RUTHFULLY YOURS

A bad deal on Iranian nukes would be so catastrophic to global security that presidential resistance to a related speech – by the leader of an allied democracy, who may be the greatest expert on the issue – should leave everyone speechless.

The Obama Administration’s outraged accusation that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu violated protocol by accepting House Speaker John Boehner’s invitation to address Congress is preposterous: Bibi’s speech before Congress in 2011 came about in the exact same way with no similar Obama outrage (predictably, given the upcoming 2012 election). And the New York Times advanced this “violated protocol” narrative all too willingly, only to correct itself as inconspicuously as possible, revealing yet again its own anti-Israel agenda. Ironically, Obama’s main, if not only, motivation for visiting Israel in 2008 (and promising policies far from those he eventually adopted) was to gain the support of Jewish voters, back when he needed them to win the presidency.

The situation in Ukraine is complicated. A large part of the country to the east, is Russian-speaking, Russian culture, and sees itself as closer to Russia. Another part of the country to the west, is Ukrainian-and perceives nearest the Western world.

At the time when the Soviet Union existed, the two parts of the country were governed by the same totalitarian dictatorship. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the country has gradually emancipated and took slowly distanced Russian domination. Putin did not accept this desire for emancipation, Russian-speaking populations have been reluctant in relation to it. The Orange Revolution in 2004 led to the emancipation of the advanced camp. The uprising Nejalejnosti Maidan in November 2013 led to a further advanced. Putin responded as might be expected to react by annexing the Crimea, and leading a creeping annexation of the Russian-speaking part of the country. This creeping annexation continues.

What is serious in the case is that the US Obama administration did not anticipate the reaction of Putin, and the countries of the European Union did not advance: Russia n ‘ argued that because the United States and the European Union have given him the opportunity to move forward.