Hillary Clinton Calls For Greater Military Assistance And Financial Aid For Ukraine

[Purveyor]

Source: International Business Times

By Christopher Harress April 16 2015 10:26 AM EDT

Hillary Clinton has diverged from President Barack Obama’s Ukraine policy by calling for more military assistance and greater financial aid for the partially war-torn former Soviet country. Clinton, who announced her run for U.S. president on Sunday, said that if Ukraine was to succeed against Russian-supported separatists, it would need better support from the U.S.

"I think we need to provide more financial assistance for the government of Ukraine, as it is trying to make the transition from a nonprofessional, corrupt system to a system that operates according to the global rules,” Clinton told Voice of America in an interview Wednesday.

While the U.S. has provided basic equipment and training for Ukraine’s military, Obama has been reluctant to offer more help and has ruled out giving lethal assistance, despite overwhelming pressure from Congress prompting him to do so. A resolution calling for lethal aid passed 348-48 in Congress in March. However, Obama, who admitted to being influenced by German Chancellor Angela Merkel when making his decision, said that he would prefer to give February’s Minsk II agreement a chance to bring peace to the region before resorting to alternative measures.

So far that peace has been elusive.

Read more: http://www.ibtimes.com/hillary-clinton-calls-greater-military-assistance-financial-aid-ukraine-1884637

[customerserviceguy]

1. Now where's that reset button with Russia??? n/t

[Adrahil]

30. Takes two to tango...

Russia has decided that asserting authority over its "former" imperial possessions is WAY more important than productive relations with the West.

[customerserviceguy]

38. And my point was

That "reset" button was as much fantasy as the Staples "easy" button. I feel that it encouraged Putin to be an even greater dick.

Expect the Rethugs to make the point next year.

[zeemike]

2. Well that should lock up the defense industry money.

[Purveyor]

3. MIC stocks are going up!

[zeemike]

4. And that should please the investor class.

[Dems to Win]

5. Congresswoman Barbara Lee voted No on the resolution for lethal aid to Ukraine

Odds are very, very good that Rep. Lee's vote will be proven wise, prophetic, and correct in the long term. She has the best record on issues of war and peace of anyone in the current Congress. Barbara Lee is the one we should be drafting to lead us.

It's disappointing, but not at all surprising, that Hillary is urging more war, right alongside the majority in Congress. Not the first time, it won't be the last.

Ready for Barbara Lee.

[brooklynite]

44. You can't lead if you can't get elected...

Lee comes from one of the safest Democratic districts in the nations (D+37). Where does she have any track record of success in campaigning in a race where they allow Independents and Republicans to vote too?

[L0oniX]

6. Yeah that's it ...throw money at the other countries ...but fuck spending it on this country.

[sadoldgirl]

7. Okay, this came fast and

shows how much she loves the possibility of peace.

I hope the Ukraine situation improves before she goes
to the WH, should she be elected

[MisterP]

8. "No, she's a Democrat: Democrats are for peace, therefore they don't endorse war or intervention"

[elleng]

9. Wesley Clark: Putin Plans Spring Offensive in Ukraine.

Russian-backed separatists are planning a fresh offensive in eastern Ukraine that could come within a matter of months, warns retired General Wesley Clark, a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander.

“What is happening now is preparations for a renewed offensive from the east,” and this could take place following Orthodox Easter, on April 12, and “most probably” before VE Day on May 8, Clark said on March 30, citing multiple local sources he spoke with on a recent fact-finding mission to Ukraine.

“That’s what all the talking is about right now, preparing the cover for the next attack,” he said.

Given that an attack is “imminent,” Clark said the Obama administration should take two specific actions to bolster Ukrainian security forces:

It should share intelligence with Ukraine so the Ukrainians can have “firm warning of a renewed Russian offensive”;

And it could prepare an aid package, including lethal assistance that has already been authorized by Congress; deploy it at a staging base; have strategic lift available; and warn Russian President Vladimir Putin that “when we first get the indications that you are coming again we will send assistance, including lethal assistance, to Ukraine.”

