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WestVirginiaRebel

obama-condemns-ukraine-violence-threatens-consequences-n33396:

President Barack Obama condemned the violence in Ukraine on Wednesday, saying that the U.S. holds the government “primarily responsible for ensuring they are handling protesters peacefully” and that “there will be consequences if people step over the line.”

 

“We expect the Ukrainian government to show restraint, to not resort to violence,” Obama said after arriving in Mexico for a brief trade summit. “We expect peaceful protesters to remain peaceful.”

 

Hours earlier, Secretary of State John Kerry said U.S. sanctions against Ukraine are possible. The White House first threatened to impose sanctions against the Eastern European nation nearly two months ago in the early days of the anti-government movement.

 

Meanwhile, chaos reigned in Ukraine as thousands of demonstrators massed Wednesday in central Kiev against a hellish backdrop of flames and black smoke just a day after the city was ripped by violence that left 26 dead and nearly 250 injured.

________

 

Obama sends Ukraine a strongly worded memo.


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  • 2 weeks later...

ukraine-liveblog-day-13-beatings-in-kharkiv-defections-in-crimea:

The threat of a full-scale Russian invasion of mainland Ukraine continues, as John Kerry and Barack Obama both “condemn” Russia’s occupation of Crimea as a violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and international law. Meanwhile, in Kharkiv, there is evidence of pro-Russian mobs beating Euromaidan protestors and journalists. Also, the newly appointed head of Ukraine’s Navy has joined with the Moscow-oriented forces in Crimea.

 

 

0735 GMT: Two people have died of their wounds as a result of injuries in the storming of the Kharkiv State Administration Building by Russian nationalists on 2 March, ATN.ua reports, citing a medical official.

Dmitry Pilipets, co-organizer of EuroMaidan in Kharkiv, confirmed that the two people who died were members of his movement.

 


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0457 GMT:

 

Simferopol-Show-620x462.jpg

 

 

Andrei Kamishchev, the photojournalist from Simferopol, continues to produce some of the best reporting of the war in his country. As he put it in his own words, “”My observations do not have the purpose of calming passions or smoothing reality.” Take a look at his albums here. We provide a summary translation below:

It is now the fourth day since Russian troops took over his city. Today, Andrei decided to venture out to the marketplace because he needed to buy a stronger lock for his gate. “While it seems to be quiet at night, I decided to take some precautions” — the police have all seemed to have disappeared, he says. While streets are blocked and there are Russian troops deployed around town, he was able to get about without difficulty.

 

The main square has a few hundred people in “a restrained, permanent rally.” A few people are waving or wearing Russian flags, and the Lenin statue has a home-made sign, “Don’t touch our Leader.” There is a “nice, Bolshevik freak, kind and harmless,” carrying a portrait of Lenin and an old Bolshevik flag. Some burly men standing in front of metal shields with the Russian tricolor are carrying signs expressing support for Sergey Aksyonov, the new leader of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, urging a referendum “which will show the opinion of all those in Crimea.” People are giving interviews to journalists — but also lecturing them about how they see the political situation.

 

Regarding the scene in the photo above in front of the government building:

“More and more, I have the definite sense that those who are in the background are posing, and those who are in the foreground are demonstrating an exposition….It’s really a painfully similar scene for the third day straight. And all of these so provocatively picturesque weapons hanging high on the chest…Madame Tussauds is taking the day off!”

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I like his name and his Norwegian accent, but he really didn't say anything more than our very eloquent president.

 

NATO had better be watching the backs of the Baltic countries!

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I like his name and his Norwegian accent, but he really didn't say anything more than our very eloquent president.

 

NATO had better be watching the backs of the Baltic countries!

 

 

And you expected something different? (western) Europe has basically spent the last 20 years demilitarizing its self, on the (silly) theory that if you don't have a army you can't go to war, so that will be the end of war.

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Draggingtree

On The Ukraine

Posted By Grim • [March 02, 2014]

 

There are very good reasons to wish good things for the revolutionary movement in the Ukraine. However, we aren't going to support them openly with any real strength. This is because of logistics. Not the logistical problems identified by Zenpundit -- that is, the ones that pertain to the possibility of fighting in the Ukraine. Those problems are real enough, but they aren't the reason.

