The U.S. Has Not Kept Its Promises To Ukraine

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry (R) shakes hands with Ukraine's President Petro Poreshenko (L) during a bilateral meeting in Kiev, February 5, 2015 (Reuters / Jim Watson)

Josh Rogin, Bloomberg: U.S. Hasn't Kept Ukraine Aid Promises

WNU Editor: Forget about failing to keep promises on providing military equipment .... the big problem will be when it is time to bail out the Ukraine economy .... an amount that will probably be in the tens of billions just in the first year or two. Faced with these enormous amounts .... do not be surprise if this is a commitment that the U.S. will do everything in its power to not keep.

Top White House Official Says U.S. Should Consider Giving Lethal Weapons To Ukraine

Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken has said Washington should reexamine its policy of not providing lethal aid to Ukraine. Radio Free Europe

Top Official Says U.S. Should Consider Giving Weapons To Ukraine -- Chicago Tribune

President Barack Obama's choice to fill the number two spot at the State Department, Anthony Blinken, spoke favorably on Wednesday about the possibility of providing weapons to Ukraine, which is grappling with pro-Russian separatists.

Testifying at a congressional hearing on his nomination to be Obama's deputy secretary of state, Blinken said the administration should consider rethinking its policy of not providing lethal aid to Kiev.

Ukraine accused Russia last week of sending soldiers and weapons to help separatist rebels in eastern Ukraine launch a new offensive in a conflict that has already killed more than 4,000 people.

Read more ....

More News On Teports That A Top White House Official Has Said That The U.S. Should Consider Giving Lethal Weapons To Ukraine

U.S. should look at giving weapons to Ukraine: top U.S. official -- Reuters
Obama Aide: US Should Look at Ukraine Military Aid -- AP
U.S. Official: Washington Should Consider Lethal Aid To Kyiv -- Radio Free Europe
US Should Consider Lethal Aid to Ukraine, Says Obama Nominee -- VOA
US Should Consider Providing Lethal Aid to Ukraine: Blinken -- Sputnik
Obama adviser: Arms for Ukraine ‘on the table’ -- The Hill

My Comment: Talk about pouring gasoline onto the fire.

U.S. Troops Heading To Ukraine

Paratroopers from the U.S. Army's 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team participate in training exercises with the Polish 6 Airborne Brigade soldiers at the Land Forces Training Centre in Oleszno near Drawsko Pomorskie, north west Poland, May 1, 2014. (Reuters / Kacper Pempel)

U.S., Allies To Stage Exercises In West Ukraine As Battles Rage In East -- Reuters

(Reuters) - As fighting between the army and Russian-backed rebels rages in eastern Ukraine, preparations are under way near its western border for a joint military exercise this month with more than 1,000 troops from the United States and its allies.

The decision to go ahead with the Rapid Trident exercise Sept. 16-26 is seen as a sign of the commitment of NATO states to support non-NATO member Ukraine while stopping well short of military intervention in the conflict.

The annual exercise, to take place in the Yavoriv training center near Ukraine's border with Poland, was initially scheduled for July, but was put back because early planning was disrupted by the crisis in the eastern part of the country.

"At the moment, we are still planning for (the exercise) to go ahead," U.S. Navy Captain Gregory Hicks, spokesman for the U.S. Army's European Command said on Tuesday.

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Update: US prepares military drill in W. Ukraine for mid-September -- RT

My Comment: To have such a military exercise in a country that is in the grip of a civil war .... this will only galvanize Russia to intervene even more in Ukraine's civil war.

Will The U.S. Send Military Aid To Ukraine?

President Barack Obama holds a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk of Ukraine in the Oval Office, March 12, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Obama Faces Decision On Military Aid For Ukraine -- USA Today

Other analysts warn dramatically increasing military aid to Ukraine risks a rapid Russian escalation that the USA could not match.

Russian President Vladimir Putin — who has at least 10,000 troops on Ukraine's border, according to NATO — "can escalate more with less cost" than the USA can, says Bruce Jones, director of the Project on International Order and Strategy at the Brookings Institution in Washington. That "could create a much more intensive war with high costs for Ukraine."

Instead, Obama has taken a measured approach that includes providing Ukraine with U.S. intelligence support, military training and advice while gradually imposing sanctions that hurt the Russian economy without causing it to collapse, Jones said.

However, Jones says the president hasn't done a good job of explaining that approach to the American public and the international community.

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My Comment: I think I have mentioned more than once that the civil war in eastern Ukraine is just one big black hole for money and resources as well as being a meat grinder for soldiers to die for. Sending U.S. military aid will not change the situation on the ground .... and in fact it will make it worse.

President Obama: Ukraine Does Not Need Lethal U.S. Military Aid Right now

Obama: No Need Yet For More U.S. Military Aid To Ukraine -- Reuters

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama said on Wednesday Ukraine did not need additional military assistance to help fight insurgents in the eastern part of the country but a Russian invasion would raise "a different set of questions."

Obama's comments came after NATO said on Wednesday Russia had massed some 20,000 troops on Ukraine's border and could use the pretext of a humanitarian mission to invade.

At a news conference at the conclusion of a U.S.-Africa summit in Washington, Obama was asked whether the United States would reconsider sending lethal aid to Ukraine.

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My Comment: President Obama is warning Russia to not interfere in Ukraine .... and that if they did .... all options would then be on the table. A year ago this type of talk was unthinkable .... today .... it has become standard.

U.S. To Assist Ukraine's Military In Targeting Pro-Russian Rebel Forces

U.S. President Barack Obama meets with Ukraine President-elect Petro Poroshenko in Warsaw June 4, 2014. (Reuters/Kevin Lamarque)

Pentagon Plan Would Help Ukraine Target Rebel Missiles -- New York Times

The Pentagon and American intelligence agencies are developing plans that would enable the Obama administration to provide specific locations of surface-to-air missiles controlled by Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine so the Ukrainian government could target them for destruction, American officials said.

But the proposal has not yet been debated in the White House, a senior administration official said. It is unclear whether President Obama, who has already approved limited intelligence sharing with Ukraine, will agree to give more precise information about potential military targets, a step that would involve the United States more deeply in the conflict.

Already, the question of what kind of intelligence support to give the Ukrainian government has become part of a larger debate within the administration about how directly to confront President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia and how big a role Washington should take in trying to stop Russia’s rapid delivery of powerful weapons to eastern Ukraine.

Read more ....

My Comment: I guess President Obama is making good on his promise last month to Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko that the U.S. will assist Ukraine's military. But as much as the White House and the New York Times tries to sugar-coat this possible military assistance .... bottom line .... if the U.S. starts to provide targeting coordinates for the Ukraine military .... the U.S. is now involved in this civil war. And if those coordinates are wrong and/or not given accurately .... and some of these military strikes end up destroying Russian military units and/or killing civilians on Russian soil .... what do you think is going to happen next?

As I had mentioned in an earlier post .... the possibility of miscalculation is now incredibly high .... and I sincerely do not think the White House knows what it is doing or has any sensitivity on what could be the consequences. It is damn the torpedoes .... full steam ahead.