The Insane Anti-Russian Foreign Policy

Let me get this straight...

• In 1999, the U.S. bombed Serbia to help Moslem gangsters in Kosovo gain independence.
• Last year, the U.S. came close to bombing Syrian forces to help a rebel coalition with strong Al Qaeda ties.
• And now, when the Crimean parliament seeks peaceful secession from Ukraine, that's "unacceptable" according to the U.S.
• The U.S. bombed Libya and continues drone warfare in several countries, but lectures Russia about breaking international law. 

Why these hypocritical policies? That's easy...

• Serbia had close ties to Russia.
• The Syrian government is more or less allied with Russia.
• Crimea wants to join Russia.

Now, the latter point is debatable. Russia did invade the region, but it did so without resistance. Whether you think the majority of the people want to leave Ukraine depends on which propaganda vehicle you believe.

But if the desire to leave Ukraine, whose government is both broke and broken, runs deep, isn't it anti-democratic to stop a referendum on the issue?

And shouldn't peaceful, democratic secessions be supported?

Does it matter to anybody accept a humiliated Ukrainian government which country Crimea is a part of?

(In any case, Russia's bad behavior in the Ukraine crisis is more justifiable than how the U.S. acted in Serbia and Syria. At least its, however misguided, based on a calculation of Russia's own interests.)

The pattern here is an anti-Russian foreign policy vigorously pursued since the end of the Cold War. It included intervention in the Balkan wars in the early-mid 1990's and the expansion of NATO.

If adults were in charge of foreign policy in the post-Cold War era, a policy of friendship, trade, and cooperation with Russia would have been pursued. And while I believe in non-intervention in foreign conflicts and don't believe it's the role of the U.S. to fix the world's problems, to the extent we did so we could have called upon Russia to be a partner in seeking solutions.  

But no, instead the U.S. tried to alienate and isolate Russia at virtually every turn, up to and including fomenting revolution in Russia's neighbor Ukraine. The Crimean invasion wouldn't have happened otherwise.

Our foreign policy "leaders," both elected and appointed,are stupid and evil.