 

The real reason is identified correctly by Charles Hoskinson of the Washington Examiner: our logistics in Afghanistan. He obviously has good contacts who understand how the pieces are moved.

 

Meanwhile, there's also the problem of Afghanistan — the "real war," as Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry used to describe it. Now they want to disengage, and the Ukraine crisis creates a very uncomfortable problem: The U.S. needs Moscow's cooperation as it withdraws the more than 33,000 troops left in Afghanistan because one of its main withdrawal routes runs through Russia.

 

The Pentagon began developing Scissors-32x32.pnghttp://www.blackfive.net/main/2014/03/on-the-ukraine.html

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I like his name and his Norwegian accent, but he really didn't say anything more than our very eloquent president.

 

NATO had better be watching the backs of the Baltic countries!

 

 

And you expected something different? (western) Europe has basically spent the last 20 years demilitarizing its self, on the (silly) theory that if you don't have a army you can't go to war, so that will be the end of war.

 

 

Plus they've been depending on the U.S. military to pick up the slack. Now they have their Nobel Peace prize guy to thank for ending that easy comfort.

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blink.png

President Obama’s foreign policy is based on fantasy
WaPo Editorial Board
3/2/14

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 whichthe 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.”

That’s a nice thought, and we all know what he means. A country’s standing is no longer measured in throw-weight or battalions. The world is too interconnected to break into blocs. A small country that plugs into cyberspace can deliver more prosperity to its people (think Singapore or Estonia) than a giant with natural resources and standing armies.

 

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.

 

(Snip)

 

 

 

 

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clearvision

‘Ukraine’s Navy flagship, the Hetman Sahaidachny frigate, has reportedly refused to follow orders from Kiev, and come over to Russia’s side and is returning home after taking part in NATO operation in the Gulf of Aden flying the Russian naval flag.
There has been conflicting information on where exactly the vessel is, but a Russian senator has confirmed to Izvestia daily that the frigate defected to the Russian side.'

 

LINK

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So I suppose these defections are just reflecting realism. Staying loyal to a questionable new Ukrainian "government" would just be suicidal in the end.

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So I suppose these defections are just reflecting realism. Staying loyal to a questionable new Ukrainian "government" would just be suicidal in the end.

Also (as I understand it) the two navies have worked closely together.

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Draggingtree
Should the Obama Administration Get the Nobel Hypocrisy Award This Year?

Chris Carrington

 

1 hour ago

 

John Kerry, full of indignation, has spoken out about Russia and the violation of international law. Obama has made his usual 'red line' announcement regarding costs and sanctions.

What hypocrisy considering the track record of the United States.

Direct military involvement or CIA covert operations have accounted for incursions into numerous foreign states without invitation and often in the guise of protecting human rights Scissors-32x32.png

http://freedomoutpost.com/2014/03/obama-administration-get-nobel-hypocrisy-award-year/

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Draggingtree

Alexander Benard

 

Red Lines Keep Getting Thinner

 

March 3, 2014

Last week, I wrote a piece for the Daily Caller criticizing President Obama for issuing a series of non-credible red lines in the context of his "bilateral security agreement" negotiations with Afghanistan. The article concludes that:

 

[President Obama] has reversed that timeless adage of foreign policy to speak softly and carry a large stick. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly clear that President Obama speaks very loudly but carries no stick, and it is no wonder that foreign leaders like President Karzai no longer take President Obama’s statements seriously.

 

It seems appropriate to provide a link to the Afghanistan article since the exact same pattern is now playing out in Ukraine.Scissors-32x32.pnghttp://ricochet.com/content/view/full/965844

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Draggingtree
Thoughts On Ukraine —DrewM.

It’s hard to keep up with fast moving events (like this) so I thought I’d run through some of the bigger picture items.

 

I know it’s popular on the right (and even among some liberals) to say that Obama’s weakness, as evidenced by his failure to follow through on Syria, emboldened Putin but I don’t buy it.

