The missile strike in Ukraine against a civil airliner is a dramatic set of events in and of itself.
But given that the use of missiles by terrorists is an act which can be copied in the future, ensuring that the noose is tightened and pulled on the perpetrators is done quickly and rapidly.
But this is not a legal case, where sanctions are used to up the legal anti; this is a geopolitical crisis in which the pawns of war are terrorists who have demonstrated that the use of sophisticated weapons even against civil airliners does not lead to a lethal response.
Putin has clearly noted:
The MH17 crash must not be used for ‘selfish political ends’ and urged separatists to allow international experts access to the crash site.
Wearing a dark suit and looking tired and drawn during a rare television address, the Russian president insisted ‘all people’ in Ukraine had a responsibility to the families of the 298 passengers and crew who died last week.
But he added: ‘No-one has the right to use this tragedy for any kind of vested interest in the political sense. Such incidents should unite people rather than separate them.’
Rather than asking Putin to take responsibility for an action done on UKRAINIAN territory, the West should send force to cordon off the crash site and punish the Russian separatists immediately.
The Ukrainian government can ask NATO to come and to act NOW to protect Ukrainian and civilized interests. Putin can have no objection unless he is culpable in the incident.
It is time to stop “sanctioneering” and to insert force to protect the interests of civilization against a band of terrorists who believe they are justified in destroying the lives of innocent civilians and even worse than that move their bodies as if they were simply ducks bagged at a duck shoot.
We do not need a long reflective process or the President running a continuing Oprah Winfrey talk show, we need to reinforce Putin’s point: Russia does not have the right to use this tragedy for their vested interests.
And if NATO is wants to have its own talk show, cut the session short and the Ukraine and the United States can act.
The US created a Special Purpose MAGTF force now operating from Spain which could be in the area in a matter of hours to enforce the will of Ukraine and the civilized world. In addition, a NATO combat air patrol over Ukraine would immediately establish Air Dominance.
The NATO Supreme Commander General Philip Breedlove knows how to establish such a force over the Marines and any other NATO allies on a humanitarian mission to cordoning off the debris field. . The Commanding General made a very prophetic statement:
At a June 30 Pentagon news conference, NATO Supreme Commander Gen. Philip Breedlove said Russia had been providing air defense training to Russian separatists on its side of the border with Ukraine that focused on “vehicle-borne” surface-to-air missiles.
A vehicle-borne capability would involve a surface-to-air missile with a longer range than portable shoulder-fired missiles known as MANPADS.
To do less, is simply to continue the process where the US simply becomes a commentator on global events and sends diplomats to talk about what we do and do not like.
There is a straight line from Benghazi to the “red line,” to Iraq, to Crimea to terrorists turning civil airliners into a skeet shooting contest.
Maybe the President can not see the connection but the rest of the world can.
This piece first appeared on Family Security Matters.
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