Posted on 03/31/2014 2:19:55 PM PDT by UMCRevMom@aol.com
Twitter campaign: While Congress approved an aid package for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia this week, the State Department pushed a Twitter campaign under the hashtag #UnitedForUkraine, which calls on people to share their support for the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at emaidan.com ...
The U.S. won't send troops or weapons, but it will send hashtags.
While Congress approved an aid package for Ukraine and sanctions against Russia this week, the State Department pushed a Twitter campaign under the hashtag #UnitedForUkraine, which calls on people to share their support for the country.
President Obama had great success using social media during his campaigning days, but does that same mindset work for foreign affairs?
"I don’t know what effect this is supposed to have," said former State Department diplomat James Lewis. "It's a hashtag. What’s it going to do? For this situation, it’s not a useful tool."
To get the momentum going on the hashtag, top officials posted their own photos. Among the most notable was the State Department's chief spokesperson Jen Psaki, who was once in the running for the Obama's press secretary.
Other State Department officials, such as deputy spokesperson Marie Harf, and even high-ranking members of the Obama Administration followed suit.
Since the hashtag popped up, it has gotten more than 10,000 tweets in two days, and some pushback from both the media and some Twitter users.
However, the people who really matter — those who live in Ukraine — aren't upset about this specific campaign, and the flak over the State Department's stunt is largely confined to the U.S.
"Nobody here is talking about the Psaki photo," said Christopher Miller, Kyiv Post editor and Mashable correspondent. "The #UnitedForUkraine campaign hasn't been heavily criticized here, but rather supported." "The #UnitedForUkraine campaign hasn't been heavily criticized here, but rather supported."
Ukrainians' irritation with Western leaders over a lack of action has been bubbling for months, and it has nothing to do with the State Department's hashtag.
"Ukrainians have been frustrated for four months over the slow response and lack of support from the U.S. and the EU. This isn't anything new or big," said Miller.
Over the past few weeks, Russia has taken over Ukraine's Crimea region. First, it moved in unmarked troops and seized government buildings, and then encouraged a vote to annex the region, in which 97% of Crimea residents voted to join Russia.
The United Nations said on Thursday it will not recognize Russia's claim over Crimea, saying it "has no validity" and that parties involved should work toward a peaceful resolution immediately. For his part, President Obama hasn't necessarily glossed his words about Russian President Vladimir Putin during his European tour this week. After the nuclear summit in The Hague, Netherlands, he dismissed the notion that Russia was America's No. 1 geopolitical foe.
"Russia is a regional power that is threatening some of its immediate neighbors not out of strength, but out of weakness," Obama said. "What we can bring to bear are the legal arguments, the diplomatic arguments, the political pressure, the economic sanctions that are already in place to try to make sure that there’s a cost to that process."
However even Obama's strong words haven't seemed to sway Putin. As Western media attention on Ukraine is dwindling to the bottom of the news lineup over headlines like the Malaysia Airlines plane disappearance, Putin may be betting on the chance that the U.S. may forget about Crimea and let this one slide.
"Once you realize there's nothing you can do people tend to move on," Lewis said.
It's the same trend we saw last year with Syria, when the U.S. was on the brink of war after the Syrian government used chemical weapons against its citizens. Crimea, however, is different. It's going to take longer to play out because Europeans have figured out that Putin isn't going to let go of Crimea, Lewis said.
" [Russia] plays hardball," he said. "A Twitter hashtag doesn’t count. Someone will figure out that we need to do more."
Putin called President Obama late Friday to "discuss the U.S. proposal for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Ukraine," according to White House reports. Obama suggested that Russia put a concrete response in writing. Both presidents agreed that Secretary of State John Kerry would meet with Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to talk about next steps.
i wonder how many friends.....#likepeacedude has on Fazedbook?
“Obama’s strong words?”
What, did Obama call the Russians “folks?”
Church announced a fundraiser for strengthening Ukrainian army (VIDEO) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXRrn-2JFUw
Published on Mar 31 , 2014
Head of Ukrainian Orthodox Church Kiev Patriarchate Filaret announced a fundraiser to support the Ukrainian armed forces. In particular , the Kyiv Patriarchate are transferred to the account of the Ministry of Defence 500 thousand and this is just the beginning - said the Patriarch . In addition, Filaret called all believers of the Kyivan Patriarchate , businessmen and oligarchs to make some of their funds for strengthening Ukrainian army.
Maybe we can Ukraine the recently decommissioned Sub that a Bammy’tard torched.
How ‘bout an MRE instead?
The people in Kiev are already advertising locations and stocking bomb shelters. They do not/ cannot trust Putin
“If you like your country, you can keep your country”.
I hope they don’t make the mistake of trusting 0bama.
It’s pretty noticeable that Obama went into hiding (via campaigning) to escape from the ire of Merkel and his NSA spying revelation.
Something is wrong with this picture.
My best understanding is that the troops evacuated from Crimea have not been assigned other bases. There families are being relocated by church groups. The troops cannot access their payroll. They are being cared for at church missions... http://obozrevatel.com/politics/23419-v-perevalnom-162-ukrainskih-voennyih-ostalis-fakticheski-bez-edyi.htm
I have posted this on news page, but I only have been sent this article from friend in Kiev. He is very busy. So, I must GOOGLE translate. Sometimes I also use bing because they supplement my understnading of the article.
They are having difficult times that is for sure.
Michael Medved whom I’ve avoided commenting about has been uncovering the strange support Putin has been getting in the US which includes Ron Paul and members in congress. Including that nut from Florida and a so called conservative congressman from Kalifornia.
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.