These two actions would fall within the parameters of the administration’s current policy not to provide lethal assistance to Ukraine.

http://www.newsweek.com/wesley-clark-putin-plans-spring-offensive-ukraine-318393

[Purveyor]

11. Poor Wesley, still disappointed he didn't get the engagement he so longed for with Russia

over Kosovo.

[elleng]

14. B.S.

[Purveyor]

15. One only needs to google wesley clark + kosovo + russia... eom

[elleng]

16. I know the story, Purveyor.

General Clark wasn't and ISN'T interested in aggression against Russia.

The Incident at Pristina airport was a confrontation between the NATO forces and Russian forces over the Pristina International Airport on 12 June 1999, in the aftermath of the Kosovo War. Russian troops occupied the airport ahead of a NATO deployment, resulting in a tense stand-off, which was resolved peacefully.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incident_at_Pristina_airport

[Adrahil]

31. I don't think any Democrat is interested in aggression against Russia...

Unfortunately, Russia seems interested in aggression against its neighbors.

[elleng]

33. Yes, Russia does.

[Lurks Often]

32. It was resolved peacefully due to Clark's British 2nd in command

and the British company commander outside of the airfield, not because of Wesley Clark,

General Jackson, the British second in command, disobeyed Clark's order to use force to get the Russians to leave the airfield and went to his superiors in the British Ministry of Defense who agreed. The British then went to the US and is was agreed upon that NATO would not use force to make the Russians leave the airport.

Jackson went on to be promoted to the highest military position in the British military, while Clark was removed from his position early, which forced him into retirement as there were no other openings for an officer of his rank. That hardly sounds like an endorsement of Wesley Clark by the White House or the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs.

Clark's willingness to use force to make the Russians evacuate the airport for such a trivial reason shows a lack of common sense and a recklessness that will forever make him unqualified for any significant position of responsibility in the US government.

[Comrade Grumpy]

13. What? This doesn't even make sense:

From the article:

It should share intelligence with Ukraine so the Ukrainians can have “firm warning of a renewed Russian offensive”;

And it could prepare an aid package, including lethal assistance that has already been authorized by Congress; deploy it at a staging base; have strategic lift available; and warn Russian President Vladimir Putin that “when we first get the indications that you are coming again we will send assistance, including lethal assistance, to Ukraine.”

These two actions would fall within the parameters of the administration’s current policy not to provide lethal assistance to Ukraine.

-------

So, providing lethal assistance falls within the parameters of not providing lethal assistance?

[okaawhatever]

19. He is saying to move lethal assistance nearby. It won't be giving them lethal assistance unless

Russia moves again, but if they do it won't take forever for aid to get there. It would hopefully serve as a deterrant to Moscov.

[elleng]

23. Thanks, okaa.

[newthinking]

17. It is very unfortunate that some NATO heads are spreading fear. The actuality is the opposite.

The government in Kiev, the one that formed as the "collation of the party of war" (no kidding), is not following through on Federalization.

Here is the thing. Federalization is good not only for this situation, but it would cut corruption. Because currently Kiev appoints mayors and regional heads (which is one of the ways that corrupt money is funneled).

The party in power cannot allow a safe Donbass where people can freely VOTE. Because they are a MINORITY party (extreme right wing) and they would end up out of power. They can only stay in power if they repress Donbass.

[elleng]

18. 'Some NATO heads' have spent a lot of time IN Ukraine,

and know what's happened there, and what is likely to happen.

'Retired U.S. General Wesley Clark, who has taken an active interest in Ukraine since Russia’s military invasion last year, held court for two hours on March 30 about his most recent trip to the nation -- his seventh in the last year. The Washington D.C. event was livestreamed by the Atlantic Council, which sponsored his March trip.

