A letter authored by 8 Republican congressmen on the House Armed Services Committee urged President Obama on Wednesday to take a tougher stance against Russia’s actions.
The letter comes after tensions on Capitol Hill rose due to a report that U.S. and European security agencies estimated that Russia has deployed more than 30,000 soldiers along its border with eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian soldiers only just began their defeated departure from Crimea on Tuesday when the news came of more possible invasions.
“It is time to stop speculating about possibility, and start dealing with reality,” committee chairman Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif. said, “Continued inaction by the President in the face of Mr. Putin’s invasion will make further Russian aggression more – not less – likely. Any show of resolve from the White House will have my full support.”
According to Fox News, the authors are “gravely concerned” about this newest development and want to see a greater sharing of information between the US and its allies and the Ukraine in order to aid in preparation for more possible incursions.
This is an especially scary situation that has even jaded veterans worried. “It’s remarkable concern,” said an anonymous source. “There are senior people here are more concerned than I have ever seen them.”
Another source said that information that flooded Capitol Hill Wednesday “reflects a deteriorating situation which prompted very serious concern.”
“There is deep apprehension that Moscow may invade eastern and southern Ukraine, pressing west to Transdniestria, and also seek land grabs in the Baltics,” the letter says.
NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander General Philip Breedlove will be on Capitol Hill Thursday to speak to lawmakers from both the House and Senate in closed meetings about this terrifying possibility that Moscow would move to expand its territory by annexing other lands in the near future.
Will this latest development spur the administration to get tougher on Russia? Or will they continue to threaten impotent sanctions? I suppose only time will tell.
Image Via Wikimedia Commons
