As the Russian campaign of murder, rape, and destruction continues, America has both a moral and a legal obligation to defend Ukraine and enforce the Budapest Memorandum of 1994
Russian influence and aggression had been checked to a large degree prior to Trump. Since Trump it has effectively spread throughout the world, including the United States, the Middle East from Afghanistan to Libya and other parts of Africa. During this same four year period Trump undermined NATO, alienated China, neglected Africa, betrayed the Kurds, proved agreements this country made weren't worth the paper they were written on, and last but not least Trump put Russia and Saudi Arabia (OPEC +1) in control of the global oil price, with American Big Oil complicity and without the ability to see past the tip of his own nose:
There would have never been a Russian invasion of the rest of Ukraine had it not been for Trump's appeasement and bolstering of Russia without regard to our own geopolitical interests and those of our Allies. Adding 10 trillion of new debt + a10 trillion Fed backstop, an Insurrection, and divided government were the cherries on Putin's cake.
Trump promised the 2017 Tax Law would pay for itself, make everyone rich except it would hurt people like him, and would also cause unrealistically high high economic growth sufficient to eliminate the entire Fed debt and deficits within eight years. However, not a penny was spent on debt reduction and nothing on addressing our most critical challenges: Infrastructure and Climate Change. Instead, Federal debt financing was devoted to making the wealthiest Americans, and their 90% ownership of American's corporate wealth wealthier. Before the Pandemic, most economists were predicting a recession as the economy slowed, after the still ongoing wealth profusion realized by a scant group of very wealthy Americans.
Under President Biden we're attempting to address the consequences of Trump's domestic and foreign policies, which never articulated the values we hold dear:
Not only did Trump weaken our leadership by undercutting our values, he also produced fours years of gross deferred maintenance and corruption. President Biden deserves a lot of credit for rising to the occasion and attempting to right our course despite political gridlock and prior festering neglect. We have observed Putin's voracious expansionist appetite and barbarism up close through the lens of the Ukrainians. Trump termed this as Putin's "genius." At the same time, we have seen Biden masterfully restoring our alliances while realigning and addressing our domestic challenges. There couldn't be a more important time to defend Ukraine, curtail Russian aggression, lead the world away from the disaster of a wider war, and remind everyone that representative democracy is the only path to universal freedom and liberty.
I would not have dreamed in February that President Zelensky would be able to come here (or anywhere) in December. Anything is possible, including enough support from the right to keep this promise to his brave country.
The Crimea reaction in 2014 was a folly. President Obama was trying to work-out getting rid of nukes with Putin the whole time he was in office. Biden was not making the decisions back then, but he's learned and knows the right thing to do now.
Zelensky may be 5'7'', but he's a goddamn giant compared to that psychopath Putin!
God, I hope so. I read that "America can live with a Russian controlled Ukraine". Really? I'm sure they could. Doesn't matter what happens in the world as long as Americans are not being killed. Americans are so worried about "escalation" whatever that is. If they listen to Russian TV the hatred expressed for the rest of the world is rather unsettling. Berlin, London - destroy them all. If Putin is allowed to win in Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics will be next. Will American honour their NATO commitments? Depends on who is in power. Orwell seems like more of a prophet every day. A Handmaid's Tale describes America and 1984 describes the global political situation.
Canada needs to smarten up and rebuild its military. We have top notch soldiers but too few and ancient equipment. Canada needs to punch above its weight in NATO and in Ukraine.
Sorry to be so down and would someone tell me something to renew my faith?
Many of us may be completely unaware of the existence of the Budapest Agreement from 1994; we may not have read about it at the time, or, we may simply have succumbed to mental fatigue and forgotten. And, they probably did not teach it in high school or college civic classes.
We need to honor the Budapest Agreement, but it may be a timely opportunity to let the rest of the world know that, perhaps, it's time to discuss the funding of a Global Peace Keeping Force to respond to all these endless wars. America, and the American people, is near braking from carrying all the world's police keeping duties.
