Posted on 03/02/2014 10:45:35 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
In the dying days of the Soviet Union, President George H W Bush gave a speech in Kiev urging Ukrainian nationalists not to provoke Moscow. US conservatives dubbed it his “chicken Kiev” speech. Having long since been branded America’s appeaser-in-chief, President Barack Obama now confronts his own chicken Kiev moment. Can Mr Obama stand up to Vladimir Putin, the Russian fox circling the chicken coop? It is unclear whether he has the will and the skill – let alone the means – to do so. Yet the future of his presidency depends on it. There can be little doubt that Mr Putin wants to restore the boundaries of the Russian empire. Mr Obama must somehow find a way to frustrate him.
It will require a very different Mr Obama from the semi-detached one the world has grown used to. Even before Mr Obama became president, critics accused him of appeasing a revanchist Russia. John McCain, his Republican opponent, seized on Russia’s semi-invasion of Georgia in 2008 as an example of where he would draw the line against Moscow’s expansionist creep. Mr Obama’s unwillingness to match his opponent’s hawkishness chimed far better with the US public mood. Americans were tired of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Mr Obama promised to end them. He has done so.
If anything, Americans are even warier of entanglements today. Yet Russia’s occupation of the Crimea dramatically changes the landscape. Everything that Mr Obama wants – nation building at home, a nuclear deal with Iran, a quiescent Middle East and the pivot to Asia – hinges on how he responds to Mr Putin....
(Excerpt) Read more at ft.com ...
>>>John McCain, his Republican opponent, seized on Russia’s semi-invasion of Georgia in 2008 as an example of where he would draw the line against Moscow’s expansionist creep.<<<<
McCain is wrong. Russians took all they wanted from Georgia in 2008, short from removing president from power.
I’m really surprised with their move on Ukraine but I still don’t believe it is about to occupy all of it.
I think the answer to that is a resounding HELL NO.
This is neocon filth.
There’s lots of reasons to hate Obama. But right now, I’m glad McCain didn’t get elected.
Oh, I was hoping he was elected and had an embolism about three months in.
The main event... George Forman versus Pee Wee Herman
Yep, I see McCain in the White House exclaiming, “The missiles are flying...Hallelujah....Hallelujah.”
PEACE ON EARTH PURITY OF ESSENCE ...
;)
>Can Mr Obama stand up to Vladimir Putin?<
.
How difficult is it to take candy away from a baby?
Not hard at all for Putin vs the community organizer. . . .
Obama lacks the real world experience and the intellect to devise a plan to correct the situation. Obama also lacks the fortitude and the integrity to bluff. Essentially he is the Barny Fife of world leaders.
The world would be safer if he just went back to playing golf.
So trying to over throw Assad, getting Ghadafi killed and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, did not frustrate Putin ? And the last Progressive weasel that had the oval office took Kosovo from Serbia. All that did not frustrate Putin ?
The MSM is completely clueless.
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