Among other revelations in the seven-page contract dated Aug. 26, 2015,
the Kremlin has made an open-ended time commitment to its military deployment
in Syria, and either side can terminate it with a year’s notice.
Russian military personnel and shipments can pass in and out of Syria at
will and aren’t subject to controls by Syrian authorities, the document says.
Syrians can’t enter Russian bases without Russia’s permission. And Russia
disclaims any responsibility for damage caused by its activities inside Syria.
Since Russia’s bombing campaign started at the end of September, [Syrian
President Bashar al-]Assad’s forces have been able to recapture some territory
from rebels, and much of the humanitarian aid to the country has come to a
halt. A war that already looked intractable now seems more so.
Among all of the Obama administration’s strategic
errors — and Hillary Clinton’s personal blunders — our Russia policy is high on
the list. Recall that President Obama invited Russia to broker the chemical
weapons deal with Syria, while Clinton cheered from the sidelines. And it has
been downhill ever since.
In his State of the Union address, Obama astonishingly referred to our independent democratic ally
Ukraine as a “client state.” (“Even as their economy severely contracts, Russia
is pouring resources in to prop up Ukraine and Syria — client states that they
saw slipping away from their orbit.” Swell, and Russia’s troops are planted in
both.)
Talk about putting the welcome mat out for Russian
President Vladimir Putin and further unnerving our already shell-shocked
Eastern European allies. As we cede chunks of Europe and the Middle East to Vladimir Putin, he loses the fear that his aggression will be checked. This president
is afraid to confront him. Donald Trump wants to be his pal and also has
welcomed Putin’s presence in Syria. And Clinton was the one to give him the
reset button to begin with. What does Putin have to fear if he invades another
former Soviet state and turns Iraq and Syria into two more “client states”? The
next president must be the one with the strength and skill to put Putin back in
his box.
The irony is that we have all the leverage in the
world as energy prices, the source of his power and wealth, plummet. If the
United States were to rebuild its military, repair alliances, draw clear lines
and not immediately erase them, and put a spotlight on human rights abuses in
Russia and elsewhere, Putin would be in a tough jam. Instead, we’ve given him
permission to run rampant, repress his people at home and put Russia right back
into the Middle East as a dominant power. If Obama declares that the Cold War
is over, it is only because we are conceding to Russia –one “client state”
after another.
One of the GOP presidential contenders might make the case that the next
president cannot be either Trump or Clinton, neither of whom understand Putin
or know how to stop him. You see, making America great again does not mean we
cozy up to brutal dictators, abandon friends, concede spheres of influence and
refuse to use our economic might to our advantage. Whoever does that may break
Trump’s spell on the party and distinguish himself as a credible commander in
chief.
UPDATE: It is tempting to blame the State Department for approving “client
state” language, but it is very possible this was the creative writing at the
White House. A State Department spokesperson told me, “Over the past two years,
the United States has worked closely with our European and international
partners to help Ukraine defend its democracy and territorial integrity, and
the United States remains firmly committed to helping the Ukrainian people
build a country that is peaceful, prosperous, and free to chart its own
destiny.” Maybe
someone should fill in the president.
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