excalibur
Diamond Member
- Mar 19, 2015
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In spite of Congress pushing Øbama to provide lethal aid he did not.
Back in 2014, after Russian strongman Vladimir Putin had annexed Crimea and, in essence, launched the war in Ukraine that he has now mobilized forces to finish, Rich wrote an excellent column on Putin’s ambitions. On July 17 that year, the terrorist “separatist” forces Putin had dispatched into Donbas (which stoked the sedition that evolved into the pretext for last night’s full-on Russian invasion) shot a Malaysia Airlines civilian aircraft out of the sky, killing all 298 people aboard. As Rich observed at the time:
In the piece, Rich went on to highlight President Obama’s dithering — issuing vapid warnings that Putin laughed off and refusing to provide the Ukrainian military with arms to defend themselves. Eli Lake added more details: Among the defensive assets our government has denied Ukraine is “radar jamming and detection equipment necessary to evade and counter [Russian] anti-aircraft systems” — like the system Putin’s unlawful combatants had used to shoot down Flight 17.
But Obama would not arm the Ukrainians. It was not until Donald Trump became president that they were provided with serious defensive weaponry, though it would obviously never be enough if Putin decided to mass Russia’s far superior forces and invade — which he waited to do until Obama’s vice-president, Joe Biden, was in the Oval Office.
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Back in 2014, after Russian strongman Vladimir Putin had annexed Crimea and, in essence, launched the war in Ukraine that he has now mobilized forces to finish, Rich wrote an excellent column on Putin’s ambitions. On July 17 that year, the terrorist “separatist” forces Putin had dispatched into Donbas (which stoked the sedition that evolved into the pretext for last night’s full-on Russian invasion) shot a Malaysia Airlines civilian aircraft out of the sky, killing all 298 people aboard. As Rich observed at the time:
The downing of Flight 17 is of a piece with Putin’s lawless aggression. Having already absorbed Crimea, he seeks to further dismember a European country for the offense of seeking to govern itself in keeping with its values and interests.
In the piece, Rich went on to highlight President Obama’s dithering — issuing vapid warnings that Putin laughed off and refusing to provide the Ukrainian military with arms to defend themselves. Eli Lake added more details: Among the defensive assets our government has denied Ukraine is “radar jamming and detection equipment necessary to evade and counter [Russian] anti-aircraft systems” — like the system Putin’s unlawful combatants had used to shoot down Flight 17.
But Obama would not arm the Ukrainians. It was not until Donald Trump became president that they were provided with serious defensive weaponry, though it would obviously never be enough if Putin decided to mass Russia’s far superior forces and invade — which he waited to do until Obama’s vice-president, Joe Biden, was in the Oval Office.
...
When Obama Left Ukraine Defenseless | National Review
I remain convinced that Obama would not arm Ukraine because, as a senator, he had spearheaded the congressional effort to disarm Ukraine.
www.nationalreview.com