It shows in the comments from Russian President Vladimir Putin on
Tuesday, justifying his country’s military takeover of Ukraine’s Crimean
Peninsula:
“He … insisted that if Russian-speaking
citizens in the east of
Ukraine ask for Russia's help, Russia has the right ‘to take
all
measures to protect the rights of those people.’”[i]
And from Adolf Hitler as his forces entered Austria – without a shot fired
– in what’s termed the “Anschluss” (or union) in March 1938:
“The
Reich will not permit Germans to be persecuted any longer
in
this territory because of their membership of our nation or
their loyalty to certain views … I have, therefore,
decided to place
the assistance of the Reich at the disposal
of the millions of Germans
in Austria … soldiers of the German armed
forces have been
marching across the entire border of German
Austria … They
will guarantee that the Austrian people will
shortly be given the
opportunity to decide their future and their
destiny by means
of a genuine plebiscite.”[ii]
Before long, posters were going up, declaring, “Ein Volk, ein Reich,
ein Führer! (One people, one
empire, one leader!)
Soon after, Hitler broke up Czechoslovakia, by taking over the
Sudetenland, where ethnic Germans lived, and, later that same year, with the
acquiescence of Great Britain and France, ended the country’s existence (at
least until the war ended).
So here we are, facing the greatest fascist since Hitler, figuring out
how to prevent Putin from issuing the next order, which will likely send his
troops into combat in the Crimea and on a march toward Kiev.
There’s speculation, by one CNN military analyst, President Obama told
Putin he wouldn’t commit American soldiers to resolve this problem.[iii]
So what’s Putin doing? Biding
his time before making a move that will shock the world even more.
The tragedy of this situation is that it parallels Germany and the
1930s, a time when a forceful response from Great Britain and France, maybe
even the United States, to Hitler’s provocations could likely have averted an
even greater calamity, a European war that, all totaled up, killed about 40
million people, maybe more.[iv]
Just like today, no western European nation then had the stomach for
military action, even a limited amount, which could stop something worse.
Sure, it’s hard to find a reason Americans and its western European
counterparts will fight in the Crimea or in Ukraine but it’s better to initiate
a standoff now, when the situation is more favorable to the North Atlantic
Treaty Organization.
In fact, if Putin isn’t forced to withdraw, you can be certain, just
as we learned from Hitler, he’ll strike again. He was emboldened after Obama failed to involve the United
States in Syria. You have to fear what
Putin will do next if Obama does nothing now.
Coincidence?
The Anschluss happened nearly 20 years after the end of World War I, a
time when many people viewed Germany as a defeated warrior. It was just over 20 years ago today that
Soviet leaders learned they lost the Cold War.
Right now, many look upon Russia and see what their grandparents and
great grandparents saw in Germany up until September 1939 – a country that was.
Putin knows this and, like his long ago predecessor, the czar Peter
the Great, he’s reestablishing his country’s former dominance.
In addition, if this latest provocation shows anything, it’s
this: There’s no such thing as a “peace
dividend,” when defense budgets can be cut. With the end of the Cold War, the world’s more dangerous.
What’s
next?
That’s the question that needs to be answered. The possibilities are endless but Putin
could do any of the following:
- · Move against the Baltics.
- · Team up with China (one of the few countries supporting Putin’s actions) – it could send one submarine to make sure the United States and its Asian allies are prevented from keeping the South China Sea open to international fishing.
- · Align with China to prevent Japan from asserting its sovereignty over the Senkaku islands. Here again, Russia could send a submarine to make a statement.
- · Russia occupies the rest of its former Soviet state, Georgia, also located along the Black Sea.
What can be
done?
What’s surprising is that not even The
Wall Street Journal’s editorial page editors saw this one. They suggested deploying the U.S. Sixth
Fleet into the Black Sea, long the dominion of the Russian (and, previously,
Soviet) navy.
An even better idea comes from the playbook of the one president Obama
likely admires, Jack Kennedy.
On August 13, 1961, East Germans sealed off the crossing points
between East and West Berlin and started building the Berlin Wall. There was a very good chance they would
move into West Berlin, kicking out the United States and its allies from the
city.
Instead of playing a weak hand, President Kennedy and his generals
played a strong one.
They created the Berlin Brigade and seven days later, on the 20th,
marched 1,500 U.S. troops into West Berlin.[v] Tensions were high but East Germany and
the Soviet Union received the message – the United States would not be thrown
out of West Berlin without a fight.
The same play could be used in Ukraine, perhaps in the Crimea, too. Put U.S. troops, and allied ones on the
ground and on patrol, saying very publicly they’re going to make sure the
rights of those supporting the Kiev government are protected.
This puts Putin on notice.
If he fires a shot at an American or allied solider, there will be a vigorous
military response. Otherwise,
we’re there as a peaceful force.
Journalist Gordon Brook-Shepherd, in his book about the Anschluss,
states that Austria was always the world’s rehearsal ground. Today, it’s in the Crimea and Ukraine.
If the United States and its allies fail to stand up to Putin, where
does the stage go next? How much
worse will it be?
These critical questions require answers from President Obama and his
foreign policy experts.
[i] CNN.com -- http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/04/world/europe/ukraine-russia-tensions/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
[ii] Gordon
Brook-Shepherd, The Anschluss, (New
York: J. B. Lippincott Company,
1963), page 188.
1 comment:
Hear! Hear!
Post a Comment