Tag Archives: Russia

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Ukraine is our concern … because?

A good night’s sleep has a way of making one’s perspective change a bit the next day.

It happened to me overnight. I went to sleep wondering why Russian officials are talking about yanking their ambassador to the United States because of our demands that Russia stay out of Ukraine’s internal affairs.

I awoke this morning wondering: Why are we involved in this dispute?

This is a classic United Nations matter that needs to be resolved around the Security Council table of nations — and that certainly includes the United States.

Of all the permanent Security Council members, I’m going to presume that all of them — except Russia, of course — believe fervently in Ukraine’s sovereignty. Therefore, one can presume that the Security Council should be drafting resolutions calling for Russia to back off, get out and leave this Ukrainian matter up to the Ukrainians.

One big problem, of course, with that Russia is one of those nations that can veto anything the Security Council proposes. That makes the matter virtually moot, given the U.N. governing structure.

Still, the United States’s involvement — the demands from the White House and the declarations of “costs” that Russia could pay if it doesn’t butt out — is creating an equally untenable position for this country.

What, precisely, can we do to Russia? We aren’t going to hit them militarily. We aren’t going to sever diplomatic relations; heck, we even had an embassy in Moscow during the depths of the Cold War.

The most we can do is as President Obama has declared: “Stand with the international community” in backing Ukraine’s sovereignty.

Geopolitics remains a highly complicated matter.

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Russians might pull their envoy to the U.S.?

So, let me see if I have this correct.

Ukrainian insurgents have driven that country’s president out; he’s holed up in Moscow; Russia is threatening to intervene in another sovereign country’s affairs; Russia is mobilizing its armed forces; President Obama has warned Russia that any outside interference in Ukrainian affairs will have “costs.”

And the Russians are threatening to pull their ambassador to the United States?

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/03/01/russia-moves-to-bring-back-ambassador-from-us-amid-ukraine-crisis/

Shouldn’t the United States pull its ambassador to Moscow?

Secretary of State John Kerry has said U.S.-Russia relations are at stake. It’s not entirely clear what precisely he means by the stakes involved.

There cannot be a severing of diplomatic relations between the nations. This gamesmanship over who pulls their ambassador first, though, cannot continue.

The best solution from the U.S. and European standpoint would be for the Russians to butt out, to let Ukraine decide who will govern the country without outside interference.

If the Russians are intent on honoring international law, then they’ll back off and let their neighbors in Ukraine settle this dispute on their own.

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Ukraine crisis takes ominous turn

President Obama said today there will be “costs” if Russia intervenes militarily in Ukraine’s civil unrest.

OK, at least the president didn’t draw a bright line.

http://www.politico.com/story/2014/02/barack-obama-russia-ukraine-104106.html?hp=f1

His comments today came as word arrived that Russian troops have been spotted inside Ukrainian territory. Ukraine’s president — a friend of Russia — is holed up on Moscow. Russian President Vladimir Putin is rattling swords. It’s turning now into another East-West confrontation that reminds some folks of, yep, another Cold War.

The United States, Europe, indeed the rest of the world will not dare to intervene militarily on behalf of Ukraine if Russia refuses to back off. So that leaves the question: How do you define “costs,” Mr. President?

Economic sanctions? Trade embargo? Blockade? Freezing of assets abroad?

This crisis underscores the frustration and the danger of trying to stare down a nation with substantial military muscle.

It almost goes without saying that the president is correct to assert that Ukraine must be allowed to decide its political future peacefully — and by itself. Its sovereignty must not be violated. Yes, Russia has a long-standing historical tie with Ukraine, given that Ukraine once was a satellite state of the former Soviet Union.

But that’s in the past. The present requires Russia to honor Ukraine’s internal wishes and it must not dictate its future the way the Soviet Union dictated civil unrest outcomes in Hungary (in 1956) and Czechoslovakia (in 1968) by use of brute force. The Soviet empire has been tossed into the trash heap.

The world is watching and waiting.

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You must define ‘outrage,’ Mr. President

President Obama said today he is “outraged” over the violence in Ukraine.

