JimofPennsylvan
Platinum Member
- Jun 6, 2007
- 862
- 506
The Obama Administration is not bringing its "A" game to diplomacy on the Ukrainian conflict. The situation in Ukraine is that the Ukrainian government is in a war in some of its eastern provinces against a foe comprised of a small minority of the ethnic Russian Ukrainians in the region getting humongous help from the Russian government. So what is the Ukrainian government's policy on the war? It is they will not negotiate with the separatist leaders on the ground and they won't give amnesty to any fighter that has blood on his hands.
This Ukrainian government is foolish beyond words with this position. Negotiating a peace agreement is not about reaching an agreement that gives justice to the aggrieved parties it is about reaching an agreement that permanently ends the war and allows the country to go forward and be a good country in all respects. The world knows the hurt that the Ukrainian people are feeling about this war with some of its tragic occurrences: with all those nice young Ukrainian soldiers killed and wounded at that checkpoint around Donetsk on May 22 and that good Ukrainian General who was killed when his helicopter was shot down around Slovyansk. But again reaching peace is not about justice its about ending the war and putting Ukraine on the path to prosperity and offering a good quality of life for its people! If the Ukrainian government really wants peace they should agree to negotiate with the leaders of the separatist on the ground and they should be willing to at least offer amnesty to any separatist fighter that has blood on his hands as long as that fighter leaves the country of Ukraine. Separatist fighters are not going to be inclined to lay down their weapons if they are going to be criminally prosecuted and sent to jail for their fighting. A better course for the Ukrainian government is to say to the separatist fighters: you Russian, you Chechen and even you Ukrainian separatist fighters that have killed Ukrainians leave Ukraine just leave Ukraine and we will not pursue you for your crimes as separatist we will not try to extradite you we will not try to kill you, etc..
Overall the Ukrainian government deserves to be commended for its efforts toward a peaceful resolution to this conflict. Fighting it out on the ground in these eastern Ukrainian provinces will be a bloody affair, the truth is that a lot of these separatist's fighters are Russian government mercenaries and with all of Russia's oil and natural gas wealth Kremlin leaders can afford to write checks for this war for a long time. The Ukrainian people need to act with wisdom and courage and back their government as it negotiates a peace agreement.
The Obama Whitehouse needs to stop acting like a bunch of simpletons in this matter proclaiming that sanctions against Russia hold the potential of a silver bullet on this problem for sanctions will metaphorically kill our friends too! Washington needs to encourage the Kiev government to take these steps so that it does its best in trying to reach a diplomatic settlement in this conflict. Why doesn't Washington use its tried and true tool for this type of work make commitments to Ukraine on U.S. foreign aid if it does the right thing on these matters!
This Ukrainian government is foolish beyond words with this position. Negotiating a peace agreement is not about reaching an agreement that gives justice to the aggrieved parties it is about reaching an agreement that permanently ends the war and allows the country to go forward and be a good country in all respects. The world knows the hurt that the Ukrainian people are feeling about this war with some of its tragic occurrences: with all those nice young Ukrainian soldiers killed and wounded at that checkpoint around Donetsk on May 22 and that good Ukrainian General who was killed when his helicopter was shot down around Slovyansk. But again reaching peace is not about justice its about ending the war and putting Ukraine on the path to prosperity and offering a good quality of life for its people! If the Ukrainian government really wants peace they should agree to negotiate with the leaders of the separatist on the ground and they should be willing to at least offer amnesty to any separatist fighter that has blood on his hands as long as that fighter leaves the country of Ukraine. Separatist fighters are not going to be inclined to lay down their weapons if they are going to be criminally prosecuted and sent to jail for their fighting. A better course for the Ukrainian government is to say to the separatist fighters: you Russian, you Chechen and even you Ukrainian separatist fighters that have killed Ukrainians leave Ukraine just leave Ukraine and we will not pursue you for your crimes as separatist we will not try to extradite you we will not try to kill you, etc..
Overall the Ukrainian government deserves to be commended for its efforts toward a peaceful resolution to this conflict. Fighting it out on the ground in these eastern Ukrainian provinces will be a bloody affair, the truth is that a lot of these separatist's fighters are Russian government mercenaries and with all of Russia's oil and natural gas wealth Kremlin leaders can afford to write checks for this war for a long time. The Ukrainian people need to act with wisdom and courage and back their government as it negotiates a peace agreement.
The Obama Whitehouse needs to stop acting like a bunch of simpletons in this matter proclaiming that sanctions against Russia hold the potential of a silver bullet on this problem for sanctions will metaphorically kill our friends too! Washington needs to encourage the Kiev government to take these steps so that it does its best in trying to reach a diplomatic settlement in this conflict. Why doesn't Washington use its tried and true tool for this type of work make commitments to Ukraine on U.S. foreign aid if it does the right thing on these matters!
