Brush the tears from your eyes John McCain, “all action in
the Ukraine is on the diplomatic front”. There is no bomb, bomb, bomb. Of
course, I am being cynical but when I heard that statement this morning on TV,
it made me feel grateful we have the president we do.
URL: firetreepub.blogspot.com
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There is real and potentially lasting danger in what Putin
is doing. Several people have rightfully pointed out the analogy of what he is
doing with Hitler’s expansion of Germany in the early thirties. That is exactly
what is happening and by using the same techniques. For example, overt military
occupation and more subtle things such as Hilary Clinton mentioned, which is
the move to issue passports to Russians to allow them to move into Ukraine as
Hitler did in what was
then Czechoslovakia. Russian imperialists did the Georgia thing, now
they are doing the Ukraine thing.
However, now there is a huge difference, which is all on our
side. President Obama and Chancellor Angela Merkel, the un-title head of the European
Union, are not going to allow the situation to deteriorate until the only
response is a military one as happened in World War II. Merkel, like all Germans,
is super-sensitive to the war history of Germany. In addition, she is fluent in
Russian, which suggests she also know the history of Russia. Outside of a few crazies
like Lindsey Graham and McCain and a few of the radical right wing press, there
is no suggestion there will be armed conflict: The western world led by Obama,
will use economic sanctions to curtail Putin’s ambitions, which is exactly what
the phrase, “all action is on the diplomatic front” means. The meeting between
Sec. Kerry and the Russians in Paris is not going to be a replay of Munich
Agreement between Chamberlin and Hitler. I would like to say to ex Mayor Bloomberg,
who praises Putin as a leader, what Obama is dong is real leadership. Best of
all, it exposes the radical right wing for what they are, an unpatriotic Obama
hate machine that is willing to turn their backs on their own country for
nothing.
At such a risky point in history, our country's leaders should all seize the rope and pull in the same direction. The time for throwing stones is certainly not right now. There are Russian eyes on our leadership, watching and waiting. What we do in the next few weeks can either escalate or deflate the Russian tactic. I think the offer of monetary support by the EU will certainly help shape the thought process of the wealthy leaders on the pro-Russian eastern side of the Ukraine. Nobody wants to see this situation turn military when, as you point out, diplomacy can work. It is strange to me that anyone who has ever seen the consequence of war could take out a saber and rattle it.
ReplyDeleteI would be interested in your comments on my latest blog post, Obama Diplomacy in Crimea. I think there is much more to Obama’s “diplomatic” position than just a response to Putin. If I am right, his presidency will have far-reaching impact on world diplomacy; however, his style will be short-lived if the people elect a John McCain type as our next president.
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