 

Recall that in 2008 Vladimir Putin undertook a similar operation in the South Ossetia region of Georgia. Was George W. Bush viewed as weak and vacillating by Putin? Had Bush appeared to the world as week and unwilling to use military force in a crisis?

 

If Bush’s decisive, unilateral, cowboy persona didn't lead Putin to lay low, why should we assume that launching a few cruise missiles (remember "just muscular enough not to get mocked"?), would have been a decisive factor in Putin’s Ukraine calculations?

 

Would a President Romney have made a difference? Again, I doubt it. Scissors-32x32.pnghttp://ace.mu.nu/archives/347573.php

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Mark Lyall Grant @LyallGrant Follow

#Ukraine : #UNSC will meet at 1530 NY time to discuss latest developments. We support Ukraine PR being allowed to speak at this meeting.

 

AndersFogh Rasmussen @AndersFoghR Follow

Tomorrow, the #NATO Council will hold a meeting under Article 4 of the Treaty following a request by #Poland http://ow.ly/ubZhT #Ukraine

1:15 PM - 3 Mar 2014

 

Alexander Marquardt @MarquardtA Follow

State Dept: "It is likely that we will put (sanctions against #Russia) in place, and we are preparing that right now. #Ukraine

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Interpretermag.com

2039 GMT: The UN Security Council has started. Russia called the meeting.

The representative of Ukraine has been added to the meeting.

The Assistant Secretary General — Department of Political Affairs, gives a briefing. So far, the point is that local militias have taken over government buildings in Crimea, and Russia is in violation, according to Ukraine, of the treaty that allows the Black Sea fleet to be in Ukraine.

The Deputy Secretary General, Jan Eliasson , is in Ukraine to report back to the UNSC. The Secretary General has also reached out to all relevant leaders and has called for dialogue to find a peaceful resolution to the crisis.

 

2045 GMT: Now Russia’s ambassador is speaking. He reiterates that this crisis was sparked by the armed takeover by extremists of the government of Kiev. Any solution must use a dialogue of all ethnic and national groups within Ukraine to come up to a peaceful solution.

Russia says its partners (the other members of the UNSC) have worked with the extremists to create this terror. “Armed national radicals, under slogans of anti-Russian and anti-semitic banners” have taken over the country.

 

(Snip)

 

 

2055 GMT: US Ambassador Samantha Power fires back — “you’d think Russia is the enforcing arm for the UN Commission for Human Rights.” She goes on to say that there is no factual basis for Russia’s statements, but the facts (she says fact at the start of every sentence) is that Russia has taken over Crimea, in breach of the Helsinki accord, international law, and Russia’s various deals with Ukraine.

“Russia’s mobilization is a response to an imaginary threat.” There is no evidence that churches have been attacked, that ethnic Russians have been attacked or are in danger, or that the Russian language will be banned.

 

2050 GMT: The Russian ambassador says that the goal of the russian presence in Crimea is to defend the most important human right — the right to life, especially when it comes to ethnic Russians. The ambassador says that Ukraine is on the brink of civil war. “People are being persecuted for ideas and language.” He says there are violent acts against civilians.

 

(Snip)

 

2100 GMT: Power goes on to say that Russia’s negotiations with sub-national groups, namely the government of Crimea, is a breach of international law.

Power calls for international observers in Ukraine, the pullback of Russian forces, the deployment of human rights monitors, and a dialogue after this is all done.

Power then says that Russia may not like that Yanukovych fled, that the new government has taken over in Kiev, or that Yanukovych’s own party has, in many cases, joined the new coalition.

(Snip)

 

2102 GMT: France’s ambassador notes that when Russia invaded Czechoslovakia, the same justifications were used. Once again, however, Russia has invaded another country based on propaganda and justification.

The Russian army is occupiers. In the age of the internet it is easy to prove that Russia’s claims are untrue.

France’s ambassador says that the flight of the president and the about-face of the parliament made the February 21st agreement impossible. A national coalition government has been called for by the acting government of Ukraine, and so this is the road forward.

France demands that Russia pulls back. France also demands that the opposition restore the bill about the protection of languages (the repeal of which, again, has been vetoed), and the rights of minorities needs to be protected.

