Rep. Pascrell Calls It Russian Invasion; Seeks Military Aid

Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-9th District) is the latest member of congress to state without fear and smokescreens that Russia has invaded Ukraine – not escalated its aggression.

During a meeting yesterday with Ukrainian American community representatives in his district office in Paterson, NJ, Pascrell said he wants the US to provide arms to Ukraine as that it defends its people and land against Russian troops and mercenaries inside its borders.

In a letter to House leadership, Pascrell urged Speaker John Boehner to act on the Ukraine Security Assistance Act of 2014 (H.R. 5190), which he helped introduce that would authorize the President to work with the Government of Ukraine to assess that country’s military, intelligence, and security needs and provide adequate and necessary assistance to protect Ukrainian democracy and sovereignty. This week, Pascrell also joined his colleagues on the House Ukrainian Caucus in sending a letter to House and Senate leadership urging them to invite Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to address Congress during his expected visit to the US later this month.

The Ukrainian American community, led by the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, has launched a campaign to bring Poroshenko to the halls of Congress to explain what he happening in Ukraine.

Pascrell wrote in his letter to Boenher:
“Congress returns from recess next week to a dramatically changed landscape in Ukraine. For months, we have known that the Russian government was providing weapons and support to separatists in Ukraine’s east. Over the past several weeks, Russia has escalated its campaign by invading Ukraine directly. The United States must stand with the people of Ukraine against this aggression and provide them with the ability to defend themselves. To that end, before Congress recesses for the November elections, we must act on legislation giving the President the authority he needs to assist the people of Ukraine defend their country. 

“The Russian military, one of the world’s largest, had been massing at the eastern border of Ukraine since the crisis began. After the illegal annexation of Crimea, Russia’s clandestine support of separatists groups across Ukraine’s east escalated after the Ukrainian government attempted to reclaim its territory. This support tragically culminated in the shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 with Russian provided weaponry, killing 298 people.

“However, this tragedy did not deter President Putin. Since mid-August, we have seen undeniable evidence that the Russian military is crossing the border with Ukraine and fighting directly with Ukrainian forces. President Putin has reportedly bragged about his ability to conquer the capital of Ukraine in “two weeks,” if he wanted.

“The Ukrainian military is severely outmatched by the Russian soldiers currently invading their country, and needs our support. Congress must not stand by and let Russia continue this pattern of aggression and flaunting of international norms. I am a co-sponsor of HR 5190, the Ukraine Security Assistance Act of 2014, which authorizes the President to provide Ukraine with the equipment they need to defend themselves from this invasion, including weapons, body armor and night navigation equipment. I believe this legislation would be an appropriate starting point for any action you are considering the House take. 

“It is vital the House act before we recess for the November elections. During the five weeks of recess this summer, Russia’s support for the rebels in Ukraine escalated to a full blown invasion. There is no telling how many lives could be lost or how much further Russia will escalate its invasion if Congress fails to act for another two months.”
Congressman Pascrell is optimistic that this war could last until November. Ukraine needs US military aid immediately. Ukrainian Americans will be grateful for this type of support for their ancestral homeland.

Words of NATO Support Welcome but Cheap

President Poroshenko’s meeting earlier today with five NATO heads of state was indeed an auspicious occasion for Ukraine, which has been dragged into an eight-month-long war by Russia.

Indeed, the words of support without a doubt resounded favorably among hopeful Ukrainian ears. Conversely they must have sounded like fingernails scratching an old-fashioned chalkboard to Putin.

Poroshenko correctly called the meeting with Prime Minister of the United Kingdom David Cameron, President of the United States Barack Obama, Federal Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel, Prime Minister of Italy Matteo Renzi and President of France François Hollande “outstanding.” Ukraine had been in the presence of European leaders in the past but never was it the center of attention during a time of war with its arch enemy.

“Unique format of the meeting demonstrates support of NATO countries to the territorial integrity of Ukraine which faces foreign aggression,” Poroshenko said at the beginning of the meeting. “There is an understanding that supporting Ukraine, supporting peace, stability and de-escalation of the situation in the East of Ukraine, they maintain stability of Europe and the world. It is not only the issue of Ukrainian conflict, it is a global issue.”

