Monday, world markets and others were solicitous over the Russian incursion into the Ukraine. Tuesday, the markets rebounded at an astounding rate. Western politicians were bruising their hands patting each other on the back and the "international community" breathed a collective sigh of relief. All this optimism is because of one word missed by these supposedly smart and worldly people in an otherwise conciliatory statement by Vladimir Putin. He said that there is "no need yet" to use Russian military force in Ukraine.
If you have not guessed by now, the all important word Putin used was "yet." Putin has left the door open for further military incursion into Ukraine, and in the mean time has tested the "international community" and President Obama's resolve to oppose him. Both have failed this test miserably.Without firing a shot, Vladimir has been able to learn much about the weakness of his enemy.
He knows for instance that the current president of the United States is so unlikely to use military force as to eliminate it as an option to prevent his rebuilding of the Soviet empire. He also knows that any sanctions imposed upon his country by Western powers will be made non-effective by his control of much of Europe's oil supply and a good chunk of American investments in his country. Mr. Putin has also learned that the hubris of his enemy is his best weapon against them. Barack Obama, John Kerry, et. al., will gleefully cede large chunks of territory to Russia if their rather large egos are made to believe that they have schooled the Russian president using their empty platitudes and "stern" warnings.
The Putin plan was simple; begin military exercises by the Ukraine border, invade the Russian-friendly Crimea region of the Ukraine, recall the Russian troops participating in the exercises thereby placating the "international community" and allowing him to keep Crimea. Vladimir Putin has telegraphed his next move, visible to anyone who is not wallowing in their own arrogance and self-aggrandizement like our president. Putin will negotiate to have Russian troops deeper inside the Ukraine, ostensibly to protect ethnic Russians trapped by what he has already called a coup that ousted his puppet, Viktor Yanukovych.
In this way he can continue to stroke the rather obese egos of the U.S. president and others, while he incrementally captures more of the Ukraine. He may, with any luck, be able to capture most of Eastern Europe in this way, especially if another Democrat is elected to the United States presidency in 2016. In the contest that is international politics, Vladimir Putin is Garry Kasparov and Barack Obama is a neophyte who has only just recently seen the board and pieces for the first time.
Showing posts with label Russian-American Relations. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Russian-American Relations. Show all posts
Wednesday, March 5, 2014
Tuesday, March 4, 2014
It Aint Over Yet !
One thing that can assuredly be said about Barack Obama is that he lives a charmed life. Growing up as a child in the lap of luxury has not precluded him from claiming some kind of victim status with which the poor are inexplicably infused. His political career has taken him from the Illinois State House to the United States Senate, and onto two terms as president of the United States, all with little to no accomplishments or effort. And now, just when the weather has overstayed its welcome as the latest excuse for Obama economic policy failure, the Russians invade the Ukraine, and provide a poissible excuse for an economy in free fall.
Barack Obama knows that by the time the "international community" gets their act together enough to mount an effective counter to Vladimir Putin and his Russian military, the situation will have escalated to the level of causing, or at least appearing to have caused, economic weakness throughout the world. Once again the charmed president will be held blameless for his destructive policies.
Tuesday morning the world awoke with a smile because Putin pulled his troops off the Ukraine border where they were conducting military exercises unrelated to the recent occupation of Crimea. And while the Keystone Cops in the persons of Barack Obama and John Kerry congratulate themselves for "talking tough" and ostensibly scaring Vladimir Putin into submission, Mr. Putin is rubbing his hands together with glee. Not only has he taken a major port in Ukraine without expending military treasure, but he has given his buffoonish enemy reason to be over-confident and blinded to his ultimate goal of rebuilding the Soviet empire.
I think it was Rush Limbaugh who said, "The world is governed by the aggressive use of force." This truism can not be denied when one performs an exhaustive study of history. In the current situation, Vladimir Putin has set the rules of the game with his "aggressive use of force." The Russian president will now appear to retreat, with his latest conquest in tow, and wait for his next opportunity to seize control of more of Ukraine's sovereignty. He knows that he can continue in his march to rebuild the Soviet empire because of the aversion to war that the U.S. president and the "international community" possess.
