905/14/russia.yeltsin.01/index.html?_s=PM:WORLD]that's what we did... well,
tried anyway[/url]). Let his case be examined by court, and if he is found guilty, remove him from his position. A more lengthy procedure, true, bur less...
messy. This is not Libya, you didn't have to do things the hard way.
Instead there was a coup, some (alleged) attempts on his life. Right after a ceasefire was declared and both sides seemed to agree to stop the violence. So he flees to Russia and asks for help. Does Putin want to start another conflict? I don't know, I'm not him, after all, but I highly doubt it. Yet he has to react in some way. I know (well, I
read) he consulted A. Merkel and D. Cameron on the situation in Ukraine, but I do not know what agreement, if any, they reached. So, well, here we are.
The situation in Crimea is another matter, though. I have my thoughts regarding it but I'd rather wait and see how it plays out in the end. The only thing I'll say is that I don't like it.
Impeachment wouldn't go through. Parliament as it was and still is - a bunch of corrupt $ucks, who were afraid of ruling party or plainly getting money for a satisfactory vote choice.
I wasn't for protests myself (though I shared their despise for government), but I was always against deaths and violence. People who died were not in guilt and mostly armed with sticks and shields. They went not for politics who just claimed power, but for their dignity. If they had decent jobs, fair and unbiased courts, they wouldn't in their lives go willingly to a death row. It wasn't about langauge or EU for them anymore.
Did you know, that more than 95% of courts are won by prosecution side? If you get charged, you have almost zero chance to be proven not guilty. This is Ukraine.