Editorials & Other Articles

Purveyor

(29,876 posts) Tue Mar 11, 2014, 07:21 PM Mar 2014

Obama is Right on Ukraine: It's Not Our War

by M.J. Rosenberg

President Obama is not, apparently, going to be steamrolled into acting as if Russia is the Soviet Union and Ukraine is Czechoslovakia. (Not that we did anything in 1968.)

And I'm grateful for that. Just imagine if that crazed warmonger John McCain was president or even Mitt Romney (although Romney is not unstable so I don't suggest they are the same).

Instead, we have Obama who seems to understand that the United States is limited in what we can do about Ukraine. And not just logistically either.

We are also limited by the fact that the U.S. has acted precisely the way Russia has dozens of times in the last century alone. Ukraine is on the Russian border. How far are we from Guatemala, El Salavador or Chile? How far away was Iran when we overthrew its government in 1953? How far away is Iraq which we invaded and destroyed or Afghanistan where we provided the arms to put the mujaheddin in power who are now the Taliban,a curse from which that country is unlikely ever to recover?

Not surprisingly, the same people who promoted the Iraq war and now want the U.S. to bomb Iran (or let Israel do it) or pushing for action against Russia. You can call them the neocons or the Kristol-Joe Lieberman-Dershowitz-Krauthammer-Perle-Feith-Peretz gang, who always want us to be tough, lest someday we won't defend Israel's occupation of the West Bank. (These guys are all about Israel, nothing else.)

- See more at: http://mwcnews.net/focus/politics/37791-right-on-ukraine.html#sthash.NuOvHsGJ.dpuf

8 replies

= new reply since forum marked as read

Highlight:

Obama is Right on Ukraine: It's Not Our War (Original Post) Purveyor Mar 2014 OP

Amen. proverbialwisdom Mar 2014 #1

What bullshit. Obama is NOT doing nothing. Throwing hands in air & saying "Oh well it's not our war Bill USA Mar 2014 #2

I thought the author praised the president's strength/sagacity. We must've read different articles. proverbialwisdom Mar 2014 #4

I think I read the same thing you did. n/t JayhawkSD Mar 2014 #5

the title characterizes Obama's response as no response at all. that is not the case. Bill USA Mar 2014 #8

Related support. proverbialwisdom Mar 2014 #3

Totally disregarding the $5billion spent to set up the whole fiasco by Demeter Mar 2014 #6

+1. jsr Mar 2014 #7

proverbialwisdom

(4,959 posts)

1. Amen.

Reply to Purveyor (Original post)

Tue Mar 11, 2014, 07:36 PM

Mar 2014

<>

Outside the Union League Club on Park Avenue in Manhattan I saw 40 or 50 otherwise-fit young men who lacked only legs or arms wheeling or peddling themselves around on a tour of New York City arranged for them by the Veterans Administration and philanthropists. They’re not Vietnam War veterans but children of the Project for the New American Century and the Committee for the Liberation of Iraq.

Wieseltier's children. Kristol's children. Krauthammer's children.

And now these same neocons are demanding we take on Russia? Why in God's name would anyone pay any attention to anything these miscreants say?

Thank God Obama doesn't.

M.J. Rosenberg is Special Correspondent for The Washington Spectator. Previously he served as a Senior Foreign Policy Fellow with Media Matters Action Network, and prior to that worked on Capitol Hill for various Democratic members of the House and Senate for 15 years.

Bill USA

(6,436 posts)

2. What bullshit. Obama is NOT doing nothing. Throwing hands in air & saying "Oh well it's not our war

Reply to Purveyor (Original post)

Tue Mar 11, 2014, 08:26 PM

Mar 2014

..... screw the Ukrainians." ...what bull.

He is an intelligent man who knows that Diplomacy gets results, military actions always involves great costs - in lives as well as money and often does not achieve the desired result. This is the time for adult leadership, not that of immature pre-teen boys acting like they think adult men act. What do the little boys think he should do send two divisions into the Ukraine? How do you do that without causing World War III.
[div class="excerpt" style="width:auto;float:left;"]
GOPer pretenders
He also knows virtually ALL Americans do NOT think risking World War III is a good idea - especially considering the first point - that diplomacy works where military actions usually don't (except in special circumstances - where the circumstances are in your advantage).

There is nothing in his shrewd choice of diplomacy that says he feels AT ALL APOLOGETIC about any previous actions by the U.S. (this is as a matter of course re the war to free Iraqi Oil based on lies from an administration run by a child who wasn't an elected president). That does NOT therefore mean that he is cutting Putin ANY SLACK for any reason.

He knows the last thing Americans want is boots on the ground in the Ukraine and risking World War III. He also knows that childishly directed militarism does not get the results determined diplomacy achieves.. He also knows that we cannot do certain things without Europe in full support of same. And they do not want World War III. They also depend on Russia for natural gas. This puts a real crimp in our ability to act in ways which would just be stupid and quite practical.

proverbialwisdom

(4,959 posts)

4. I thought the author praised the president's strength/sagacity. We must've read different articles.

Reply to Bill USA (Reply #2)

Tue Mar 11, 2014, 09:35 PM

Mar 2014

JayhawkSD

(3,163 posts)

5. I think I read the same thing you did. n/t

Reply to proverbialwisdom (Reply #4)

Wed Mar 12, 2014, 01:20 AM

Mar 2014

Bill USA

(6,436 posts)

8. the title characterizes Obama's response as no response at all. that is not the case.

Reply to proverbialwisdom (Reply #4)

Fri Mar 14, 2014, 03:57 PM

Mar 2014

The author leads off with the statement: "President Obama is not, apparently, going to be steamrolled into acting as if Russia is the Soviet Union and Ukraine is Czechoslovakia. (Not that we did anything in 1968.) "

To suggest, strengthened with the inclusion of the word "apparently", that Obama would ever be "steam-rolled" by anybody is repugnant and asinine. He is not praising Obama's "strength/sagacity", he is implying he's a weakling or at least he's saying he's afraid he is a weakling. By the inclusion of the word "apparently" he's saying he's not sure, maybe Obama will be 'steam-rolled' into doing something insane. ... Get real!

Further by including the parenthetical statement: &quot Not that we did anything in 1968.)" suggests that Obama's action now, if anything less than a full military response is 'not doing anything'.. Thus, he is writes off diplomatic actions (to include sanctions of various kinds) as 'doing nothing'.

"praising his strength/sagacity"??...

[font size="3"]Where in the article does he mention anything about the actions Obama is taking in concert with European allies to address the situation?..?? [/font]

To insinuate that Obama might be pushed into taking any action he did not believe was the right thing to do is offensive and shows he does not understand the man. Not even mentioning the Obama's response with involvement of European allies contributes to the mis-characterize Obama's stance in this situation.