Memorandum on Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (aka The Budapest Memorandum)
Budapest, 5 December 1994
The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
Welcoming the accession of Ukraine to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear-weapon State,
Taking into account the commitment of Ukraine to eliminate all nuclear weapons from its territory within a specified period of time,
Noting the changes in the world-wide security situation, including the end of the Cold War, which have brought about conditions for deep reductions in nuclear forces,
Confirm the following:
1. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the CSCE Final Act, to respect the Independence and Sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.
2. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
3. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the CSCE Final Act, to refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by Ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty and thus to secure advantages of any kind.
4. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their commitment to seek immediate United Nations Security Council action to provide assistance to Ukraine, as a non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, if Ukraine should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used.
5. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm, in the case of the Ukraine, their commitment not to use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, except in the case of an attack on themselves, their territories or dependent territories, their armed forces, or their allies, by such a state in association or alliance with a nuclear weapon state.
6. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will consult in the event a situation arises which raises a question concerning these commitments.
This Memorandum will become applicable upon signature. Signed [in Budapest] in four copies having equal validity in the English, Russian and Ukrainian languages.
I am appalled at the appeasement approach of some of the responders. By definition, "negotiation" implies deciding how much reward will be conceded to the genocidal war criminal. In my book, that is UnAmerican! Putin must stand down all the way back out of Crimea: then let's have some talks.
Appeasement is an invitation to further aggression. I heard just a bit of Zelensky's speech today making that point. Putin calculated well on leadership in "The West" suffering from PTSD from George Bush's massive, gangrenous fiasco.
I disagree, the U.S. etc. should pursue negotiation and mediation. I've recently watched two YouTube videos at Grayzone hosted by Aaron Mate, with Nicolai Petro and another with Stephen Cohen and a third with Richard Sakwa -- all excellent. As well as another with Jeffrey Sachs at Democracy Now. Also a retired Army officer, Douglas MacGregor is articulate and pessimistic of Ukraine's success. It's a complicated and tragic affair. The Dombas area was seeking semi-autonomy as it has for over decades been mostly Russian speaking and oriented. Ukraine is not a homogenous society, and reconciling differences has been very difficult. Petro's book goes into that history. I refer you to these videos by four professors and a retired army officer. Do minority sectors of any nation have a right to self-determination or autonomy or choosing to be annexed by a neighbor? Self-determination, it applies to Palestine as well. Petro makes a point that "Truth and Reconciliation" has been or is active in 40 nations, and we need that in Ukraine. I haven't mentioned also the U.S. ballistic missiles stationed in Poland, Rumania and other eastern European countries, or the western financial interests pursuing profit in Ukraine when and if Ukraine becomes part of NATO or signs the agreement of 2014 that Yanukovich rejected; and the issue of Crimea dates back to the mid 1800s when Russians effectively settled there. I don't think Putin's demands for neutrality and non-alignment were off target. How would the U.S. respond to Russian missiles in Mexico, Canada and Jamaica pointed at U.S. cities? It's clear that U.S. citizens would quickly send in our military. I urge Hartmann to give these other voices some time and thought.
Russian influence and aggression had been checked to a large degree prior to Trump. Since Trump it has effectively spread throughout the world, including the United States, the Middle East from Afghanistan to Libya and other parts of Africa. During this same four year period Trump undermined NATO, alienated China, neglected Africa, betrayed the Kurds, proved agreements this country made weren't worth the paper they were written on, and last but not least Trump put Russia and Saudi Arabia (OPEC +1) in control of the global oil price, with American Big Oil complicity and without the ability to see past the tip of his own nose:
https://www.chicagotribune.com/columns/steve-chapman/ct-column-trump-oil-deal-gas-pricesi-chapman-20200415-iwwn3cpegngo5krsm6tfdycqvy-story.html
There would have never been a Russian invasion of the rest of Ukraine had it not been for Trump's appeasement and bolstering of Russia without regard to our own geopolitical interests and those of our Allies. Adding 10 trillion of new debt + a10 trillion Fed backstop, an Insurrection, and divided government were the cherries on Putin's cake.
