Here’s two different takes on the developing situation in Ukraine.
The first viewpoint comes from the Montana native who recently departed his post as US ambassador to Russia- Michael McFaul. Following McFaul’s remarks on MSNBC, the former commandant of the US Army War College weighs in.
From The Hill:
“What he did in Crimea was a emotional reaction to his being extremely disappointed with the fall of the government, the fall of [Ukrainian] President [Viktor] Yanukovych a few weeks before,” McFaul said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“I think he is not sure what the end game is. That gives a chance for people like Secretary Kerry to try to figure out a diplomatic solution to restore Ukraine’s territorial integrity,” said McFaul, who just left his diplomatic post in Moscow.
The reaction from the former commandant of the US Army War College on Fox News the other night was certainly the best response I have seen concerning Ukraine thus far.
The Daily Caller has this:
“Everyone I’ve seen on the news media this whole last few days talks about, ‘well, the first thing we are going to do is we’re gonna take the military option off the table,’” Scales, a former commandant of the U.S. Army War College, said on Fox News’ “On the Record.” ”Oh, really? That’s our greatest advantage right now. [Russian President Vladimir] Putin doesn’t care about economic sanctions. He doesn’t care about what the E.U. thinks. The only thing he respects is power and he knows that America still is more powerful than he is.”
Comments
Erik
Tuesday, March 04, 2014 4:43 PM
So you’re advocating that we get into WW3 with Russia over Crimea?
Mel in Whitehall
Tuesday, March 04, 2014 9:02 PM
So Erik,
You’re advocating that we watch ANOTHER NATION be over run and suppressed by a non-democratic Commie’ thug?
ANYTIME you “TAKE ANYTHING” off the table unilaterally, you are conceding the superior standing or stature of the other party!…IF you are a simple “appeaser” or other form of weakling…then, this route would seem “good enough”. You of course as then subject to repeated “events” from other thugs on the world stage…kind of like it is now. eh?
Do you truly think it would take WW-III to “contain” the aggression at it’s current level and location?.. ?? I don’t.
Erik
Wednesday, March 05, 2014 12:30 AM
So we bomb the Russian positions in Crimea?
Aaron Flint
Wednesday, March 05, 2014 7:52 AM
For some reason this discussion reminds me of the straw man constantly created by the Obama administration…the idea that if you do anything- it immediately means a large scale, long term ground occupation.
Erik- did you even read what Gen Scales actually had to say? I’ve been trying to view the actual full video (not playing on my cpu for some reason)…but here’s what The Daily Caller also excerpted from that Fox News video:
“I think we can commit as a demonstration,” Scales elaborated. “For example, let’s start that AMB initiative with the Czech Republic and Poland tomorrow. We have a perfect right to put ships in the Black Sea. Let’s put some ships in the Black Sea. Poland is one of the best maneuver areas in Central Europe. The U.S. military, the U.S. Army, maybe even the Marine Corps, ought to move into Poland to do maneuvers, perhaps stay awhile. We should move tier 1 and tier 2 Special Forces into the Ukraine — if the Ukraine asks for our support — so we can train their troops. Remember October ’73 when we kept Israel from collapsing by flying in high-tech gear and high-tech weapons? We could do that in the Ukraine. That’s not going to start a war but it’s going to tell Putin we’re serious.”
J. C. Kantorowicz – Great Falls
Wednesday, March 05, 2014 8:08 AM
So…… This McFaul quit just prior to the invasion…… That begs the question……
What did he know and when did he know it?
To me, it seems indicative of this administration.