He vows “consequences” will occur if the Ukrainian government refuses to stop killing its people who are mounting what were supposed to be peaceful protests.

http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/europe/198803-obama-outraged-by-rising-ukraine-death-toll

Let’s understand, of course, that the president was “outraged” over the Syrian government’s use of chemical weapons. He threatened a military strike, he sought permission from Congress — which it had demanded — to act and then, presto!, the Russians stepped in with a deal to rid the Syrian military of the chemicals it used on its citizens.

The Ukraine matter is different, to be sure.

The United States cannot launch a military strike against the former Soviet republic that sits right next to Russia. It can, and must, be firm in enacting economic sanctions — perhaps even imposing a trade embargo if the government doesn’t stop slaughtering its citizens.

Bear in mind that this is a big deal with huge implications around the world. Ukraine possesses a lot of the nuclear material used to build the Soviet arsenal during the Cold War. The Cold War ended a little more than two decades ago, but the material remains.

The Ukrainian government had announced a truce with those who were protesting, only to see the truce shattered overnight, prompting the rhetorical response from the White House.

And per normal these days, the usual suspects here at home are criticizing the White House and the president for perceived fecklessness in handling this crisis.

Let’s understand, the Russians aren’t about to let anyone — even the United States — get too involved singularly in this dispute.

There must be a concerted international effort involving the European Union, and the United States and Russia to bring huge pressure to bear on the Ukrainian government thugs.

Can our government play a role? Sure, but we need to make sure this remains a team game.

President Obama’s outrage must be tempered with reason and even a tad bit of patience.

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Russians’ Olympic prep shockingly poor

Security isn’t the only concern facing the 2014 Winter Olympic Games that are about to commence in Sochi, Russia.

It appears the site is lacking in hotel space, streets and roads aren’t complete, the Olympic village where the athletes will stay need finishing.

Yet the Winter Games will go on, with opening ceremonies set to begin Friday night — after the skating and snowboarding events have begun.

Let’s flash back a decade to the start of the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens.

I had the honor of visiting Athens three times prior to the start of those Olympics. The Greek press ministry invited journalists of Greek descent to visit the country of their ancestors. Being one such journalist, I got the invitation, so I went — in 2000, 2001 and 2003.

I recall vividly all the concerns leading up to the Athens Olympics. The venues wouldn’t be done. Security was huge concern there as well, given the Greeks’ infamously lax history of fighting terrorists, which is to say they did little to combat the scourge. Athens had a pitiful international airport, but by 2001 they had opened a gleaming new terminal outside of the city. They, too, had road and highway infrastructure concerns. They built a subway system, a new highway from the airport into the city, scrubbed the buildings of graffiti and spit-shined the ancient city.

Thus, they managed to complete preparation for the Olympics — on time. Yes, it was barely on time, but it was on time. One key was the Greeks’ decision to re-enlist powerhouse businesswoman Gianna Angelopoulous-Daskalaki, who put together Greece’s bid to play host to the Olympics. She stepped in to take command of the Olympic preparation. Believe me when I tell you that she is simply a force of nature. She got ‘er done.

The Greeks took some shortcuts to make sure the venues were suitable, such as not putting a roof over the swimming and diving facilities. It didn’t matter, given that the weather during that period was gorgeous.

To be sure, Greece paid a huge price to stage these Olympics. They went into enormous debt, which contributed to the collapse of the country’s economy just a few years after the Olympic flame was extinguished.

I bring all this up because the Russians, which were awarded the Winter Olympics in 2007, had promised to avoid all the troubles that bedeviled the Greeks. They vowed to spend whatever it took to ensure complete safety and a completed venue in time for the athletes’ arrival.

Well, now we’re hearing about the threat of bombs planted in tubes of toothpaste and the aforementioned incomplete road and highway construction and the lack of lodging for the thousands of tourists pouring into the Black Sea resort city.

That big old Russian machine needs some repair, it seems, especially in light of little ol’ Greece being able to stage an even bigger event than the one that’s about to get under way.

I remain hopeful that the Russian “Ring of Steel” will head off any terrorist attacks during these Olympics. The rest of it remains dicey. Let’s wish them all the best.

