Stern words, indeed, from our Secretary of State and motor boat skipper John Kerry. Even that liberal paragon who is George Stephanopoulos is becoming skeptical; that’s visible, too, in this interview excerpt, via The Daily Caller.
“Russia has engaged in a military act of aggression against another country, and it has huge risks, George,” he said. “It’s a 19th-century act in the 21st century that really puts at—at question Russia’s capacity to, uh—be within the G-8….”
“All those violations, sir,” Stephanopoulos cut in, “so what’s the penalty for what Russia has already done?”
The Secretary of State noted the United States was still “busy coordinating” with allies, and that President Barack Obama had spoken with Putin for 90 minutes yesterday.
“I think all options are on the table,” Kerry later commented. “There’s no question but that Russia needs to understand this is serious. And we and the other friends and allies engaged in this are all deadly serious about this. We call on Russia to engage with the government of the Ukraine. We’re prepared to work very closely with Russia in order to address any legitimate concerns that exist. We believe there are many alternatives before you get to an invasion, and none of those have been tried at this point.”
“But the invasion has already happened, hasn’t it?” Stephanopoulos again interrupted.
“The invasion of Crimea has already happened, that’s absolutely accurate,” Kerry replied, “and we believe that President Putin should make the decision to roll it back.”
No G-8. Yeah. Huge risk. And all options are on the table. Every one of them. Including the (gutted) military one, that means. Oh, wait—that’s the same all options including military that’s standard fare for Obama’s empty, rhetorical “threats.”
And Russia needs to be serious. Yes, indeedy. We’re serious. We’ve got our game faces on. Deadly serious. But no penalty answered Stephanopoulos’ question.
We’ve got Putin’s attention, now. Just maybe not the way we want it.