Kathianne
02-10-2015, 01:31 AM
spot on.
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/398177/lets-be-honest-about-ukraine-tom-rogan?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=dVRTjm&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook#%21dVRTjm
FEBRUARY 9, 2015 4:00 AM
Let’s Be Honest about Ukraine (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/398177/lets-be-honest-about-ukraine-tom-rogan)
Fake resolve in the face of Russia’s invasion only shreds our credibility elsewhere.
By Tom Rogan (http://www.nationalreview.com/author/tom-rogan)
In 2015, Europe faces two major problems. First, across the continent, rebranded Communists are selling the snake-oil (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/397165/mass-delusion-among-greeces-far-left-tom-rogan) of painless utopia, where government provides everything and balance sheets don’t exist. Second, Russia is invading.
Where the first problem threatens the future of millions of young Europeans, the second problem threatens the sovereign peace upon which the European project resides.
This Russian invasion requires American honesty. Today, in the Baltic States, Russia is threatening pro-Western politicians and kidnapping intelligence officers (http://www.npr.org/2014/09/14/348351241/estonia-spy-dispute-could-be-russia-making-anti-nato-mischief). And in Ukraine, Russia is stealing a nation. In recent weeks, Russia has escalated offensive actions across eastern Ukraine. Arming, mobilizing, and directing Ukrainian separatists against the Kiev government, President Putin has shredded last September’s Minsk agreement. Under this deal, Russia had agreed to cease its support for rebel aggression. Instead, it has done the exact opposite. This was predictable. As I wrote (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/394038/putin-hungry-bear-tom-rogan) in December, lower oil prices and Putin’s philosophy meant that Russia’s heightened aggression was always likely. Moreover, Western leaders aren’t exactly deterring him.
In fact, they’re emboldening him. After all, in his recent State of the Union address, President Obama claimed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2nc53_sohs#t=2243) that he’d out-maneuvered Russia and won a defining victory. Simultaneously, multiple Ukrainian towns were falling to Russian forces. Where Obama measures foreign policy success by packaged statistics (whether the number of airstrikes against ISIS, or the stats on Russia’s economic condition), Putin measures physical reality. Now America has two solemn choices: allow Putin to seize Eastern Europe (Ukraine is only part of Russia’s regional strategy (http://www.tomroganthinks.com/2014/07/if-youre-finding-your-way-to-my-blog.html)), or escalate to stop him.
If we chose to cede Ukraine, we should do so honestly, by strengthening economic sanctions on Russia but ending the pretension that we’ll do anything else. At a moral level, it’s fair to ask why we should do more: If European nations don’t care enough (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomrogan/100272083/why-obama-should-withdraw-the-us-military-from-germany/) (the UK included (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qztq-B53vCw)) to invest in their own defense, why should Americans? Nevertheless, our clarity of purpose is critical. In U.S. foreign policy, false resolve is far worse than honest disinterest. Clear disinterest in one area allows us to maintain our credibility elsewhere, but when we abandon our word, American credibility is gutted everywhere (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/377384/obamas-credibility-crisis-tom-rogan).
...
http://www.nationalreview.com/article/398177/lets-be-honest-about-ukraine-tom-rogan?utm_campaign=trueAnthem%3A+Trending+Content&utm_content=dVRTjm&utm_medium=trueAnthem&utm_source=facebook#%21dVRTjm
FEBRUARY 9, 2015 4:00 AM
Let’s Be Honest about Ukraine (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/398177/lets-be-honest-about-ukraine-tom-rogan)
Fake resolve in the face of Russia’s invasion only shreds our credibility elsewhere.
By Tom Rogan (http://www.nationalreview.com/author/tom-rogan)
In 2015, Europe faces two major problems. First, across the continent, rebranded Communists are selling the snake-oil (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/397165/mass-delusion-among-greeces-far-left-tom-rogan) of painless utopia, where government provides everything and balance sheets don’t exist. Second, Russia is invading.
Where the first problem threatens the future of millions of young Europeans, the second problem threatens the sovereign peace upon which the European project resides.
This Russian invasion requires American honesty. Today, in the Baltic States, Russia is threatening pro-Western politicians and kidnapping intelligence officers (http://www.npr.org/2014/09/14/348351241/estonia-spy-dispute-could-be-russia-making-anti-nato-mischief). And in Ukraine, Russia is stealing a nation. In recent weeks, Russia has escalated offensive actions across eastern Ukraine. Arming, mobilizing, and directing Ukrainian separatists against the Kiev government, President Putin has shredded last September’s Minsk agreement. Under this deal, Russia had agreed to cease its support for rebel aggression. Instead, it has done the exact opposite. This was predictable. As I wrote (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/394038/putin-hungry-bear-tom-rogan) in December, lower oil prices and Putin’s philosophy meant that Russia’s heightened aggression was always likely. Moreover, Western leaders aren’t exactly deterring him.
In fact, they’re emboldening him. After all, in his recent State of the Union address, President Obama claimed (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P2nc53_sohs#t=2243) that he’d out-maneuvered Russia and won a defining victory. Simultaneously, multiple Ukrainian towns were falling to Russian forces. Where Obama measures foreign policy success by packaged statistics (whether the number of airstrikes against ISIS, or the stats on Russia’s economic condition), Putin measures physical reality. Now America has two solemn choices: allow Putin to seize Eastern Europe (Ukraine is only part of Russia’s regional strategy (http://www.tomroganthinks.com/2014/07/if-youre-finding-your-way-to-my-blog.html)), or escalate to stop him.
If we chose to cede Ukraine, we should do so honestly, by strengthening economic sanctions on Russia but ending the pretension that we’ll do anything else. At a moral level, it’s fair to ask why we should do more: If European nations don’t care enough (http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomrogan/100272083/why-obama-should-withdraw-the-us-military-from-germany/) (the UK included (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qztq-B53vCw)) to invest in their own defense, why should Americans? Nevertheless, our clarity of purpose is critical. In U.S. foreign policy, false resolve is far worse than honest disinterest. Clear disinterest in one area allows us to maintain our credibility elsewhere, but when we abandon our word, American credibility is gutted everywhere (http://www.nationalreview.com/article/377384/obamas-credibility-crisis-tom-rogan).
...