Each time Vladimir seizes control of sovereign land, he will back off and allow his clownish opposition to huff and puff with hubris. And each time he will maintain control of the lands he seized. It is Barack Obama and the Lefts fear of war that makes it much more likely to occur. Whether it is the Ukraine, the Middle East, or South America, the spread of Soviet-style communism and influence has made a resurgence. We ignore the facts of history at our own peril.
Barack Obama knows that by the time the "international community" gets their act together enough to mount an effective counter to Vladimir Putin and his Russian military, the situation will have escalated to the level of causing, or at least appearing to have caused, economic weakness throughout the world. Once again the charmed president will be held blameless for his destructive policies.
Tuesday morning the world awoke with a smile because Putin pulled his troops off the Ukraine border where they were conducting military exercises unrelated to the recent occupation of Crimea. And while the Keystone Cops in the persons of Barack Obama and John Kerry congratulate themselves for "talking tough" and ostensibly scaring Vladimir Putin into submission, Mr. Putin is rubbing his hands together with glee. Not only has he taken a major port in Ukraine without expending military treasure, but he has given his buffoonish enemy reason to be over-confident and blinded to his ultimate goal of rebuilding the Soviet empire.
I think it was Rush Limbaugh who said, "The world is governed by the aggressive use of force." This truism can not be denied when one performs an exhaustive study of history. In the current situation, Vladimir Putin has set the rules of the game with his "aggressive use of force." The Russian president will now appear to retreat, with his latest conquest in tow, and wait for his next opportunity to seize control of more of Ukraine's sovereignty. He knows that he can continue in his march to rebuild the Soviet empire because of the aversion to war that the U.S. president and the "international community" possess.
Each time Vladimir seizes control of sovereign land, he will back off and allow his clownish opposition to huff and puff with hubris. And each time he will maintain control of the lands he seized. It is Barack Obama and the Lefts fear of war that makes it much more likely to occur. Whether it is the Ukraine, the Middle East, or South America, the spread of Soviet-style communism and influence has made a resurgence. We ignore the facts of history at our own peril.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
What Is The Deal With The Russian Deal ?
A couple of days ago, President Obama was deep into the bribery, arm-twisting and intimidation of trying to get the votes in Congress to give him cover to do some wrist-slapping in Syria with a couple of United States' missiles. Many experts were pontificating at how fragile and unstable the situation in Syria had become, and no matter what the U.S. did, it could bubble over into a regional conflict that would involve Israel and the United States in a full-fledged, boots-on-the-ground war. And then like magic, Vladimir Putin stepped out from behind the Iron Curtain to broker a deal that would save the day, and more importantly, Barack Obama's need to be a leader.
There are several questions I have about the so-called Russian deal. First, who comprises the "International Community" to whom Assad is supposedly handing over his chemical weapons for safe keeping? Secondly, how does this yet-to-be-named group, called "The International Community" verify that any weapons Bashar places in their custody are all the chemical weapons he has and that he is not holding any back for future use? Third, are the chemical weapons in the hands of the Al Qaeda-lead rebels to be handed over to "The International Community" as well, or proof be shown that they do not have chemical weapons?
The motivation for the Russians' deal-making is two-fold, one is to keep their debtor, Syria, from becoming a parking lot and therefore being even less likely to repay the Russian debt. And two, this "deal" is the perfect opportunity to drain even more power from the United States with respects to its influence in the Middle East. The cost of the Russians forcing Bashar Al Assad (the proxy of the Russian's proxy Iran) to "part" with his chemical weapons is most likely the fulfillment of Barack Obama's promise made before last year's election. Remember when he told Russian President, Medvedev, that he should transmit a message to Putin that after the U.S. election, Mr. Obama would have more flexibility in reducing the United States nuclear arsenal? One does not have to be a genius to figure out that Barack Obama's newly found flexibility will be the vehicle with which he will repay Putin for saving him the messiness of military intervention in Syria.