Trump promised the 2017 Tax Law would pay for itself, make everyone rich except it would hurt people like him, and would also cause unrealistically high high economic growth sufficient to eliminate the entire Fed debt and deficits within eight years. However, not a penny was spent on debt reduction and nothing on addressing our most critical challenges: Infrastructure and Climate Change. Instead, Federal debt financing was devoted to making the wealthiest Americans, and their 90% ownership of American's corporate wealth wealthier. Before the Pandemic, most economists were predicting a recession as the economy slowed, after the still ongoing wealth profusion realized by a scant group of very wealthy Americans.
Under President Biden we're attempting to address the consequences of Trump's domestic and foreign policies, which never articulated the values we hold dear:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/democracy-post/wp/2017/02/17/the-two-words-donald-trump-cant-bring-himself-to-say/
Not only did Trump weaken our leadership by undercutting our values, he also produced fours years of gross deferred maintenance and corruption. President Biden deserves a lot of credit for rising to the occasion and attempting to right our course despite political gridlock and prior festering neglect. We have observed Putin's voracious expansionist appetite and barbarism up close through the lens of the Ukrainians. Trump termed this as Putin's "genius." At the same time, we have seen Biden masterfully restoring our alliances while realigning and addressing our domestic challenges. There couldn't be a more important time to defend Ukraine, curtail Russian aggression, lead the world away from the disaster of a wider war, and remind everyone that representative democracy is the only path to universal freedom and liberty.
I would not have dreamed in February that President Zelensky would be able to come here (or anywhere) in December. Anything is possible, including enough support from the right to keep this promise to his brave country.
The Crimea reaction in 2014 was a folly. President Obama was trying to work-out getting rid of nukes with Putin the whole time he was in office. Biden was not making the decisions back then, but he's learned and knows the right thing to do now.
Zelensky may be 5'7'', but he's a goddamn giant compared to that psychopath Putin!
God, I hope so. I read that "America can live with a Russian controlled Ukraine". Really? I'm sure they could. Doesn't matter what happens in the world as long as Americans are not being killed. Americans are so worried about "escalation" whatever that is. If they listen to Russian TV the hatred expressed for the rest of the world is rather unsettling. Berlin, London - destroy them all. If Putin is allowed to win in Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics will be next. Will American honour their NATO commitments? Depends on who is in power. Orwell seems like more of a prophet every day. A Handmaid's Tale describes America and 1984 describes the global political situation.
Canada needs to smarten up and rebuild its military. We have top notch soldiers but too few and ancient equipment. Canada needs to punch above its weight in NATO and in Ukraine.
Sorry to be so down and would someone tell me something to renew my faith?
Many of us may be completely unaware of the existence of the Budapest Agreement from 1994; we may not have read about it at the time, or, we may simply have succumbed to mental fatigue and forgotten. And, they probably did not teach it in high school or college civic classes.
The US just signed another reconciliation bill that shows more than 50% of our federal budget is dedicated to US led or initiated military operations https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/20/politics/spending-bill-congress-omnibus/index.html. Our domestic needs have been ignored for the last 50 years, our lack of a world class K-12 education support has lowered US literacy and mastery in the hard sciences, too many of our mothers-to-be do not have prenatal care https://nhvrc.org/indicator_chart/delayed-or-no-prenatal-care-2022/ and our elders are, increasingly without adequate pensions https://www.aarp.org/retirement/retirement-savings/info-2019/no-retirement-money-saved.htmlor healthcare. And, finally, most of our college graduates and post-graduates have student loans larger than most housing mortgages because we have privatized most of the excellent US higher education system during the Reagan-Bush-Clinton-Obama era https://studentloanhero.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/.
We need to honor the Budapest Agreement, but it may be a timely opportunity to let the rest of the world know that, perhaps, it's time to discuss the funding of a Global Peace Keeping Force to respond to all these endless wars. America, and the American people, is near braking from carrying all the world's police keeping duties.