 

(Snip)

2107 GMT: Now the UK ambassador speaks. He is echoing Russian media’s claims and the claims of the Russian government, and reiterating that there is no evidence for these claims. “It is clear that the Russian government has fabricated these claims to justify military action.”

The UK ambassador again says that Russia is in violation with countless international laws and agreements. He says that Yanukovych is illegitimate, so his desire to go back to Ukraine as its leader is unacceptable. The Ukrainian government is legitimate.

 

The UK’s ambassador has asked the Ukrainian government to act calmly to avoid further pretext for expansion of Russian military action. The ambassador has asked Russia to withdraw its forces to force levels previously agreed to by Russia and Ukraine. Russia needs to directly dialogue with Kiev, and needs to consult with Ukrainian leaders as specified by the treaty of 1994.

 

There also needs to be a fact-finding and observer mission in Ukraine.

 

The UK’s ambassador then asks the UN Deputy Secretary General to go to Crimea.

 

 

2125 GMT: Now China’s ambassador is speaking. “We condemn the recent extreme violent acts in Ukraine.” But what are those?

The Chinese ambassador says they respect Ukraine’s sovereign and territorial integrity, but then says “there are reasons” for the ways things have happened. The statement is very vague, with language echoing statements from both Russia and the other UNSC members.

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We are not sending a planning delegation to the Sochi paraplegic Olympics. SO THERE!

 

 

Bold! I just hope this doesn't make the situation worse. rolleyes.gif

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Interpretermag.com

 

2313 GMT: Crimea’s Top Ten List. Andrew Wilson of the European Council on Foreign Relations and a scholar at University College London’s School of Slavonic & East European Studies has a handy list of facts pertainign to the crisis in Crimea. This has been widely circulate on Facebook:

1. The new pro-Russian Crimean authorities, who took power on 27 February, were established at gunpoint. Despite Russian rhetoric about a ‘coup’ in Kiev, the real coup was in Crimea. The Crimean Assembly building was taken over by Berkut militia and ‘irregulars’ after a seemingly successful rally supporting the authorities in Kiev. Many of these were allegedly fleeing from their crimes against demonstrators in Kiev.

2. This is totally unlike the Russian war in Georgia in 2008. Then, by most accounts, the Georgians were provoked into firing first. This time, the situation in Crimea was perfectly stable before the Russian take-over. The Russian language is protected in the ‘Autonomous Republic of Crimea’ under the Ukrainian Constitution. Only one Russian citizen has died in the current crisis, and he was shot by snipers in Kiev.

3. The proposed referendum on 30 March to ‘decide Crimea’s future status’ is against the Ukrainian Constitution. Only a national vote can change the country’s borders.

4. The new Crimean ‘Prime Minister’ Sergey Aksionov was a local gangster in the 1990s. His nickname was ‘goblin’. His Russia Party won only 4% at the last elections in Crimea

5. There are 266,000 Crimean Tatars in Crimea. Before the coup they were chanting ‘Allah is Great! Glory to Ukraine!’. Now they are reportedly forming ‘self-defence’ units. They were all deported by Stalin to Central Asia in 1944; half died as a result. They were only allowed to return after 1989 and still live in marginal conditions. The 70th anniversary of the Deportation is this May.

6. The Crimean Tatars are Sunni Muslim. The Crimean Tatar Khanate was the dominant power in the region from 1441 until Crimea was occupied by the Russian Empire in 1783. The campaign to turn it into a Russian Athos, a centre of Orthodox Christianity, only gathered pace after the Crimean War.

7. There is an ethnic Russian majority in Crimea (58%), but most are post-war in-migrants. Some 24% are Ukrainian. Crimean Tatars are over 13%, but nearer 20% of the school population.

8. Crimea is a peninsula. It gets all its water and gas from the rest of Ukraine.

9. There are big deposits of oil and gas off the Crimean coast.

10. Russia is re-supplying its Black Sea Fleet for a role in the Eastern Mediterranean, including linking up with the old Soviet naval base in Tartu, Syria.

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