The right is continuing to beat the drums of war against Russia. Yesterday, Ukrainian candidate Yulia Tymoshenko gave an interview to the Washington Post in which she called for war.
I think it all will depend on what the Western democratic world will be doing. I am convinced that Putin understands only the language of force. Whether he will continue terrorizing the civilized world will depend on how much force is used to stop him.
The problem is that we've heard all of this rhetoric before. We heard that there was some grand conspiracy by illegal immigrants to create a massive invasion and return the Southwest back to Mexico or even break away and form their own country. We heard that Saddam had all these WMD's and if we didn't act, the next step would be a mushroom cloud.
Russia's behavior is unacceptable; they are in breach of the Vienna Treaty of 1994, in which they agreed to respect the sovereignty of Ukraine in return for them giving up their nukes. But the way to deal with Russia is not to make allegations which cannot be substantiated. The problem is that there is a lack of opportunity in the East. In many such situations, if the father is in poverty and the son is in poverty, the grandson is likely to live in poverty as well. The way to deal with Russia is to represent the whole country and create a country where there is opportunity for everyone. The problem with the present government is that they are not doing enough to offer opportunities for the East. So when these people see an opportunity for a better life with Russia, which has a much better welfare system than Ukraine even before IMF, they jump at it.
Yulia Tymoshenko was instrumental in the 2004 Orange Revolution as well as a rallying symbol for the Euromaidan Revolution. And she is doing outstanding work in her efforts to separate the separatists from the Russians and recognizing that they have legitimate needs. But with all due respect, calling for war against Russia is simply going to make matters worse at a time when all sides need to tone down their rhetoric.
If she thinks that the West will ride to the rescue, she has another think coming. Georgia picked a fight with Russia in 2008 in the mistaken belief that Bush's expressions of support meant that military help was on the way. Hungary picked a fight with the USSR in the mistaken belief that the US would come to their rescue in 1956. Our government has an obligation to communicate clearly to Putin that his behavior is unacceptable. But on the other hand, there are plenty of political elements, including Tymoshenko and Yarosh, who want war with Russia. The government has an obligation to communicate that the US will not, under any circumstances, send troops or military aid to Ukraine since they are not a member of NATO.
Ukraine is hardly a victim in all this. Just like the Cliven Bundy episode shows that there should be no place for extremism in our society, the fact that there is rampant right-wing extremism in Ukraine should give us all pause before plunging headlong into a conflict which is none of our business. Tymoshenko is not the Russophobic nationalist that Yarosh is, but she supports a "market economy." That is a euphemism for letting the very oligarchs that she says she's against continue to run the show. And she says she wants to join the EU. While that would create opportunities for the people, it would be a disaster if she continues down the austerity trap that the IMF is imposing on Ukraine.
Others may rationalize that she simply wants to draw the West into the conflict. But even if that is the case, that is still unacceptable and a fairy tale given Obama's refusal to get dragged into conflicts which don't involve our national interests. To drag the West into Ukraine's conflict with Russia would simply start World War III, with the consequence that millions or even billions of people could be killed from nuclear weapons. And that is the elephant in the room that these warmongers don't want to talk about.