Clark, a former NATO Supreme Allied Commander, said that Ukrainians he spoke with are predicting a renewed Russian military offensive after Orthodox Easter on April 12 and possibly before the 70th anniversary of Victory Day, which is celebrated on May 9. He said Russian President Vladimir Putin is clearly the military commander of the war against Ukraine.

Another Russian attack would mark the third distinct military offensive -- the first from April 2014 through August, ending in the massacre of Ukrainian troops at Ilovaisk and prompting the September Minsk I peace agreement. The second offensive came in January and led to Ukraine’s surrender of the Donetsk airport that month and, in February, its surrender of the Donetsk Oblast city of Debaltseve after the Minsk II peace agreement on Feb. 15.'

https://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/op-ed/wesley-clark-im-a-believer-in-ukraine-andits-survival-385257.html

[okaawhatever]

21. I think his recent lengthy TV interview is part of his charm offensive leading up to another

military maneuver. I would think he'd wait until after VE day though.

[elleng]

22. Would be good if he'd wait like FOREVER,

but Wes doesn't think it's likely. Arms race with Russia coming, Clark says. http://www.wdam.com/story/28494048/arms-race-with-russia-coming-clark-says

[okaawhatever]

25. Just read the article. I think you're right. Hopefully enough Russians will turn on him and

he'll back off. I'm really proud of the Russian citizens who are out protesting. I know Obama is trying to withold lethal aid to Ukraine because Russia will escalate if we give it to them. I like Clark's idea of putting the equipment in a staging area nearby with air support to get it to them in the event Russia moves in again.

[Cha]

24. This guy, okaa?

[m-lekktor]

39. aaah, Mr. "School of the Americas" Clark

highly overrated, never understood the attraction.

[frylock]

10. quiet in here..

too quiet.

[Purveyor]

12. Indeed it is.

[Geronimoe]

20. Oy vey

[Major Hogwash]

26. Took her 4 days to start warmongering.

Must be some kind of a new record for her.

Hillary Clinton has diverged from President Barack Obama’s Ukraine policy by calling for more military assistance and greater financial aid for the partially war-torn former Soviet country.

Where are all of Hillary's supporters telling us how Hillary is to the left of Obama now?

[Nihil]

28. Alternatively, took a 4 day breather from Business As Usual.

It's not as if she's ever had any consistent *anti-*war position - no profit in it y'see ...

[brooklynite]

45. And what kind of warmonger are you?

Unless you're going to say you believe in full, isolationism. (admirable, but an extreme fringe position), we're just arguing a matter of degrees.

[Major Hogwash]

46. I'm not a warmonger.

But, guess who is?


[img][/img]

[amandabeech]

48. Actually, Kissinger has been warning against war over Ukraine.

This time Hillary should take his advice.

[candelista]

47. False dilemma.

"Either you are a warmonger or an isolationist."

Someone who believes that war in self defense is justified is not a "warmonger." Not even a little.

[andlor]

27. She lost my vote.

[JudyM]

43. Mine too. If this is 1 of her first priorities she will remain focused on projecting "toughness"

to combat the stereotype of women being pushovers in matters of international strategy.

[Octafish]

29. And there it is.

Nice word choice, too: "transition from a nonprofessional, corrupt system..."

LOL.

[sendero]

34. Sure ..

.... let's start a war with Russia. We couldn't beat Vietnam, we couldn't fix Iraq or Afghanistan, so let's go kick some sand in the face of an army that has never really been defeated.

Sure, that's the ticket you idiot neocon.

[Xithras]

35. Once a hawk, always a hawk.

And this is why I would never, ever vote for Hillary in ANY election. I will not vote for warmongers.

[bunnies]

36. Only 13 Recs. Huh. nt

[Scuba]

37. Surprise! Like no one knew that Hillary is a hawk.

[ucrdem]

40. hoo boy.

I was hoping she'd try something different this time.