The Bear Is Loose

 Gary Bauer, Contributing Author: We've been hearing that phrase a lot lately. White House staffers refer to Obama as "the Bear" when he is sneaking burgers behind Michelle's back or cutting loose on the campaign trail. Unfortunately, there is a very different bear loose on the international scene -- the Russian bear.

The evidence is overwhelming that Russian forces or highly trained Moscow-aligned separatists in Ukraine shot down Malaysia Airlines flight MH17. They have routinely shot down Ukrainian fighter jets and helicopters.

Yesterday there were several ominous online messages posted by pro-Russian separatists. One claimed to have seized a Buk surface-to-air missile launcher. Another said they had just shot down a military transport. A third, posted around the time MH17 went down, said, "We warned you, do not fly in our sky." That last tweet was deleted once it became clear that it was not a military transport but a civilian jetliner that had been shot out of the sky.

The Ukrainian government has also released what seems to be intercepted phone calls between Russian military officers and separatists in the area discussing the wreckage.

Meanwhile, the president once again embarrassed himself and our country yesterday. Treating everything like a random accident, Obama's first reaction was a brief 40-second statement in which he said, "It looks like it may be a terrible tragedy."

May be a terrible tragedy? That much was obvious, even at that early stage. Obama then launched into series of jokes and continued with his pre-planned stump speech.

Ronald Reagan was dealt a similar situation in 1983. Here's how a real leader responds to such an atrocity.

No doubt many on the left and some on the right will say, "Well, what do you want to do? Go to war with Russia?" They have it backwards. Continued U.S. weakness makes war more likely.

Far be it from me to offer advice to the Obama White House, but here are a few suggestions:

Stop sending pink slips to our veteran officers and announce that America is going to rebuild its military might and morale.

Stop gutting the defense budget to get money for income redistribution schemes.

A lot of Russians love to vacation in the United States. Cancel all visas until further notice.

Call an emergency meeting with European leaders, apologize for canceling the missile defense system and announce that construction will begin immediately.
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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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