President Obama’s foreign policy is based on fantasy

[nynco]

Basically, Russia will never give up that peninsula. They would be insane to do that. It is strategically necessary for them to be in control of it. Anyone who thinks they will just walk away from it is fooling themselves. Couple that with the fact that over 50% of the local population are ethnic Russian speakers... well is a no brainier. The US is wasting its time and losing face even thinking they have a chance to change that reality. If the Ukrainians think they can beat Russia or that the EU will come to their aid...well... ha

People need to objectively look at the history of the Crimea and where it sits strategically. Russia is doing just what is naturally expected. The Crimea is the gateway to the west. It has a majority Russian population. You think Russia would give that up? If this were the US, do you think we would? Heck no... and the Ukraine has no ability to stop them. So best just let the have it. Its not worth WWIII over.

Really there is no side to cheer for in this. We have the Ukraine which is heavily in bed with fascist nazis VS totalitarian former communist Russia. Its like watching two douche bags fight... neither side is one to favor.

The line about Obama making us look weak is what kills me. It' ONE-dimensional (bad Obama) thinking which makes no sense. There are real world consequences and reality is this is a VERY complicated situation. The part that upsets me the most about this is that people will be killed and potentially millions including your fellow Americans for nothing more than political games attacking Obama for not choosing between Nazis and Commies.

Its a no win and we should not push the US into that quagmire.

http://libcom.org/news/neo-nazis-far...raine-23012014

[Mick-Boy]

It's not just Obama who looks weak. The United States looks weak because our president keeps "warning" people about doing or not doing something and then showing absolutely no follow through. Remember the "red line" in Syria that Putin exploited?

There are a couple of points raised in the link I posted that I'll quote so you don't need to click any links.

Meanwhile, politically, the US ends up looking weaker and weaker, and getting less and less respect internationally. The US-Russia confrontation is taking place under the critical gaze of the leaders of Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iran, Syria, Turkey and Hizballah in Lebanon.

They are seeing the following:

President Obama is now seen backing off a commitment to US allies for the second time in eight months. They remember his U-turn last August on US military intervention for the removal of Syrian President Bashar Assad for using chemical weapons. They also see Washington shying off from Russia's clear and present use of military force and therefore concluding that Washington is not a reliable partner for safeguarding their national security.

The Middle East governments and groups which opted to cooperate recently with Vladimir Putin – Damascus, Tehran, Hizballah and Egypt – are ending up on the strong side of the regional equation. Others such as Turkey and Qatar are squirming.

American weakness on the global front has strengthened the Iranian-Syrian bloc and its ties with Hizballah. Assad is going nowhere.

Putin standing behind Iran is a serious obstacle to a negotiated and acceptable comprehensive agreement with Iran, just as the international EU- and US-led bid for a political resolution of the Syrian conflict foundered last month, and now is unlikely to ever be revisited.

To add to this perceived weakness, the Kremlin has said that if the US sanctions Russia over The Ukraine, Russia will drop the USD as their reserve currency and refuse to payback any US banks that have made loans to Russia.

Have you ever sat and wondered what the shock that collapses the US system might be? I wonder how cozy Russia and China are right now.....

[nynco]

Mick, its a rock and a hard place. Obama is not doing perfect at all. But objectively speaking there is no win. Back the Ukrainian new government and you back Neo Nazi Fascists. Back Russia and that looks bad too. Esp to hard line forces in America who hate Obama and are still mentally locked in the communist red scare of my grand parents generation. Its really sad that partisan politics are using this for political gain regardless of national intrests. Threaten Russia for what gain? Its all a crap show and if anything Obama looking strong actually puts the US at risk. We should just declare that the situation is untenable and support the break up of the Ukraine to prevent war.

[SamuraiCO]

I think that 80's foreign policy Obama joked about is still relevant. The joke is on our POTUS.

[<MADDOG>]

To add to this perceived weakness, the Kremlin has said that if the US sanctions Russia over The Ukraine, Russia will drop the USD as their reserve currency and refuse to payback any US banks that have made loans to Russia.

Plausible concept, but as long as the petrodollar is the reserve currency, it does nothing but hurt Russian banks (at some point in time, the Ruble has to be converted). Secondly; most of Russia's exports and imports are to/from US friendly countries (http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/rus/). I might be wrong, but I don't think China sees a dog in this fight, and it won't sacrifice it's plans (whatever they may be) for the Russians.

This popped up on BI also:

The recent escalation of military tensions in between Ukraine and Russia have caused the currencies of both countries to dive against the dollar. Firms in these countries with large proportions of external debt issued in dollars are now facing an increase in the value of their debts relative to the value of their assets, increasing somewhat the risk of default.

In short, when the dollar strengthens, dollar liquidity decreases, and credit risk goes up.

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-h...ukraine-2014-3

What the hell do I know; I'm a single ant sitting on my ant hill in the middle of forest on a very huge planet...

[hollohas]

It's not just Obama who looks weak. The United States looks weak because our president keeps "warning" people about doing or not doing something and then showing absolutely no follow through. Remember the "red line" in Syria that Putin exploited?

^This. Bama has to stop telling other countries "there will be costs" and that lines have been crossed if we all know the US won't be doing anything. If it's none of our business like some here say, then Bama needs to keep his mouth shut. It only takes so many hollow threats before some crazy country actually does something serious because threats from the USA don't mean shit anymore. Do what you mean and mean what you say or don't say anything. This BS lip service from our leader regarding our foreign policy is setting bad precedent.