‘No red lines’ invites war in Ukraine

While American media focus attention on the ongoing war in Gaza, Europe faces the prospect of a far more devastating conflict in Ukraine.

The effort to organize more costly sanctions against Russian aggression deserves support but it represents too little, too late. Putin’s regime doesn’t even hide its open backing for separatist thugs in Eastern Ukraine – the same monstrous killers who shot down a Malaysian airliner and murdered some 300 innocents.

The problem for President Obama in dealing with this worsening crisis is a lack of credibility: previous administration “red lines” proved meaningless in Syria, Libya, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and around the world.

After the Obama administration retreated in shame and agreed to let Russia handle the criminal use of chemical weapons by the Syrian regime, Putin learned that with the current president he could violate international norms with near impunity.