The Ukrainian president added that he had never felt such “powerful support” for Ukraine by NATO heads of states.

NATO leadership’s words of support are welcome but with Russian regular troops and mercenaries fighting Ukrainian military forces on Ukrainian territory something more is expected. The 200 US soldiers heading to Ukraine for war games and the soldiers, ships and planes from other supportive countries is equally welcome but not enough to stop the Russian advance.

Poroshenko laid a pragmatic plan for acceding to the EU and NATO that would take into consideration naysayers in Ukraine.

"In order to touch upon the issue of joining the Alliance, Ukraine must carry out a series of reforms. That is why we are paying much attention to reformation and modernization of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. We will develop our defense sector to the level of NATO," he said.

"Next week we will provide a program of reforms elaborated jointly with the EU and NATO," he added.

Finally, "When the country will meet all the criteria of membership, when the people of Ukraine will decide how and when the accession to the block will happen.”

The future of Ukraine’s global acceptance – or at least by the EU and NATO – looks promising but the enemy is already fighting inside Ukraine. It should be clear to the five NATO leaders that words alone will not force Putin to withdraw his armies back into Russia.

Poroshenko thanked the alliance “for the practical help and assistance provided to Ukraine in recent months – humanitarian assistance to the civilian population affected by the armed conflict; advisory support; medical treatment of injured Ukrainian servicemen.”

He then outlined the steps that should be taken before serious consideration can be given to Ukraine’s NATO membership, including improving cooperation.

“We agreed that our further cooperation will be focused on achieving full interoperability between Ukraine and NATO and developing joint capabilities in military, defence and security sectors.

“We will strengthen our intensive cooperation with NATO in defence and security sector through development and capacity building programmes, focusing on reforms of Ukrainian armed forces and other security structures.

“The second important element of the new NATO-Ukraine cooperation Strategic Framework is Ukraine’s participation in Partnership Interoperability Initiative.

“This will allow us to maintain a high level of interoperability between Ukrainian and NATO forces achieved though continuous participation of our national contingents in NATO-led missions and operations, joint military exercises, NATO Response Force.

“Last but not least element of the new Framework is further deepening of NATO-Ukraine Distinctive Partnership.

“We consider this Partnership to be an integral part of Ukraine’s European integration course… Such an approach will create necessary synergy between Ukraine’s European integration and Euro-Atlantic cooperation tracks.”

Poroshenko spoke well and the other NATO leaders spoke well. There was as much substance in what was said as in what was omitted and Moscow certainly studies both.

The Washington Post opined in an editorial titled “Ukraine Deserves Support from NATO Countries Even if It’s not Part of the Alliance: “Intentionally or not, the White House and NATO are sending Mr. Putin the message that Ukraine can be sacrificed. ‘Ukraine is not a member of NATO,’ Mr. Obama gratuitously stated last week while downplaying the Russian invasion as nothing new. A White House official told reporters that the president’s message to Moscow is, ‘Don’t even think about messing around in Estonia or in any of the Baltic areas in the same way that you’ve been messing around in Ukraine.’”

The point is, NATO leaders, that the front is already in Ukraine, not Estonia. Ukraine is where Ukrainians and their kindred spirits in NATO and beyond must make their stand against Russian imperialism.

Truce Now is Sellout and Defeat

There is absolutely no reason for Ukraine to sue for truce in its war with Russia or to agree to a ceasefire.

All of the arguments against such a dangerous move are in Ukraine’s favor – morally, politically and hopefully militarily.

In January of this year, without provocation or declaration, Russia invaded Crimea, occupied the Ukrainian peninsula and the fabricated a referendum that led to Moscow’s annexation of this portion of indivisible Ukrainian territory. A few months later, Russian mercenary terrorists began crossing Ukraine’s eastern border and waging a bloody war to conquer its eastern and southeastern regions.

