Thursday, January 29, 2015

Why Washington Should Avoid The Ukraine Conflict

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry talks to Ukraine Foreign Minister Pavlo Klimkin at a meeting in Switzerland of foreign ministers from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe on December 4, 2014. Laurent Gillieron/Pool/Reuters

Doug Bandow, Newsweek: Seven Reasons the U.S. Shouldn’t Help Ukraine’s Fight With Russia

WNU Editor: Doug Bandow's point #7 is spot on .... a negotiated settlement is the only solution to this conflict .... unfortunately no one is interested in going down this road. That is why I am angry about this conflict .... it could have all been avoided last March. At the time pro-Russian leaders in eastern Ukraine simply wanted control of their language and education, some financial and tax powers, and the establishment of a federated system that would protect their rights. Throwing people into jail and sending in the military was the worst thing that the interim Ukraine government could do at the time .... but this is what happened, and it only galvanized the Russian populations in the east to take action .... action that has result in thousands killed, tens of thousands wounded, and a million plus refugees. And as for the U.S. role in this mess .... all that I am going to say is that they have not been helpful and their advice has been disastrous.

2 comments:

Jay Farquharson said...

Another couple of leads for you, WNU Editor,

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/29/world/us-suddenly-goes-quiet-on-effort-to-bolster-afghan-forces.html?_r=0&referrer=

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/01/29/opinion/inconvenient-truths-in-afghanistan.html?referrer=





Unknown said...

"And as for the U.S. role in this mess .... all that I am going to say is that they have not been helpful and their advice has been disastrous."

What happened to Samantha Powers, Ms R2P?

Would not a federated system fit into R2P as step 0?