The United State of America of President Obama is hapless, helpless and hopeless in facing down Russian strongman Vladimir Putin’s annexation of Crimea.
Once more on the international stage, Obama’s actions have fallen far short of his rhetoric, cementing the President’s image as a man who recognizes the obligations that come with leading the globe’s only superpower but hasn’t the will or the muscle to carry them out.
He draws red lines only to see them quickly erased, along with his credibility.
As Putin moved openly toward severing Crimea from Ukraine, Obama warned that the world would isolate Russia for its violations of 21st century standards of international conduct. Then, he withheld imposing sanctions in order to give Putin an “off ramp” for standing down.
Didn’t happen. The Russian marched in, took over and triumphantly staged a Crimean referendum meant to certify that he was merely carrying out the will of the people.
Now, with Obama declaring that the U.S. and the world will not recognize the vote, and with justified fear that Putin will reach for more territory in Ukraine, the President ordered economic sanctions on 10 second-tier Putin cronies and the former president of Ukraine. The European Union imposed similar measures.
The moves triggered derision in Russia even as Obama declared, “We’re making it clear there are consequences for these actions. The international community will continue to stand together to oppose any violations of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity.”
He then threatened to get tougher, saying, “Going forward, we can calibrate our response based on whether Russia chooses to escalate or de-escalate the situation. Now, I believe there is still a path to resolve this situation diplomatically.”
To which Putin responded by declaring Crimea a “sovereign and independent state.”
In Sunday’s Daily News, Garry Kasparov, the Russian former world chess champion who now heads the Human Rights Foundation, laid out the case for why the U.S. must vigorously oppose Putin’s expansionism.
“Putin is preparing for war and once again raising the stakes in his decade-long confrontation with the United States and Europe over his attempt to patch together a Frankenstein version of the Soviet Union by using bribery, extortion and brute force,” Kasparov wrote.
Obama may not accept Kasparov’s assessment, or may not care whether Crimea is split from Ukraine as it once was, or may believe that harsh sanctions like freezing Russian cash reserves are counterproductive. Whatever he thinks, his emptily threatening utterances are doing no one any good.