Putin’s proclaimed reason for this war, in which he emphasized he was not involved, was to defend the interests of Russian-speaking Ukrainians. This was a bald-faced scam because since the start of the demonstrations across Ukraine, Maidan, and finally the anti-Yanukovych revolution, at least half of the activists as well as the martyred protesters were Russian-speaking Ukrainians, who wanted to live in a Ukraine that was not tied to Russia. They wanted to take advantage of the opportunities that Europe could provide them but were denied by Yanukovych and Putin. By brushing aside Putin’s lies, the truth behind his invasion of Ukraine becomes obvious: He wants to re-subjugate Ukraine, recreate the glory of imperial Russia and keep NATO away from its borders.

The war that Russia unabashedly launched against Ukraine was bloody with thousands of civilians and soldiers killed. Firing rockets and artillery from Russia into Ukraine, Russia destroyed Ukrainian towns, military aircraft and armored vehicles as well as Malaysian civilian airliner MH17 that claimed nearly 300 passengers and shocked the world.

At first, the Russian mercenary forces scored several key victories but in time the Ukrainian counterattack consisting of the regular army, National Guard of Ukraine and the volunteer militia battalions began liberating vast regions of occupied eastern Ukraine.

Throughout this time, Washington, the other capitals and NATO halfheartedly, and in disbelief, protested against Russia’s violation of international law. Sanctions were applied and the Russian economy as well as its billionaires reportedly lost billions of dollars. But the war that Russia launched against Ukraine did not stop and Russian troops did not withdraw.

Petro Poroshenko was elected president and apparently inspired Ukrainian soldiers to victory. They began to liberate more and more towns and villages to the cheers of the local population. Poroshenko gave Ukraine what it had lacked: a patriotic, nationally-minded head of state who was not afraid to lead his nation to victory against Russia.

With Russian mercenaries turning tail, Putin decided to up the ante by sending in regular Russian soldiers with heavy armor, tanks and artillery. The tens of thousands of regular Russian troops that were amassed on Ukraine’s border began crossing it and repelling Ukrainian soldiers. The world was quite aware of this expanded invasion as NATO released photographs of the assault.

What has been odd is that leading capitals and even the United Nations were not fooled by what Russia has been doing but they were paralyzed into inactivity.

World leaders, specifically, the EU, again threated to increase what was called sectoral sanctions against Russia if Moscow did not halt its invasion within a week. Why wait a week?

This fateful paper threat showed Putin that his adversaries around the world were not worth listening to. So his invasion was again intensified to the point where Ukraine, which is on the verge of getting special status with the EU and NATO, was forced to agree to another ceasefire with Russia, which violated the previous two truces. Actually, as pundits have written, Russia has never lived up to any of its treaty obligations.

If that wasn’t enough, Putin threated the United States and Ukraine with nuclear weapons if they continue to defy his will.

The US and EU hoped for a political solution to this war that Ukraine did not start and probably coaxed Kyiv into considering another truce with Russia. According to published reports, Putin claims to be urging his mercenaries to submit to this ceasefire but they are reportedly rejecting his requests.

Let’s say there is a truce. What happens with the Russian army and mercenaries that are occupying a vast amount of Ukrainian territory? Will they be allowed to stay? How long? They killed innocent civilians with small arms fire and artillery explosions to such a degree that the United Nations called attention to this cruel mayhem. Will Kyiv be forced to cede those oblasts to Russia like it did Crimea? Will the world tolerate this transgression of international law for all eternity? Why is Ukraine the world’s sacrificial lamb?

None of this is fair but war isn’t fair. It merely must be quickly ended. There can be no truce as long as Russian soldiers and mercenaries are in Ukraine. They must capitulate and withdraw to a safe distance inside Russia and then the world can talk about a truce and a political solution. Not before. A ceasefire now would be tantamount to a sellout and defeat for Ukraine.

As for the US, EU and NATO, they would be to blame for Ukraine’s defeat and re-subjugation by Russia. They would be held up to scorn by the other former captive nations that perhaps naively looked to them for protection from Russia’s continuing onslaught.

