Obama with Ukrainian PM                                         Bush with Afghan president

US is deeply involved in the Ukraine crisis, and there is nothing the American people can do about it. Is there Anyone in Washington who Represents the People of America?

It’s very awkward, downward hypocritical to shout at Obama to stop meddling in other countries’ affairs. US has been doing that for eons and there is no end in sight. Suffice to listen to the republican rhetoric and you get a sense that non-involvement is not an option. In fact, if you listen carefully, you’d be right to assume that they would want Obama to go to war with Russia, over Ukraine? I abstain myself from mentioning a similar situation during the Bush administration when Russia invaded Georgia (country in eastern Europe) during which time there was no comment from any republican encouraging Bush to go to war with Russia. I digress.

Why is US involved in the Ukraine crisis? I couldn’t locate Ukraine in the US Map and I have yet to hear any rationale that makes US involvement in that crisis worthwhile; even the cliche that it is in the US interest has not been used. Shouldn’t the people of the United States decide whether to get involved in international crisis? After all, they are always left to foot up the bill; the Obama administration already put up a $1 billion dollar loan guarantee for the “not yet functioning” Ukrainian government. And yes the taxpayers here in the United States have to foot the bill for something they have no say over. Is there anyone in Washington who represents the People of the United States? It seems at best that the interests of everyone in the world are represented and addressed in Washington, except those of the American people.

Obama’s meeting with the “Sky Miles collector” Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk in the Oval Office is reminiscent of George W. Bush meeting with the president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai; both US presidents reassured their foreign counterparts the unwavering support of the American people, which translates to expending the American soldiers’ lives and burdening the American taxpayers with more debt. The major flaw in those declarations is that the American people are never aware of what they are providing their support for, let alone agree to it. As the Ukraine crisis makes it crystal clear, the problem doesn’t begin with nor is confined to the Obama administration; it is a plague in Washington. The cost to the American people is very high.

The worst is yet to come, as the Obama administration is repeating the same mistakes George W. Bush made when Russia invaded Georgia. As history has it, Mr. George Bush expressed his concerns to Putin at a meeting in Beijing while his vice-president Dick Cheney was reassuring then Georgia president Mikheil Saakashvili that he has full US support. See any similarity to the crisis in Ukraine?

It is perhaps time for the American people to start thinking seriously how to change Washington from a hangout for lobbyists, special interest groups and self-serving politicians to a place that truly belongs to the People of America.

Follow Mike Ducheine on Twitter: @mducheiney

Share your comments