Krauthammer: 'Ukrainians, Everybody Shocked By The Weakness Of Obama's Statement'

Fox News contributor and syndicated columnist Charles Krauthammer weighed in on Barack Obama’s “warning” to Russia not to intervene in Ukraine, saying “everybody is shocked by his weakness.”

Amid reports that Russia has placed 2,000 troops in Crimea, within the borders of Ukraine, Obama said Friday that “the United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine.”

On Fox News’ Special Report Friday night, Krauthammer responded to Obama’s statement:

“The Ukrainians, and I think everybody, is shocked by the weakness of Obama’s statement. What he’s saying is, we’re not really going to do anything. He said, any violation of Ukrainian territory is destabilizing, and that’s not in Russia’s interest. He is instructing Putin on what’s in Russia’s interest?

I can assure you, Putin has calculated his own interests … that detaching Crimea from Ukraine and making it, essentially, a colony of Russia, is in Russia’s interest. [H]e knows he has nothing to fear from the West, because it’s not led by anybody. It used to be led by the United States.”

Obama has been criticized throughout his presidency for saying or doing too little too late when foreign crises arise, choosing instead to be controlled by consequences rather than seeking to control them:

• Egypt, during the so-called “Arab spring”
• Libya, where his reticence led to France’s then-president Nikolas Sarkosy taking charge for the as the West finally intervened
• Syria where his now-infamous hollow red-line warning over the use of chemical weapons allowed Vladimir Putin to take control
• And now Ukraine, where its pro-democracy population looks to the outside world for support

Words are cheap, Mr. President — regardless of how tough you try to sound when you read them from a teleprompter. The fate of Ukraine hangs in the balance.

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/03/118465-krauthammer-ukrainians-everybody-shocked-weakness-obamas-statement/

http://www.weeklystandard.com/blogs/obama-skips-national-security-team-meeting-russia-ukraine_783659.html

http://barracudabrigade.blogspot.com/2014/03/putin-laughs-at-his-bitch-obamas-warning.html

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/russian-parliament-approves-use-of-troops-in-crimea/2014/03/01/d1775f70-a151-11e3-a050-dc3322a94fa7_story.html

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/03/118435-minutes-russian-invasion-press-conference-obama-celebrates-democrat-happy-hour/

http://www.ijreview.com/2014/03/118466-albert-brooks-tweet-sums-everything-wrong-obamas-russian-invasion-press-conference/