The few hundred troops that the US, NATO and other countries have dispatched to Eastern Europe are woefully insufficient to make a dent in Putin’s plans. What could make him sit up and listen is if the UN, NATO and European allies would send several D-Day-sized armies and air forces into the Carpathian Mountains for war games and if their navies would be dispatched to the Baltic and Black seas for maneuvers.

If not, then  Putin, seated in his office in the Kremlin, recognizing that no one can stop him, would be plotting who’s next. 

Invasion Isn’t a Matter of Terminology

The US State Department – popularly referred to as Foggy Bottom – is living up to that moniker by attempting to conceal what Russia has perpetrated against Ukraine.

According to Justin Sink of The Hill, the White House is not ready to designate last week’s Russian combat troop movements in southeastern Ukraine an “invasion” despite warnings from Kyiv and NATO that military forces had crossed the border.

This is in contrast to countless history books that have said that when armies of one country cross the border into another country to wage war against its soldiers and citizens it is an invasion. It was called an invasion when armies of the Third Reich crossed the border into sovereign Poland in September 1939 and defeated Poland in a month.

State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki avoided questions about whether a full-scale invasion had occurred last Thursday, noting the query was “a discussion about terminology.”

“It doesn’t change what kind of support we are providing, what kind of discussions are happening within the administration,” Psaki said in an interview with MSNBC.

“What we’ve seen here is an escalation of aggression by the Russians. A pattern, actually, over the last several months, that's what we're concerned about and that's what we're watching closely,” she added.

Psaki offered this lame observation despite the fact that NATO called the Russian incursion into Ukraine an invasion and Ihor Prokopchuk, Ukraine’s envoy to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, told NBC News “What we registered is a direct invasion of the Russian military into the eastern regions of Ukraine.”

Psaki warned that the US and other world powers were considering even more drastic sanctions against Moscow and had “a range of tools at our disposal” to respond to what they regard as aggression. “There are still sanctions we could do,” she said.

Ukrainians and Ukrainian Americans appreciate US support for Ukraine but the word aggression does not convey the extent of what Russia has been doing to Ukraine since January. Moscow has been aggressive toward Ukraine for centuries and that aggression turned into an inevitable violent invasion and war this year.

Refusing to admit that Russian combat troops have invaded Ukraine signals US weakness to Russia. Denying this Russian invasion is also a futile attempt by Washington to shield itself from having to undertake forceful steps to repel Russian invaders from sovereign Ukraine.

Ambassador Samantha Power, US Permanent Representative to the UN, who is known for her forceful rebuking of Russian UN Permanent Representative Vitaliy Churkin, cautioned on August 8, some three weeks before last week’s Russian invasion: “Therefore, any further unilateral intervention by Russia into Ukrainian territory – including one under the guise of providing humanitarian aid – would be completely unacceptable and deeply alarming. And it would be viewed as an invasion of Ukraine.”

That finally happened.

Pugnacious Putin Flaunts His Nuclear Arsenal

Russian President Vladimir Putin in the past week twice shook world leaders back to reality by reminding them not to box Russia into a corner because it wields a vast arsenal of nuclear weapons.

Yes, today Putin is not President Obama’s reset partner, with whom he can talk about world peace, security and stability. If any discussion about the future of the planet should surface, then Vladimir Putin would lead the conversation while everyone else follows quietly.

For too long the US, EU and other regional associations have allowed Russia to pursue its foreign policy goals with impunity. Periodically the United States would stand up and oppose Russia’s policies and occasionally Moscow would appear to relent only to re-emerge stronger. Basically, it was an innocent cat and mouse game between Moscow and Washington until January 2014, when Russia invaded the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea, occupied it and after a fabricated referendum, it annexed Crimea for itself. And even that was unthinkable for many to accept.

Like an animal after its first bloody kill, Moscow would not be harnessed into submission and it would not be satiated. It again tested its military prowess on the battlefield of Ukraine by sending in its mercenaries and then its regular army. The west halfheartedly protested at first and then reluctantly introduced sanctions but it was not able to subdue Moscow.

