Obama places Russia between the Ebola virus and international terrorism

Full speech here.
Video of speech here.

This is the except in which Russia and the Ukraine are mentioned:

(...)  Russia’s actions in Ukraine challenge this post-war order. Here are the facts. After the people of Ukraine mobilized popular protests and calls for reform, their corrupt President fled. Against the will of the government in Kiev, Crimea was annexed. Russia poured arms into Eastern Ukraine, fueling violent separatists and a conflict that has killed thousands. When a civilian airliner was shot down from areas that these proxies controlled, they refused to allow access to the crash for days. When Ukraine started to reassert control over its territory, Russia gave up the pretense of merely supporting the separatists, and moved troops across the border.

This is a vision of the world in which might makes right – a world in which one nation’s borders can be redrawn by another, and civilized people are not allowed to recover the remains of their loved ones because of the truth that might be revealed. America stands for something different. We believe that right makes might – that bigger nations should not be able to bully smaller ones; that people should be able to choose their own future.

These are simple truths, but they must be defended. America and our allies will support the people of Ukraine as they develop their democracy and economy. We will reinforce our NATO allies, and uphold our commitment to collective defense. We will impose a cost on Russia for aggression, and counter falsehoods with the truth. We call upon others to join us on the right side of history – for while small gains can be won at the barrel of a gun, they will ultimately be turned back if enough voices support the freedom of nations and peoples to make their own decisions.

Moreover, a different path is available – the path of diplomacy and peace and the ideals this institution is designed to uphold. The recent cease-fire agreement in Ukraine offers an opening to achieve that objective. If Russia takes that path – a path that for stretches of the post-Cold War period resulted in prosperity for the Russian people – then we will lift our sanctions and welcome Russia’s role in addressing common challenges. That’s what the United States and Russia have been able to do in past years – from reducing our nuclear stockpiles to meet our obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, to cooperating to remove and destroy Syria’s declared chemical weapons. And that’s the kind of cooperation we are prepared to pursue again—if Russia changes course. (...)

Basically, this is the same line as Poroshenko (which is really unsurprising since they used pretty much the same speechwriters).  The message to Russia is simple:"surrender or we will mobilize the entire planet against you".

Foreign Minister Lavrov commented: “As for the U.S. President’s speech, we earned the second place among the threats to international peace and stability: number one is the Ebola virus, number two is the so-called Russian aggression in Europe and ISIL and other terrorists who are now taking hold of the Middle East and primarily of the countries, which have evidenced U.S. interventions, are ranked as number three.”

Feel the love :-)

The Saker

The Terrorist in Chief by David Rovics

David is still, in my opinion, the "beautiful voice of the American Resistance".  I wrote about him in 2009, then I interviewed him, then I met him.  He still makes me laugh, and cry and hope.

The Saker



"Obama gave a speech, I wrote a song."

Terrorist In Chief

It's September 11th and Obama gave a speech

On the War on Terror and its mighty reach

The arm of the law is long and victory will be ours

As long as we cooperate with certain powers

Such as the ones who funded the Islamic State

The Saudis are our allies, of this there's no debate

The misogynist king will bring us some relief

From the Caliphate – so said the Terrorist-In-Chief

It's September 11th, listen to the man

Talk about successes in Afghanistan

Still the world's poorest country, still beneath the yoke

Of the very terrorists whose back he claimed we broke

Now we're at war with IS in Syria and Iraq

Though we can't support the main army that's fighting back

They're terrorists too, though with a secular belief

So down with Assad! So said the Terrorist-In-Chief

It's September 11th and there's someone on the screen

I'm still trying to figure out what he means

The Peshmerga are ours now, we give them air support

While just across the border, lives cut short

By our Turkish allies, also in this fight

As they kill our infantry when they have them in their sights

There are some things not worth mentioning, he's got to keep it brief

So said the Terrorist-In-Chief

It's September 11th and I'm hearing every sound

3,200 boots, but they don't really touch the ground

And all the mercenaries, they don't really count

These details don't matter when there's a campaign to mount

Just listen closely, the White House has it sussed

We'll protect those refugees, these oil cans won't rust

No, not Honduran kids – Yazidi ones, good grief

So said the Terrorist-In-Chief