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OpEdNews Op Eds    H2'ed 3/27/14

America Checkmated in the Eurasian Geopolitical Chess Game

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Michael Payne
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We are witnessing the unfolding of events that may well be a precursor of things to come. The U.S. government finds itself in a position in which it is unable to use the power of its influence and military force to dominate and prevail. I speak, of course, of the very tenuous situation in Ukraine and Crimea where Russia and its President Putin are in control and have no intention of backing off.

 

Russia made a swift and bold move into Ukraine and Crimea, taking control of that region, and catching the U.S. government completely by surprise. It would seem that the NSA world monitoring and spying system completely failed to pick up what Russia was planning to do. At this point about all America and its Western allies can do is to try to react to this strategic move but their possible counter moves are few if any.

 

What happened there has been a monumental blow to America's military hubris. It's very difficult for the war hawks that are so thoroughly embedded in the various parts of this government to accept the reality of what has happened. They are so used to applying this country's military power at will in any part of this world, anytime they see fit; just as they have done in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan and numerous other countries. But, suddenly, they are stymied.

 

What's going on in this very strategic region of the world can be thought of as a geopolitical chess match between two masters. We might refer to President Putin as the modern-day version of Russia's former world champion chessmaster Garry Kasparov and President Obama playing the role of the former American champion, Bobby Fischer.

 

In the game of chess the winning move is called a checkmate, one in which a player's king is "in check", that is, in danger of being captured and there is no way to escape. At that point the game is over. So In this geopolitical game of chess in Crimea/Ukraine, to the complete dismay of the U.S. government, it didn't take long for Putin of Russia to declare a checkmate.

Mr. Obama and his inner circle maintain that this kind of intrusion cannot be tolerated and that Putin and Russia will pay a terrible price for what they have done; that strong sanctions by the U.S. and its Western allies will follow and bring Russia to its knees; Russia and Putin will wish that they had never committed this violation of international law.

Now, let's talk about pure hypocrisy. In an attempt to label Russia as an international criminal state it's been reported that Mr. Obama made this absolutely astounding statement in which he defended the U.S. invasion of Iraq in an attempt to chastise Russia for recent developments in Crimea and Ukraine.

He said: "Russia has pointed to America's decision to go into Iraq as an example of Western hypocrisy. Now, it is true that the Iraq war was a subject of vigorous debate, not just around the world but in the United States, as well. I participated in that debate, and I opposed our military intervention there."

"But even in Iraq, America sought to work within the international system. We did not claim or annex Iraq's territory. We did not grab its resources for our own gain. Instead, we ended our war and left Iraq to its people in a fully sovereign Iraqi state that can make decisions about its own future." What he failed to mention is that Iraq and its people were devastated by the massive power of the U.S. military.

What is with this president? He's now actually defending one of the greatest military debacles in world history. What he is doing in this tense situation is not using reason and rationality to bring it under control but trying to shift world opinion against Russia by grossly distorting historical fact and attempting to rewrite history. Does he think that anyone is going to buy into such an obvious and blatant misstatement of what happened in Iraq?

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