Nonetheless the free world continued to yelp in Ukraine’s defense until Moscow reminded Washington and its allies that it has nuclear weapons.

With the x-captive nations anticipation turning to the NATO summit later this week, and amid growing international criticism for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ahead of President Barack Obama’s visit to Wales for a NATO summit and to Estonia next week, Putin blithely cautioned his opponents “it is better not to mess with Russia” because it is “one of the most powerful nuclear nations.”

Putin chose to express this warning last week at a youth camp as ITAR-TASS quoted him as saying: “I want to say immediately that Russia is far from getting involved into any large-scale conflicts. We do not want and do not intend to do this. I want to remind you that Russia is one of the most powerful nuclear nations. This is a reality, not just words," Putin went on to say. "We are strengthening our nuclear deterrence forces and our armed forces. They are getting more compact and more efficient at the same time. They are getting more modernized in terms of their supply with the latest armaments. We continue building up this potential and we'll be doing this in the future," Putin said. Earlier stories quotes him as saying that Russia would allocated $500 billion toward enhancing its military and nuclear capabilities.

The reminder was not merely a campfire story for up and coming Russian chauvinists. It was clearly meant as a signal to timid Western leaders that they would have to deal with a possible Russian nuclear retaliation if they decided to protect Ukraine and the other x-captive nations. 

Putin said Moscow is enhancing its nuclear power not “to threaten anyone but to feel secure and calm and have the possibilities to implement those plans, which we have for the development of the economy and the social sphere.”

“We must always be ready to repel any aggression against Russia and our partners should always be aware that no matter in which condition their governments may be or which foreign policy concepts they may pursue, it is better not to come against Russia as regards a possible armed conflict,” Putin said.

The Daily Beast specifically noted “that same day, Putin used a term for eastern Ukraine meaning ‘New Russia.’ So when he refers to repelling ‘any aggression against Russia’ and speaks of ‘nuclear deterrence,’ as he did on Friday, the Russian president is really warning us he will use nukes to protect his grab of Ukrainian territory.”

While he stunned the world with his outright warning that he would not think twice about retaliating with nuclear weapons, this was not the first time that Putin and any Russian leader said they would use the nuclear option. Over the years, Putin has said that Russia is rebuilding its military might to repel any enemy that dares to oppose or invade it. Furthermore, its defense and security policies embed the language of nuclear deterrence as Russia proceeds to rebuild the ancient glory of the Russian empire.

Reading Putin is like reading Hitler. You have to believe both of them.

Italian newspaper La Repubblica reported that Putin bragged in a phone call to European Commission President Jose Manual Barroso that he could “seize Kyiv in two weeks” if he wanted to.

As for vanquishing Ukraine, Ukrainian Minister of Defense Valeriy Heletey said Russia has threatened Ukraine with nuclear retaliation if it continues to fight Russian mercenaries in eastern Ukraine.

Writing on his Facebook page yesterday, Heletey said: “The Russian side has threatened on several occasions across unofficial channels that, in the case of continued resistance they are ready to use a tactical nuclear weapon against us.”

He also said Russia’s “hybrid war” in Ukraine is at an end, accusing Russia of attempting a “full-scale invasion.” Heletey called for all Ukrainian forces to “consolidate” and “begin building defenses against Russia,” insisting today “the operation to liberate the eastern Ukraine against terrorism is complete.”

None of this is some rabid American conservative’s speculation about what Russia would do if provoked. None of this is the assumption of a Ukrainian nationalist leader about Russia’s plans for dominating Ukraine and the world.

They are words, threats and plans expressed today by the leader by one of the world’s greatest nuclear powers. A leader who has shaken hands with other world leaders. The other world leader does not yet have a military plan about combating Russia and protecting Ukraine and the x-captive nations. In the meantime, some government officials in Kyiv have perhaps correctly said that Ukraine surrendered its nuclear arsenal too quickly and it should begin rebuilding its stockpile.

Putin’s War Won’t Stop in Ukraine and Eastern Europe

More evidence is surfacing about Putin’s intentions to expand his war beyond Ukraine and even Eastern Europe.