The solace and downright exuberance over the Russian deal is exemplary of the willful blindness on the Left to believe that everyone, especially Communists, have only good and pure intentions. Russia is not brokering this deal to be magnanimous humanitarians, but because of their ulterior motives. People, especially on the Left, forget that ever since Ronald Reagan defeated the Soviet Union in the cold war in the 1980s, they have been working hard to be a fly in our ointment. Their non-support of the Iraq invasion, not on any moral or diplomatic basis, but because Russia had continued to trade with Saddam Hussein in violation of United Nations' sanctions, is just one recent example. Does anyone on the Left or the Right really think Bashar Al Assad would have jumped so quickly at this deal had it come from anyone else? Our leaders would do well to look this Russian gift horse right in the mouth and say, "No thank you."
There are several questions I have about the so-called Russian deal. First, who comprises the "International Community" to whom Assad is supposedly handing over his chemical weapons for safe keeping? Secondly, how does this yet-to-be-named group, called "The International Community" verify that any weapons Bashar places in their custody are all the chemical weapons he has and that he is not holding any back for future use? Third, are the chemical weapons in the hands of the Al Qaeda-lead rebels to be handed over to "The International Community" as well, or proof be shown that they do not have chemical weapons?
The motivation for the Russians' deal-making is two-fold, one is to keep their debtor, Syria, from becoming a parking lot and therefore being even less likely to repay the Russian debt. And two, this "deal" is the perfect opportunity to drain even more power from the United States with respects to its influence in the Middle East. The cost of the Russians forcing Bashar Al Assad (the proxy of the Russian's proxy Iran) to "part" with his chemical weapons is most likely the fulfillment of Barack Obama's promise made before last year's election. Remember when he told Russian President, Medvedev, that he should transmit a message to Putin that after the U.S. election, Mr. Obama would have more flexibility in reducing the United States nuclear arsenal? One does not have to be a genius to figure out that Barack Obama's newly found flexibility will be the vehicle with which he will repay Putin for saving him the messiness of military intervention in Syria.
The solace and downright exuberance over the Russian deal is exemplary of the willful blindness on the Left to believe that everyone, especially Communists, have only good and pure intentions. Russia is not brokering this deal to be magnanimous humanitarians, but because of their ulterior motives. People, especially on the Left, forget that ever since Ronald Reagan defeated the Soviet Union in the cold war in the 1980s, they have been working hard to be a fly in our ointment. Their non-support of the Iraq invasion, not on any moral or diplomatic basis, but because Russia had continued to trade with Saddam Hussein in violation of United Nations' sanctions, is just one recent example. Does anyone on the Left or the Right really think Bashar Al Assad would have jumped so quickly at this deal had it come from anyone else? Our leaders would do well to look this Russian gift horse right in the mouth and say, "No thank you."
Saturday, August 3, 2013
The Russian Bear Kicks American Eagle Feathered Butt
Almost from the moment that Barack Obama was declared President of the United States after the 2008 general election, he has been Vladimir Putin's political paramour. The affair between the U.S. President and the Russian Prime Minister has been the stuff of fairy tales, culminating in the transformation of the most powerful office in the free world into an outpost for Russian foreign policy. So much of the Obama foreign policy is aligned with that of Vladimir Putin, that one would be hard pressed to find many areas on which they disagree.
First, there was the way in which Barack Obama went back on the word of the U.S. government to provide radar installations in the Czech republic and missile defense in Poland, two former allies of the U.S. But betraying allies like Czechoslovakia and Poland was a fair trade-off in the mind of President Obama for keeping the Russian bear happy with the United States. The radar installations and missile defense were and are essential to the safety of our allies in the region against an ever-growing threat from a nuclear-tipped Iran.
