Posted on 03/02/2014 9:22:45 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Maybe the Obama administration is taking the Budapest Memorandum more seriously than we imagined — or at least want Russia to think we are. Secretary of State John Kerry told ABC’s This Week that “all options are on the table” for a response to Vladimir Putin’s Crimean invasion, including military options:
Secretary of State John Kerry said that “all options are on the table” when it comes to steps the U.S. can take to hold Russia accountable for its military movements in Ukraine, including economic sanctions and potentially military action.
In an interview with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos today on “This Week,” Kerry said Russian troops moving into the Ukrainian region of Crimea was “a military act of aggression” and that the U.S. will move swiftly to impose penalties if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not withdraw his troops.
While military force is among the options President Barack Obama is considering, Kerry said the U.S. and its allies hope they can avoid such action.
“The hope of the U.S. and everybody in the world is not to see this escalate into a military confrontation,” he said.
Sounds like tough talk, but would Russia buy it? Moving troops into Ukraine from the west would all but declare war between NATO and Russia, including the US. If Putin thought for a moment that the West would fight over Crimea again, he wouldn’t have taken it over this week in the first place.
That’s not to say that we have no options, and even some military signals can have an impact on the situation, argues retired Admiral James Stavridis at Foreign Policy:
In the military sphere, these include ordering the Supreme Headquarters, Allied Powers Europe (SHAPE), led by U.S. General Phil Breedlove, to conduct prudent planning and present options in response to the situation. While such planning should be left to the current commanders and military experts, some ideas to consider would include:
Increasing all intelligence-gathering functions through satellite, Predator unmanned vehicles, and especially cyber.
Using the NATO-Ukrainian Council and existing military partnerships with the Ukrainian military to share information, intelligence, and situational awareness with authorities in Kiev.
Providing advice to Ukrainian armed forces to prepare and position themselves in the event of further conflict. Developing NATO contingency plans to react to full-scale invasion of Ukraine and to a partial invasion likely of Crimea. NATO contingency planning can be cumbersome, but in Libya it moved quickly. …
Many will consider any level of NATO involvement provocative and potentially inflammatory. Unfortunately, the stakes are high and the Russians are moving. Sitting idle, without at least looking at options, is a mistake for NATO and would itself constitute a signal to Putin — one that he would welcome.
Rep. Mike Rogers (R-MI), chair of the House Intelligence Committee, put it another way on Fox News Sunday. The problem is that we’re reacting instead of driving events, while Putin has moves figured out several steps ahead:
“Putin is playing chess and I think we are playing marbles, and I don’t think it’s even close” the Michigan Republican said on “Fox News Sunday.” “They’ve been running circles around us. And I believe it’s the naïve position on the National Security Council and the president’s advisers that, if we just keep giving things to Russia, they’ll wake up and say, ‘the United States is not that bad.’ That is completely missing the motivations of why Russia does what Russia does.”
Putin intends to expand Russia’s “buffer zones,” as it has in Ukraine, Rogers said, predicting the next former Soviet republic to see a Russian invasion will be Moldova.
“It is in their interest to continue to push out that buffer zone,” Rogers said. “And, by the way, the big one that started this was the absolute retreat on our missile defense system in Poland and Czechoslovakia, caused us huge problems for our allies and emboldened the Russians and it really has been a downhill slide.”
Ethnic Russians only comprise 6% of the Moldovan population, compared to 18% in Ukraine. Moldova is also land-locked on the other side of the north shore of the Black Sea and has no common border with Russia, and wouldn’t even in a partitioned Ukraine. If I were Latvian (26% ethnic Russian) or Estonia (25% ethnic Russian), I’d be a lot more concerned than the Moldovans at the moment.
Putting all the options on the table when it’s time to ACT is ineptitude.
For all the $billions we spend on the State Department, “options” should be nothing more than pulling out the file stating how to proceed in exactly this scenario.
Putin already claimed Crimea with a flag on parliament.
Obama is still trying to figure out what cards he has to work with.
Hard to play when it’s over already.
“They must think the whole world is against them right now, and that is a sh*tty way to feel.”
Yep. Sucks. And they have tons of hotties over there...
“...have tons of hotties over there....”
Oh yeah. Indeed... :^)
I was planning to go to Poland and the Ukraine when I go on my scouting trip to Italy.
Looks like I’ll be skipping the Ukraine. :(
Sidenote: The positives about Putin (who’s as wrong as sh*t 99% of the time) is that he isn’t backing down on the gay stuff and he does recognize Islam is evil to it’s very core.
Remember they share a border with Russia Too. Kalingrad.
Wait. SO DOES THE U.S.!
Well a Water one (aka Alaska! You stupid Libs~!)
Hey, watching those Russian vids online is bad for you.
And definitely don't use your credit card.
If Poland gets invaded, then, yes.
I guess Sarah P. wasn’t so wrong after all...
36 holes of golf,
celebrating homosexuality in NYC
a speech against Uganda
Throwing Israel under the bus
“...he isn’t backing down on the gay stuff and he does recognize Islam is evil to it’s very core..”
That’s his ONLY positives right now. But yeah, he knows the corrosive nature of those things for sure.
I had hoped that he wasn’t going to be another total dickhead... but he’s the schwanz, scrotum, AND testes all in one neat, economic package right now for jumping in there.
Oh Well, TV tells me she is stupid and Russia would never invade Ukraine.
Say, What do you think is going on in Venezuela right now anyway?
I haven't seen anything on TV about it.
HEy!!! Americanski Boychic!!! You Never Seen Babushkas like DEESE before, no? Twenty-five Rubles and You see more!!! Fifty Rubles and you Geeve me You Keilbasa!!!
haha!!!!
LOL!
Putin is playing Barry like a pawn and the media is in charge of the pieces.
“I had hoped that he wasn’t going to be another total dickhead...”
Yep. OTOH, turn the liberal mantra of “never let a crisis go to waste” around and if it makes Una Paloma Negra look bad, then it’s good.
“Here’s a cabbage for ya...now bend over.”
Saying “all options are on the table” damages U.S. military credibility because everyone knows we won’t be using our military here. This only waters down the phrase “all options are on the table” for when we need to use it next time.
“Yeah, She sure does seem to right alot eh?”
GIGITTY!
“Say, What do you think is going on in Venezuela right now anyway?”
Seems like there’s a news black out about that...sort of like Syria, huh? Hmmm...
“Is dat a Galumpki you gotted dare, or are you chust happy to see me, bigga-boy???”
Ha!
Don't be ridiculous.
He would be strewing flower petals in their path.
In Soviet Union, credit cards use YOU.
And when you buy furniture, and dey say “We stand behind it!”... Dey really DO “stand behind it...”
Yakkov Smirnov... one of my Favorite comedians from back in the old Rodney Dangerfield specials on HBO.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.