Dear Sir: I'm asking you, I'm asking Europe and the West to keep it's promise to the Ukrainian people. Although I've been a loyal Democrat, who fought hard in his own way for healthcare reform, I cannot help but see the same weakness from this Administration that plagued that fight, now endangering the freedom and security of my people.
You seem to have this attitude that everyone in this world has better angels in their nature, and that people will see reason, and act reasonably if you treat them with good manners.But history tells us that all too often, this is not the case. As Neville Chamberlain found from Hitler, negotiating with a nut waving a pistol can end up pretty badly. Please remember that Putin thinks he's a hammer, and to and to him everything looks like a nail.
The convoluted nature of American foreign policy eludes me. We give weapons to Pretty Boy tin horns like Maliki, who then uses them to oppress his people. We give weapons and money to states like Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Jordan who then give their weapons and money to the Taliban, or HAMAS, who use them to kill Americans and Israelis, but we won't give weapons to a people, my people, who really want to accomplish something - a better life, and - contrary to the inflated egos, and the holier than thou pigheaded extremism in the Middle East, want to fight for something admittedly more obscure - their freedom!
And yet, despite the fact that Russia is brazenly sending over tanks, artillery, weapons and personnel, across Ukraine's border, you persist in assuming that sanctions are some economic nuclear weapon that will, once again - make Vladimir Putin see reason. And your "military assistance" consists of what? Non-lethal aid? Those weren't night vision goggles that brought down MH17, or those Ukrainian transport planes! Those were real live rockets, not party favors! And nobody can stop a tank with a MRE! Likewise there is news and documentation of mass graves in Sloviansk!
What you don't seem to understand is that Putin is not just waging a "hybrid" war, but also a psychological war in Ukraine to provoke us into some incident to be used as a pretext for "peacekeepers" in Eastern Ukraine. Once he has his hands on Ukraine's industrial region, he can control the rest, and bring us into his "co-prosperity sphere!" Eurasia!
Already tensions are rising. Violent incidents like the one in Odessa, involving the local militia and protesters at the musical concert by singer Ani Lorak, Right Sector and Svoboda could prove to be just the provocation needed to bring Russian troops across the border! Ukraine is made to look like it is in anarchy!
Giving Ukraine more substantial military aid and hardware, would not only improve Ukraine's military posture, but have a calming effect on the populace, and slow Putin up. It would do great damage to the terrorists, and force Putin to acknowledge that another chair has been added to the table. It would dampen the vitriol of the crowds in Moscow now shouting for war!
Above all we need a fair shake. Are we getting one if your attention is constantly turned towards Iraq or Gaza? It is true that the people of Gaza, Syria and Iraq are suffering terribly, and they have my sympathy. But in neither of these areas does there appear to be anyone willing to learn a thing in order to progress towards peace. The Shiites of Iraq learned nothing from Saddam's oppression. They choose to oppress the Sunnis, who will return to oppressing them when they take over. Hence a black hole for U.S. weapons and American taxes. Now Gaza: If one is not lobbing missiles, then the other one is. And horrifying as the body count in Gaza is, how can one sympathize with a terrorist government that knowingly initiates violence, with full anticipation of the resulting civilian deaths and suffering of it's own people? And why doesn't Netanyahu also understand that simply withdrawing troops from Gaza would effectively put the ball in a dumbfounded HAMAS's court? Again, a dead end for U.S. weapons and American taxes.
Ukrainians are not like that. They have a dream for a better future. They don't have the same kind of prejudice between nations and cultures as in the Middle East. What they do have is the horrifying specter of Putinism in of Russia, that threatens rights that Americans and Ukrainians care for deeply. They need American weapons! Not American "boots on the ground." They've enough willing hands for fighting. But they do need the tools and the security those weapons will bring. Start with the surplus from Afghanistan! Deduce from the Saudis an equivalent to the dollar amount they give to HAMAS!
Just don't forget them. And be more realistic in your approach to our problem - Europe's problem - your problem! MRE's cannot kill tanks though our freedom is at stake!
And now the situation appears to be more grim as the rebels are attempting a counteroffensive, and many of Ukraine's gains seem to be in peril. Russian troops at the border appear to be near 40,000! If you're looking for humanitarian disasters the one coming to Ukraine will dwarf Gaza, because Ukrainians will fight back. It will be another Afghanistan. Russian troops at the border appear to be near 40,000! If you're looking for humanitarian disasters the one coming to Ukraine will dwarf Gaza, because Ukrainians will fight back. It will be another Afghanistan.
It is now August, the time that Russia chose to attack Georgia over Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Remember: nice guys do finish last, and Chamberlain rolled out the red carpet for war. It took a Churchill to end it.