Posted on 03/18/2014 2:53:27 PM PDT by cdga5for4
Who is Vladimir Putin, and what does he really want? Why exactly has he suddenly sent tens of thousands of heavily armed Russian troops into Crimea? Why did he invade Georgia in 2008? Why is he selling arms to bloodthirsty regimes like that of Bashar Assad in Syria? And why is selling both advanced arms and nuclear technology to a rogue terrorist state like Iran?
In the face of such questions, President Obama looks disoriented and confused. He and his national-security team have been painfully slow to understand the Putin threat. They’re now scrambling to develop a coherent and convincing policy to contain Putin, much less have a chance at rolling him back.
The American people now see Putin as a real and growing threat, and not just to the former Soviet republics but to the national security of the United States and our allies, including Israel.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
Joel: Obama is a ball lost in the high weeds.
Who is Barack Obama and what does he really want?
The Left ALWAYS invites aggression because they are essentially double minded. 9-11 was not Bush’s fault but the result of eight years of Clinton wringing his hands indecisively while we kept being attacked by Islamic terrorists. The Left emboldened bin Laden. They now embolden Putin. Why to we keep electing them?
Now that his book’s finished, Joel’s got the time to go to the recruiting station and enlist.
Obama might better fit that description in quite a few ways...
If Putin decides to take back the Muslim states along its southern border (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, etc.), should we care? Is it better that they be under Russian control (and keep the Russians tied up) or under Muslim control? Granted, some of them are not governed by Islamofascists, but any Muslim state always carries with it the risk of radicalism. Look at Turkey, for example. On the other hand, we have been able to maintain bases in some of these places that have been helpful strategically. We would not want to lose those.
So, while America's weakness under Obama is not a good thing, do we care if that weakness allows him to spend time and effort controlling another enemy of ours? I am not suggesting what America should do one way or the other, just thinking about it. Whatever the answer to that question, America should stop the being so weak and make sure that we stop Russia from taking back the rest of Ukraine or the Baltic States. But what about the Stans?
Being able to adjust course certainly puts him ahead of the usual member of the talking class who typically has no consideration for the wishes of the hoi polloi.
I agree with the pick of Napoleon Bonaparte - generally acknowledged to be the greatest military strategist of all time.
His enemies didn’t defeat him though; he defeated himself.
How about no more ages of empires and allow the people to control themselves wherever they may live.
Obama is a babe lost in the woods. Putin bested him, without firing a shot.
Now that is the hallmark of a brilliant strategist. People underestimate the Russian leader to their own peril.
The Central Asian ex-Khanates are under Russian control and have been since the 16th Century. They’re not going to buck the Kremlin.
I bet we will see another Chechen war in the coming months, financed by the CIA.
Syria isn’t a case where we had a vital interest. Neither is that in Crimea.
Sure, its the bad guys running roughshod over the neighborhood but there are limits to what we can do. In case he hasn’t noticed, we’re not in a position to fight World War III.
As that Czech journalist noted some years ago about Obama:
"The danger to America is not Barack Obama, but a citizenry capable of entrusting a man like him with the Presidency. It will be far easier to limit and undo the follies of an Obama presidency than to restore the necessary common sense and good judgment to a depraved electorate willing to have such a man for their president. The problem is much deeper and far more serious than Mr. Obama, who is a mere symptom of what ails America. Blaming the prince of fools should not blind anyone to the vast confederacy of fools that made him their prince. The Republic can survive a Barack Obama, who is, after all, merely a fool. It is less likely to survive a multitude of fools, such as those who made him their President."
Snopes keeps on pushing the fact that nobody famous said this, but words of wisdom need no author. Facts need no source if they are self-evident. A beautiful composition does not need to be signed by a famous composer to be a masterpiece worthy of hearing.
Putin is not the problem. He is symptomatic of what happens when you have a weakling foreign policy in America.
Russians are an intelligent, capable and determined people. They make excellent soldiers.
Hitler was finished when he held them in contempt as subhuman beasts.
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