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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Tom Friedman: "Why Putin Doesn't Respect Us" /// U.S. Credibility Problem

Vladimir Putin: Homophobe

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FRIEDMAN: Why Putin doesn't respect us. "There is much nonsense being written about how Vladimir Putin showed how he is 'tougher' than Barack Obama and how Obama now needs to demonstrate his manhood. This is how great powers get drawn into the politics of small tribes and end up in great wars that end badly for everyone. We vastly exaggerate Putin's strength -- so does he -- and we vastly underestimate our own strength, and ability to weaken him through nonmilitary means." Thomas Friedman in The New York Times.

ROBINSON: With Ukraine crisis, the U.S. has a credibility problem. "Is it just me, or does the rhetoric about the crisis in Ukraine sound as if all of Washington is suffering from amnesia? We're supposed to be shocked -- shocked! -- that a great military power would cook up a pretext to invade a smaller, weaker nation? I'm sorry, but has everyone forgotten the unfortunate events in Iraq a few years ago? My sentiments, to be clear, are with the legitimate Ukrainian government, not with the neo-imperialist regime in Russia. But the United States, frankly, has limited standing to insist on absolute respect for the territorial integrity of sovereign states."Eugene Robinson in The Washington Post.



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