In addition to the Budapest agreement, all of us ought, perhaps, to re-read President Eisenhower's warning about letting the global Military-Industrial Complex dominate our lives and economies https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/eisenhower-warns-of-military-industrial-complex
Mr. Hartman citations:
Memorandum on Security Assurances in connection with Ukraine’s accession to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (aka The Budapest Memorandum)
Budapest, 5 December 1994
The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland,
Welcoming the accession of Ukraine to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons as a non-nuclear-weapon State,
Taking into account the commitment of Ukraine to eliminate all nuclear weapons from its territory within a specified period of time,
Noting the changes in the world-wide security situation, including the end of the Cold War, which have brought about conditions for deep reductions in nuclear forces,
Confirm the following:
1. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the CSCE Final Act, to respect the Independence and Sovereignty and the existing borders of Ukraine.
2. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their obligation to refrain from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of Ukraine, and that none of their weapons will ever be used against Ukraine except in self-defense or otherwise in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations.
3. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their commitment to Ukraine, in accordance with the principles of the CSCE Final Act, to refrain from economic coercion designed to subordinate to their own interest the exercise by Ukraine of the rights inherent in its sovereignty and thus to secure advantages of any kind.
4. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm their commitment to seek immediate United Nations Security Council action to provide assistance to Ukraine, as a non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, if Ukraine should become a victim of an act of aggression or an object of a threat of aggression in which nuclear weapons are used.
5. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, reaffirm, in the case of the Ukraine, their commitment not to use nuclear weapons against any non-nuclear-weapon State Party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, except in the case of an attack on themselves, their territories or dependent territories, their armed forces, or their allies, by such a state in association or alliance with a nuclear weapon state.
6. The United States of America, the Russian Federation, and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland will consult in the event a situation arises which raises a question concerning these commitments.
This Memorandum will become applicable upon signature. Signed [in Budapest] in four copies having equal validity in the English, Russian and Ukrainian languages.
as Winter arrives
does nukular winter
come with or do Mad Men
find Jesus in their icy hearts somehow?
I am appalled at the appeasement approach of some of the responders. By definition, "negotiation" implies deciding how much reward will be conceded to the genocidal war criminal. In my book, that is UnAmerican! Putin must stand down all the way back out of Crimea: then let's have some talks.
Appeasement is an invitation to further aggression. I heard just a bit of Zelensky's speech today making that point. Putin calculated well on leadership in "The West" suffering from PTSD from George Bush's massive, gangrenous fiasco.
Tom, I think you are not only wrong, but your are promoting more deaths for Ukrainians. Please listen to people such as Scott Ritter or Jeffrey Sacks.
I disagree, the U.S. etc. should pursue negotiation and mediation. I've recently watched two YouTube videos at Grayzone hosted by Aaron Mate, with Nicolai Petro and another with Stephen Cohen and a third with Richard Sakwa -- all excellent. As well as another with Jeffrey Sachs at Democracy Now. Also a retired Army officer, Douglas MacGregor is articulate and pessimistic of Ukraine's success. It's a complicated and tragic affair. The Dombas area was seeking semi-autonomy as it has for over decades been mostly Russian speaking and oriented. Ukraine is not a homogenous society, and reconciling differences has been very difficult. Petro's book goes into that history. I refer you to these videos by four professors and a retired army officer. Do minority sectors of any nation have a right to self-determination or autonomy or choosing to be annexed by a neighbor? Self-determination, it applies to Palestine as well. Petro makes a point that "Truth and Reconciliation" has been or is active in 40 nations, and we need that in Ukraine. I haven't mentioned also the U.S. ballistic missiles stationed in Poland, Rumania and other eastern European countries, or the western financial interests pursuing profit in Ukraine when and if Ukraine becomes part of NATO or signs the agreement of 2014 that Yanukovich rejected; and the issue of Crimea dates back to the mid 1800s when Russians effectively settled there. I don't think Putin's demands for neutrality and non-alignment were off target. How would the U.S. respond to Russian missiles in Mexico, Canada and Jamaica pointed at U.S. cities? It's clear that U.S. citizens would quickly send in our military. I urge Hartmann to give these other voices some time and thought.
Does Russia have an interest on protecting Russian speaking Ukrainians and Nazi politicians in Ukraine?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCR-Phtgx0k