While attempting to look presidential, but failing, Barack Obama has been calling on Vladimir Putin to compel the Russian separatists to “cooperate with the investigation” and “stop tampering with the evidence” of the downed Malaysian airline, saying “that is the least he can do.” The least he can do? Those are the final pleas of someone who has just lost an argument or has failed to assert his will; “well the least you can do is…” So now the President of the United States has to settle for the “least” the Russian president can do, not what he demands he do.
Barack Obama has a lot of nerve asking Vladimir Putin to do anything, let alone demand it. He has been surrendering his authority to Putin for the last 9 years. This surrendering began in August of 2005, seven months after he was sworn in as a state senator. He and Senator Richard Lugar (R), met with President Victor Yushchenko in Kiev, making the case that an existing Cooperative Threat Reduction Program covering the destruction of nuclear weapons should be expanded to include artillery, small arms, anti-aircraft weapons, and conventional ammunition of all kinds. Lugar and Obama returned to Washington to push legislation to speed up the U.S. destruction of these weapons, and offered the Ukraine $48 million to downsize their munitions. With that came a treaty signed by Bill Clinton promising that the United States would protect Ukraine, namely Crimea, from a Russian incursion. Putin recently demonstrated that he does not fear Obama when he invaded Crimea. Why would he?
Fast forward to March, 2012; while running for his second term, President Obama was caught on an open mic promising outgoing Russian president, Dmitry Medvedev, that he would “have more flexibility” after his re-election to insure that Russia would not be an intended target of the European missile defense systems. To this, Medvedev happily replied, “I will transmit this information to Vladimir.”
The irony of this Malaysian airline tragedy is that Obama is calling for a full investigation of all the evidence, and telling Putin to call off the separatists if he has nothing to hide. How many investigations into the President’s unlawful administration have been going on for the last couple years? Where is his leadership in demanding transparency and access to all the facts?
In the eyes of Vladimir Putin and the rest of the world, Barack Obama has no authority; he surrendered it a long time ago.
