Unfortunately, from a foreign policy perspective, the entire affair -- Eff You traffic notwithstanding -- is a demonstration of what a bunch of feckless morons are running this country. When the shit started hitting the fan about a week ago, Secretary of State John Kerry didn't tell Russia to get the fuck out of Crimea, he lamented that Russia was not behaving according to Kerry's views of modern norms:
“You just don’t in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pre-text,” Kerry said. “It is serious in terms of sort of the modern manner with which nations are going to resolve problems. There are all kinds of other options still available to Russia. There still are. President Obama wants to emphasize to the Russians that there are a right set of choices that can still be made to address any concerns they have about Crimea, about their citizens, but you don’t choose to invade a country in order to do that.”Um, if you're the country that just behaved in "19th century fashion," are you chastised? For one thing, seems like the 20th century was full of "19th century fashion" behavior -- U.S. invading Mexico in 1916, World War I, World War II (not to mention Japan invading Manchuria in 1933 and Germany taking over Sudetenland 1936 and Austria in 1938, leading up to the war), North Korea invading South Korea, Iraq invading Kuwait. The list goes on. Also, the U.S. invading Afghanistan in 2002 and Iraq a year later, along with all the other "19th century fashion" behavior going on all over the world, seems to indicate that 19th century behavior is not an aberration, it is the norm. The history of the world is one of the use of force to achieve national interests. That didn't stop with the turn of the 20th century. The fact that our national leaders seem to think it did is a little disturbing. And if I just invaded somebody and got that kind of response, I'm pretty sure I'm home free, because I know those worthless losers won't respond in a "19th century fashion" by kicking my ass ouf of Ukraine the way Bush 41 kicked Iraq out of Kuwait in 1991.
Plus, the mealy-mouthed crap that came out of Kerry after the invasion doubtless assured Russia that nothing would happen:
"It's an incredible act of aggression. It is really a stunning, willful choice by President (Vladimir) Putin to invade another country. Russia is in violation of the sovereignty of Ukraine. Russia is in violation of its international obligations," Kerry said.Russia and Putin obviously are not concerned with violating Ukraine's sovereignty of Russia's international obligations. You call that applying pressure? Putin will agree to talk, and then will say, "You say potato. I say, I have the Crimea. Blow me." We're not playing the same game here.
You think this is just me saying this. Hell, I'm just a temp attorney, and a conservative to boot, so of course I'm critical of Barry's ineptitude. But the Washington Fucking Post agrees with me:
FOR FIVE YEARS, President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality. It was a world in which “the tide of war is receding” and the United States could, without much risk, radically reduce the size of its armed forces. Other leaders, in this vision, would behave rationally and in the interest of their people and the world. Invasions, brute force, great-power games and shifting alliances — these were things of the past. Secretary of State John F. Kerry displayed this mindset on ABC’s “This Week” Sunday when he said, of Russia’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine, “It’s a 19th century act in the 21st century.”Nations act in their own best interests, regardless of how the rest of the world perceives those nations' best interests. To pretend otherwise is to ask to get fucked, and that's what Obama and Kerry are doing on behalf of the United States. They are not projecting strength, they are showing the belly, the way a dog submits. Think it's just me? Pay attention:
. . .
Unfortunately, Russian President Vladimir Putin has not received the memo on 21st-century behavior. Neither has China’s president, Xi Jinping, who is engaging in gunboat diplomacy against Japan and the weaker nations of Southeast Asia. Syrian president Bashar al-Assad is waging a very 20th-century war against his own people, sending helicopters to drop exploding barrels full of screws, nails and other shrapnel onto apartment buildings where families cower in basements. These men will not be deterred by the disapproval of their peers, the weight of world opinion or even disinvestment by Silicon Valley companies. They are concerned primarily with maintaining their holds on power.
Appearing on Thursday's CBS Late Show aired early Friday morning, former NBC Nightly Newsanchor Tom Brokaw discussed the Russian invasion of Ukraine with host David Letterman and observed: "...when chemical weapons were used in Syria and they were discovered, I didn't think it was President Obama's finest moment. He said there's a red line, then he kept moving that sucker....[Vladimir Putin] might have taken the measure of President Obama and said, 'I may be able to test this guy'....it has that appearance."Tom Fucking Brokaw, a dyed-in-the-wool liberal, agrees with me. Barry showed the belly over Syria, and Vlad knew he didn't have to worry about a challenge from that quarter. As it is, the last secretary of state this country had who was worth a shit thinks its time we quit showing the belly:
Most important, the United States must restore its standing in the international community, which has been eroded by too many extended hands of friendship to our adversaries, sometimes at the expense of our friends. Continued inaction in Syria, which has strengthened Moscow’s hand in the Middle East, and signs that we are desperate for a nuclear agreement with Iran cannot be separated from Putin’s recent actions. Radically declining U.S. defense budgets signal that we no longer have the will or intention to sustain global order, as does talk of withdrawal from Afghanistan whether the security situation warrants it or not. We must not fail, as we did in Iraq, to leave behind a residual presence. Anything less than the American military’s requirement for 10,000 troops will say that we are not serious about helping to stabilize that country.Barry doesn't really care about foreign policy, except to the extent it helps him win elections. That's why, now that he has no more elections to win, he makes noises but does nothing. He just doesn't care. Russia will keep Crimea, because we won't do anything to stop it. And Putin will pick his next target and say, "You say potato, I say I have . . . " And we'll be stuck with it. Heads up, Latvia and Estonia, where 25 percent or mor of the population is ethnic Russian -- the U.S. won't help you. Putin intervened in Crimea to "protect" the Russian minority in an area that was only 12 percent ethnic Russian. Think he won't do it to regain more former Soviet territory with a much higher percentage of Russian population? Especially when he believes we will do nothing? Yeah, right.
. . .
These global developments have not happened in response to a muscular U.S. foreign policy: Countries are not trying to “balance” American power. They have come due to signals that we are exhausted and disinterested. The events in Ukraine should be a wake-up call to those on both sides of the aisle who believe that the United States should eschew the responsibilities of leadership. If it is not heeded, dictators and extremists across the globe will be emboldened. And we will pay a price as our interests and our values are trampled in their wake.
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