And of course who could forget the way in which President Obama has lead from behind with regards to the Russian proxies in Iran and by extension, Syria. The President's non-support of the 2009 Green Movement in Iran to overthrow their oppressive government could not have been scripted better by Vladimir himself. And President Obama's complete lack of leadership on Bashar Al Assad's murder of over 100,000 of his fellow Syrians, and the willingness now of Mr. Obama to arm the terrorists who have co-opted the rebel cause, are the stuff of dreams for an old KGB man like Mr. Putin.
Could anyone forget the way in which Mr. Obama told Russian President Medveded in 2012, before the election, that he would have more flexibility to reduce America's nuclear arsenal after he was safely re-elected? Who could forget the Rocky and Bullwinkle-like way in which President Medveded said he would "transmit the message to Vladimir?" One could almost hear the men turning over in their graves who died fighting Communist aggression in Korea during the early 1950s and in Vietnam in the 1960s, over the prospect of an American President bending to the will of his Russian masters.
The latest dismissal of respect that should be afforded to the presidency of the United States by the Russian government, is the granting of NSA leaker and fugitive from justice, Edward Snowden, temporary political asylum. The drum that the Left beat daily during the eight year term of President George W. Bush was that his cowboy antics had lost respect for the United States with countries around the world. But it appears that our allies trust us less and our enemies mock us more under the Obama regime.
And of course none of this disrespect for the United States troubles Barack Obama, to the contrary, he encourages it as part of his plan to reduce American influence around the world which he and his band of misfit democrats see as the cause of all the strife throughout modern history. It is late in the fight, and the Russian bear has badly damaged the American eagle in the fight for freedom and decency around the world. And the question that is salient is whether or not the eagle can withstand the punishing blows from the bear until there is strong American leadership once again in his corner.
First, there was the way in which Barack Obama went back on the word of the U.S. government to provide radar installations in the Czech republic and missile defense in Poland, two former allies of the U.S. But betraying allies like Czechoslovakia and Poland was a fair trade-off in the mind of President Obama for keeping the Russian bear happy with the United States. The radar installations and missile defense were and are essential to the safety of our allies in the region against an ever-growing threat from a nuclear-tipped Iran.
And of course who could forget the way in which President Obama has lead from behind with regards to the Russian proxies in Iran and by extension, Syria. The President's non-support of the 2009 Green Movement in Iran to overthrow their oppressive government could not have been scripted better by Vladimir himself. And President Obama's complete lack of leadership on Bashar Al Assad's murder of over 100,000 of his fellow Syrians, and the willingness now of Mr. Obama to arm the terrorists who have co-opted the rebel cause, are the stuff of dreams for an old KGB man like Mr. Putin.
Could anyone forget the way in which Mr. Obama told Russian President Medveded in 2012, before the election, that he would have more flexibility to reduce America's nuclear arsenal after he was safely re-elected? Who could forget the Rocky and Bullwinkle-like way in which President Medveded said he would "transmit the message to Vladimir?" One could almost hear the men turning over in their graves who died fighting Communist aggression in Korea during the early 1950s and in Vietnam in the 1960s, over the prospect of an American President bending to the will of his Russian masters.
The latest dismissal of respect that should be afforded to the presidency of the United States by the Russian government, is the granting of NSA leaker and fugitive from justice, Edward Snowden, temporary political asylum. The drum that the Left beat daily during the eight year term of President George W. Bush was that his cowboy antics had lost respect for the United States with countries around the world. But it appears that our allies trust us less and our enemies mock us more under the Obama regime.
And of course none of this disrespect for the United States troubles Barack Obama, to the contrary, he encourages it as part of his plan to reduce American influence around the world which he and his band of misfit democrats see as the cause of all the strife throughout modern history. It is late in the fight, and the Russian bear has badly damaged the American eagle in the fight for freedom and decency around the world. And the question that is salient is whether or not the eagle can withstand the punishing blows from the bear until there is strong American leadership once again in his corner.
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