Several European defense ministers at a NATO meeting today in Brussels warned against the Obama Administration’s reports they are strongly considering providing arms to Ukraine for its ongoing civil war.
German DM Ursula von der Leyen warned that introducing more weapons into the area won’t bring Ukraine’s civil war closer to a solution, while others added it was likely to fuel the conflict.
Top NATO General Philip Breedlove, who interestingly enough was said to be the driving force behind the US sending arms to Ukraine in the first place, also talked down the idea in comments, saying arming the Ukrainian military risked a reaction from Russia to provide more aid to the rebels.
Virtually all of the European DMs opposed the plan, though Lithuanian DM Juozas Olekas said his nation supported the plan to provide “some elements” to the Ukrainian military.
Breedlove et al just lost that round, but he's gotta point to Russia rather than admit that more firepower to his favored side won't end-it-quicker. Two-birds-one-stone, there. Apparently the rest of the EU doesn't see the US installee as so much the grownup in that conflict.
Waco comparison is stuck in my mind. Feds told congress that they thought torturing children by gassing them with outrageous amounts of CN would persuade their mothers to surrender–which, of course, it didn't. …maybe hard to articulate the connection, but why this presumption that more firepower would be 'helpful?' I notice it sells physical product, dignifies the boyz with toys component of war, as well as the mo-force-mo-betta theme…
Is interbreedluv bipolar? Or just a stupid jerk?
This is fantastic news. Finally some common sense has taken hold in Europe. But will the same happen in Washington next week? This is a very scary situation.
President Bush announced that United States now claims the right to strike first to prevent a war But 2yrs latter Medvedev also decided that a strike first policy is now Russia's right too . It is just possible we have gained nothing by changing policies . Although United States now thinks we have such accurate precision guided missiles that we now could hit accurately enough to knock out all enemy nuclear missiles while they are still in their silos at home . They also believe they could destroy all nuclear submarine all at one time . This would really have to be better coordination than I have normally ever seen yet displayed by our government . as it takes less than a hour for a missile to hit any place in the world if they can go 15000 miles per hour . Madeline Albright said " what good does it do to have wonderful weapons if we are not going to use them " I think Hillary Clinton said it best " what difference does it make " Poor OBAMA we have to trust one man again to save the world .
And who started it all?
Adults getting back in charge? I sure hope so. Uncle Sam might just find Putin a bit tougher than Saddam, not that intervention in Iraq, Yemen, Libya, etc. has not turned out very well for anybody involved.
Just because the EU DMs object – and that presumes that the EU DM's bosses are on-board with their DMs – doesn't mean the US is going to stop what it is planning on doing. The US Generals want more war and this President has shown absolutely no backbone when at odds with the Generals.
The EU DMs understand that if the Ukrainian war expands, as the US Generals want, Europe is going to be the main battlefield. That's why the warmongers in the US Congress are so willing to stoke the fires – they know that it won't affect life here in the states. But hey, Europe has so much experience rebuilding after the Oligarchs savage the land and citizens…they won't mind…much.
"arming the Ukrainian military risked a reaction from Russia to provide more aid to the rebels"
Ah no…arming the Ukrainian military risks a direct reaction from Russia!!
Ukraine — Has some important lessons to learn
If socialism came to Ukraine, it would mean that caring, giving and self-sacrificing leaders would be in control, they being put into office by a population of like mind.
For a society of freewill beings, all with a different level of intelligence and different ability to produce wealth, they will always be controlled by the organized will of the majority.
For the majority in Ukraine want a capitalist government with a billionaire in control, otherwise they would have taken corrective action to prevent it. Yes, High Society hoards most of the wealth and has absolute control of government, but only because the majority of society think that everyone deserves to be rich.
The ministers probably don't want to be seen to provoke a fullscale Russian invasion of Ukraine. The crisis was created by the US and it's primarily for the US to solve it. Equally, the US has always insisted on dominating NATO and has obstructed every European attempt to create a European defence system. In addition, it was tre US that turned NATO into an anti-Russian alliance by refusing to admit Russia to NATO whereas the European members wanted Russia in, no doubt so as to forstall the situation the US has now created. The corollory of that is that it is now for the US to honour its promises to defend Europe and to uphold the Helsinki Final Act. If it doesn't do so, then NATO serves no purpose.
Encouraging, but the US/Nato doesn't stop short of their goal that easy. They'll arem Ukraine when some horrible action by the Russians is make to suddenly occur. Some justification will surely be dreamed up.
Stop fucking around with moderating the comments or I’m done with this site.
[moderator’s note: Sorry to see you go, Don – TLK]
The Lithuanians need to stick to things they're good at, like horse thievery.
I can not figure out if it would be indeed a smart solution, but Ukraine should receive support from other states, precisely because it is in a relatively difficult situation and needs constant support of those around them. And I would like to believe, however, that this situation can be resolved amicably.