Monday, May 5, 2014

Rejecting Obama guidance, Ukraine begins to use force to restore order and is succeeding.




The Ukraine government is finally doing what it should have done sooner,  using their military to fight back against the Russian thugs, masked criminals, special forces,  terrorists and undercover agents sent in by Moscow who took over government buildings, destroyed property, murdered the opposition and attacked unarmed pro Ukrainian demonstrators in the streets in the hopes of taking over the entire country.

The Ukrainian government in finally rejecting Obama's "guidance" of appeasement which only led to more violence and loss of territory, and deciding not to wait any longer for Obama to take a leadership role and take any kind of effective action,  Ukrainian military and special forces has begun using the force necessary to repel the Russian terrorists and undercover agents from the buildings they used in an armed take over, actions that the NATO Secretary General has called a war started by Russia.

While the local police have been inept in dealing with the violence, the Ukrainian military has been successful in taking out checkpoints and roadblocks set up by the Russian special forces absurdly called "local militia"   by Moscow and have been moving city by city to take back government buildings and TV stations and doing what Obama wouldn't which is to defy Putin and hit back.

Putin had gambled that he could outsmart, out game and intimidate Obama and he did all of that. He knew Obama's response would be weak and tepid. And it has been. Obama's response to Putin's stealth invasion could only be called non-lethal sanctions against Russia.

Obama has also been losing the war of words. When Putin announced he reserved the right to invade to protect Russian speaking people, Obama was silent. No public statements that Putin has no such right and that it was Putin offering only an empty pretext for what would be overt war if he invaded. The result of Obama's silence and guidance of capitulation was Ukraine losing Crimea to Putin who felt emboldened to employ the same strategy elsewhere in Ukraine.

 It was this guidance coming from Obama from the beginning of the insurgency in Crimea that directed the Ukrainian government to use restraint and to avoid any kind of clash or confrontation with the Russian insurgents" at all costs".  As we have seen, the costs have been high. It resulted in some humiliating surrenders of Ukrainian military to the Russian insurgents which not only lost territory but lowered morale. This "guidance" given to Kiev was confirmed by former NATO Supreme Allied Commander Wesley Clark who returned from Ukraine and said in an interview the government in Kiev had been, up to now, acting on "guidance" it had been recieving. He didn't have to say where the "guidance" was coming from.  It came from the Obama administration. And the "guidance" was self serving. Obama was intimidated by Russian troops on Ukraine's border and had no interest in calling Putin's bluff.

Obama's response to Russia's violation of the Geneva agreement has also been tepid and ineffective once again.  Obama continues to move the goal posts back anytime Putin defies a marker put down by Obama to avoid any real, meaningful actions.

But with Kiev finally ignoring Obama's  "guidance" of appeasement they have stopped capitulating as they did in Crimea and eastern Ukraine and are now taking the fight to the pro Russian separtists sponsored by Moscow. And so far are succeeding, having destroyed Pro-Russian checkpoints and roadblocks and taken back a number of buildings in cities in eastern Ukraine.  They have also sent elite fighting units to Odessa. And they will continue to succeed since they have superior forces against the Russian insurgents and have the support of the majority of the Ukrainian people who want no part of belonging to a Russian federation. If Kiev wants to take any advice from the U.S. let them take it from Colin Powell when he was Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who established the Powell Doctrine of using superior and overwhelming force against an enemy.

 The Ukrainian military can minimize civilian casualties by using tear gas to disperse the rock throwers and those with clubs trying to attack or intimidate anyone who disagrees with them.Then use whatever military force necessary against the pro Russian insurgents and terrorists holding the buildings.

 In an interview with a group of captured journalists one of the military leaders of the pro-Russian separatists called what is going on in Ukraine "war" in defending reports that the pro-Russians militants  were engaged in torture and murder.  He didnt deny it and justified by saying " its war. Its a messy business". After beating one of the blindfolded journalists the reporters were let go.

 Capturing journalists, beating them, engaging in torture and murder, attacking unarmed pro Ukraine unity demonstrators, capturing TV stations, broadcasting lies and propaganda and trying to impose their will on the majority by using force and terrorism while trying to label the other side fascists  makes it clear who the real enemies of freedom are. It's the Russian  separatists employing Gestapo and terrorist tactics to try and impose their will on the minority. Any doubt as to who they are should be dispelled by the presence of a red flag with hammer and sickle , the flag of the old Soviet Union, seen in front of at least one building taken over by the Russian terrorists. Kiev needs to accept that reality and continue to act accordingly with the force neccessary.

Confirmation that what the Ukrainian military is doing is working and is precisely what Moscow hoped they could prevent through intimidation, is evident by the increasingly desperate statements coming from Russia's foreign ministers, trying to frame the counter attack on the invading pro Russian special forces and terrorists as "fratricide". And Putin is now claiming he is withdrawing his forces from the border. 

It's only because the  provisional government in Kiev finally rejected Obama's policies of  capitulation and are fighting back. And they are succeeding. 

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