From the right: What President Obama should do re Ukraine and Putin

[cali]

David J. Kramer is president of Freedom House and a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Russia and Ukraine in the George W. Bush administration.

<snip>

There are things Obama needs to do immediately, some in collaboration with our European and NATO allies, others on our own. They include:

●Imposing sanctions against Russian state-owned banks and financial institutions;

Widening application of the 2012 Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act against an array of Kremlin officials, including Putin;

●Terminating all negotiations with Russia on a possible trade agreement or promoting business;

●Calling an emergency NATO meeting to reassure NATO allies that border Ukraine and initiate mobilization of forces to be ready for any developments (Article 4 of the NATO Treaty, invoked by Latvia and Lithuania, calls for consultations about security concerns);

●Sending U.S. military ships to the Black Sea for any contingencies;

<snip>

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/us-foreign-comes-home-to-roost-with-russias-action-in-ukraine/2014/03/01/10be38bc-a18d-11e3-b8d8-94577ff66b28_story.html

Just a reminder that there are plenty of powerful people always ready to push for another war.

[Cali_Democrat]

1. LOL

[lostincalifornia]

2. That is why we are fortunate not to have a mccain or romney as president

[Renew Deal]

4. Or Bush

He'd bomb Uruguay

[cali]

5. I agree.

[hrmjustin]

3. Sanctions are a mistake. It will only inflame that monster Putin.

As for sending the navy that is typical neo-con talk.

[Cleita]

6. That's actually funny. eom

[TwilightGardener]

7. Some of those may come to pass, in time. Ships to the Black Sea...we just had them

there for Sochi (one hit ground and broke a propeller). Now you have to wonder if they were REALLY for Sochi...or did we see something coming? I hope we don't involve military assets unless there is a true need--no pointless saber-rattling, GOP.

[atreides1]

8. Just one glitch

In order to enter the Black Sea, the US will have to request permission from Turkey...because under the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Turkish Straits of July 1936, the Turkish government retains the right to restrict the naval traffic of non-Black Sea nations.

The convention forbids the transit of non-Black Sea nations' warships with guns of a calibre larger than eight inches (203 mm). In the 1960s, the US sent warships carrying 305 mm calibre ASROC missiles through the Straits, prompting Soviet protests. The Turkish government rejected the Soviet complaints, pointing out that guided missiles were not guns and that such weapons had not even existed at the time of the Convention's agreement so were not restricted.

In April 1982, the Convention was amended to allow Turkey to close the Straits at its discretion in peacetime as well as during wartime.

The Turks control entry into and exit put of the Black Sea region...the question is, are the Turks willing to get involved?