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National attention span is so … fleeting

A colleague at work posed a most interesting question the other day.

“Why is it,” he wondered, “that Americans’ lose attention so quickly on crises deemed critical to our national security? Does anyone care these days about Syria?”

He’s talking about the national fixation on the government shutdown, which has supplanted the Syria crisis as Public Issue Topic No. 1.

Hmmm, I’m still thinking about that one.

It does seem like a long time ago, when it really was just a month ago, that we were worried sick about whether we were going to start bombing Syrian military targets in retaliation for that government’s use of chemical weapons on its citizens. President Obama issued the threat. The Russians stepped in and brokered a deal that appears to have persuaded the Syrians to turn their weapons over to United Nations inspectors. We aren’t going to bomb them after all — at least for the time being.

Never fear. Leave it to members of Congress to jerk our attention away from one crisis to another.

The House of Representatives’ Republican majority, led by its tea party wing, now has determined that the Affordable Care Act, an established law, is reason enough to shut down many agencies of the government. They hate it so much that they want to include defunding it in a bill that would have kept the government open and serving the people. That, of course, is a non-starter with the president.

Concern over Syria has subsided. Now we’re worrying about the future of our own federal government.

I’m waiting for the next crisis. Oh wait. That one’s coming soon. It’s called the “debt ceiling.”

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Putin’s remarks do matter … a lot

Vladimir Putin’s assertion that the United States of America is not an exceptional nation has drawn fire from both sides of the political aisle in this country.

With good reason, I should add once again.

Yet, some political hounds, such as former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., have dismissed Putin’s remarks as being irrelevant, that they don’t matter.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/09/12/putin_becomes_congress_bipartisan_punching_bag_119926.html

I have to disagree with Gingrich.

Putin wrote — or as Gingrich said correctly, someone wrote it for him — an op-ed column in the New York Times in which he challenged American politicians’ view of this country as being “exceptional.” I won’t rehash the points I made in an earlier blog post about Russia’s relative mediocrity compared to America.

It is folly, though, to dismiss Putin’s remarks simply because he is a former KGB spy, as Gingrich did. He is leader of a significant nation that possesses a huge nuclear arsenal left over from the Cold War and the era when Russia was known as the Soviet Union. Russia is still a significant player on the world stage.

Most of us here in America, yours truly included, do not buy into Putin’s belief that this country is unexceptional. He has made his point and it is still reverberating around the world.

If he were president of, say, Trinidad and Tobago, then we could dismiss his comments as not worth our time or attention. His great big platform as Russian’s head of state gives Putin a very loud bullhorn.

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Our nation is all ears, Mr. President

President Obama is going to speak to the nation on Tuesday in an effort to persuade his fellow Americans that a military strike against Syria is the right thing to do at precisely the right time.

I’m looking forward to this presidential speech.

20354377-obama-will-address-country-on-syria-calls-crisis-threat-to-global-peace

It’s not that I really need persuading that Syria needs to be punished. It used chemical weapons to kill civilians, including small children and women. That act needs a response. I do need persuading, though, that the president has signed off on a precise plan that includes an exit strategy. It needs a beginning, middle and an end.

What should the president say Tuesday night? Let’s start with these points:

* What precisely is the nature of this strike? Who and/or what will be the targets? No, the president need not be specific. He need not take a dive and surrender too much information to the Syrians.

* He’ll need to pledge, make a solemn vow, that the United States is not going to send troops into battle. Yes, we’ve done this kind of aerial campaign before, in Kosovo. It worked.

* The president will need to send a clear message as well to Syria’s allies in the region — namely Iran and the Hezbollah terrorists who run Lebanon — that they should think twice about committing reprisals against U.S. diplomatic personnel in the region.

* And the president will need to acknowledge Americans’ fear of yet another ground war. He needs to assure them in the strongest terms possible that a ground war is not in the cards. We have plenty of weapons capable of delivering much damage and misery to the Syrian military. They are the most sophisticated precision weapons on the world and we have a military force that knows how to use them.

The nation awaits your message, Mr. President.