Obama Shows His Cards, Turns His Back On Ukraine

Photo in Moscow in 2007: Putin observes Obama
Fixing his Sock or was he hiding his cards?

 Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: Everybody knows that in poker, you don't reveal your hand. A good foreign policy utilizes the same strategy.

When confronting aggression by a hostile power, one of the first principles of foreign policy is never to take options off the table. We hear it all the time whenever Iran's nuclear program is in the news: "All options are on the table."

Evidently Barack Obama was too busy filling out his NCAA bracket to consult his foreign policy training manual. During a series of local news interviews yesterday, Obama was asked what steps he might take next in the Crimean crisis. Incredibly, Obama showed Putin and every other tyrant his cards.

Obama said, "We are not going to be getting into a military excursion in Ukraine." In a separate interview, Obama said, "…we do not need to trigger an actual war with Russia. The Ukrainians don't want that. Nobody would want that."

Of course we do not want a war, but the decision might not be ours. (Ron and Rand Paul supporters: Please do not waste my time accusing me of supporting war in Ukraine -- I don't.)

The proper answer was, "I'm not going to discuss hypotheticals. The United States wants an end to aggression in Eastern Europe, and we are going to work with our allies to come up with ways to make sure it does end."

It has been humorous to watch our media establishment describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as crazy, unbalanced and unpredictable. What the left, from the president to his adoring media friends, sees as bizarre behavior is precisely how one might expect a former KGB officer to act. Especially one who called the collapse of the Soviet Union "the greatest geopolitical catastrophe of the century."

Let me remind you of Obama's history in Ukraine. In 2005, Barack Obama made his first overseas trip as a United States senator to Ukraine in an effort to convince that country to destroy massive stockpiles of conventional weapons. "Vast stocks of conventional munitions and military supplies have accumulated in Ukraine," Obama said. "We need to eliminate these stockpiles for the safety of the Ukrainian people…"

The thrust of the argument Obama and that Senate delegation made to Ukraine was, "We've got your back." Well, not so much. To many Ukrainians, it must seem like Obama has turned his back on them. Crimea is under Russian control now. The rest of Ukraine is facing military intimidation and a possible invasion.

I mention the phrase "I've got your back," because it is one of the president's favorites. No doubt the White House polled it and found it scored well with the public. He has used it in appeals to various voting blocs and even with respect to Israel's existential threat from Iran's nuclear weapons program. During a 2012 speech to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee, Obama said, "I have Israel's back."

Remember, too, that the United States, Britain and Russia signed a treaty in 1994 guaranteeing Ukraine's sovereignty. Putin just shredded that treaty. How safe do you think Israelis feel today with Obama's claim that he has "Israel's back"?

Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon fears Israel is on its own. Ya'alon is in hot water for daring to state the obvious -- that Obama is "broadcasting weakness" across the globe. Ya'alon added, "This is a war of civilizations. If you are perceived to be weak, that certainly does not pay in the world. I hope the U.S. will reassert itself."
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Gary Bauer is a conservative family values advocate and serves as president of American Values and chairman of the Campaign for Working Families

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