I surrender, I surrender!
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.
Why doesn’t he use his only “real” option: Throwing his (or someone else’s) medals over the Kremlin wall.
Those are Obama’s support centers. Be careful there. You may get a knock on your door.
“Halp Us, Jon Kerry- We Are Stuk In Ukraine”...
I surrender, I surrender!
Sorry again, also D.C.
So Obama is becoming the Neville Chamberlain of our time.
Just hope the AObame in the White House doesn’t double-down to make up for his losses of face.
At this point, what difference does it make? Knock don’t worry me, am expecting an armored personnel carrier to come thru my front wall. What is the state capitol of Conn.? Forgot them too. We have them surrounded, by the way.
Well, we can be as hard headed as we want, but that generally doesn’t just garner us problems. It garners our families problems.
I believe the most likely option will be for Sec. Kerry to say something stupid in public - such as “all options are on the table,” for instance.
We have the intellectual equivalent of children playing a game of “government”.
Obama’s weakness as a man and a President invites adventurism worldwide . Always has , always will .
Putin is a nationalist leader that knows when to strike a blow or effectively use his military to achieve a goal . He doesn’t fear the woose whatsoever .
America needs to be a lot more careful who they elect into the highest office . America needs to screw down the qualifications on who is eligible to vote , and stop throwing our pearls to stupid careless swine who don’t give a wit if we are also strong , or not .
walk loudly but carry a limp d*ck?
No they aren't.
They all speak Russian. The Patriots speak Ukranian.
John Kerry told that “all options are on the table”
My favorite option is for you to lie down and die, old, disgusting horse-face.
“All options” are NOT on the table. The only thing more pathetic than a sniveling coward, is when they talk tough.
“The State Dept. has already ruled out any military action. Kerry needs to actually listen to his own department.”
He put again his foot in his horse mouth.
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