Dmitri Trenin, director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, said recently on The World Tonight program on BBC Radio 4, that after launching war against Ukraine, Putin will not stop in Poland or the Baltics, He could even continue to Western Europe.

“Putin believes that he is the president in wartime. And he will make every effort to keep Ukraine out of NATO, so that in its territory there aren’t American or other western soldiers. He supports militants in eastern Ukraine because of that – it’s the only card he can play,” said Trenin.

Recently, other pundits have made similar observations.

According to the UK’s Independent, Andrej Illarionov, Putin’s chief economic adviser from 2000 to 2005, Putin seeks to create “historical justice” with a return to the days of the last Tsar, Nicholas II, and the Soviet Union under Stalin. What The Torn Curtain 1991 has referred to as Russia’s manifest destiny.

Speaking to the Swedish newspaper Svenska Dagbladet, Illarionov warned that Russia will argue that the granting of independence to Finland in 1917 was an act of “treason against national interests.”

“Putin’s view is that he protects what belongs to him and his predecessors,” Illarionov said.  “Parts of Georgia, Ukraine, Belarus, the Baltic States and Finland are states where Putin claims to have ownership.

And then there’s Zhirinovsky, the outspoken Russian chauvinist and leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR), who a few weeks ago spewed a series of threats against the x-captive nations.

Zhirinovsky, a deputy speaker of Russia’s lower house of parliament, not only threatened those countries, he also suggested launching pre-emptive strikes against Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia, as well as Poland. He justified the remarks by suggesting that Russia “cannot allow” peripheral nations’ missile defenses and air forces to be within striking distance of Russia, and that Russia should seek to destroy them “a half hour before they launch,” according to the Euromaidan website.

As for the latest threat to world peace and stability, Trenin cautioned the free world about Putin’s objectives, saying that everyone should be concerned by his saber rattling.

“If the situation really comes to war, I do not think that all will end only in Ukraine. Others in Europe, I mean outside the Baltics and Eastern Europe, will suffer from this war,” he said.

Trenin added that Western sanctions will not halt Putin because his designs are “not about the investment climate, but rather they’re more existential issues.”

US and NATO intelligence officers must not belittle these experts’ opinions. It would be folly if they didn’t advise their political leaders about the danger of these threats and to undertake appropriate military preparations.

All Ukrainians must be Paul Reveres

Not all Ukrainians everywhere have the righteous opportunity to enlist in any Ukrainian military detachment and fight in Ukraine’s war of independence against Russia. But all Ukrainians everywhere have the opportunity and responsibility to become Paul Reveres.

Whether at midnight or midday, we must sound the clarion that the Russians are coming, the Russians are coming.

For eight months since Viktor Yanukoyvch was ousted from the presidency of Ukraine, Russia has been fulfilling its manifest destiny by first invading and annexing Crimea, and then sending its mercenary terrorists to main and kill Ukrainian civilians and soldiers in eastern Ukraine. Putin, like Hitler, warned he would do so in the summer of 2013. Today, just as then, no one listened or believed the threat.

At the same time global leaders and institutions, like stunned deer caught staring into headlights in a dark forest, have treaded gingerly around Moscow’s flagrant belligerence against Ukraine not even daring to elevate the stakes by using words such as war and invasion.

Ukrainians around the world must use all forms of communication to announce that what is happening in eastern Ukraine today is Russia’s inevitable war of aggression against Ukraine. Indeed, over time it will expand to the other former captive nations unless Putin is stopped.

Leaders of the free world must realize that Russia’s war against Ukraine is the beginning of the war for the future of civilization. Talk, pleas, threats and sanctions haven’t stopped the war. Our way of life is at stake and success rests in the willingness of the US, Canada, UK, NATO, Australia and others to resolutely stop Putin’s advancing armies.

Ukrainians and the other x-captive nations must bring this message to their congresses and parliaments and seats of government. The world rallied around the call to stop Hitler in 1939, and now it must rally around the call to stop Putin in 2014 before it is too late.