Chairman Of Joint Chiefs: U.S. Ready For "Military Response" In Ukraine
By Tyler Durden
By Tyler Durden
March 12, 2014 "Information Clearing House -
"Zero Hedge"-
With diplomacy having failed miserably to resolve the Russian
annexation of Crimea, and soon East Ukraine (and with John Kerry in
charge of it, was there ever any doubt), the US is moving to the heavy
artillery. First, moments ago, the US DOE announced in a shocking
announcement that it would proceed with the first draw down and sale of
crude from the US strategic petroleum reserve, the first since June
2011, in what it said was a "test sale to check the operational
capabilities of system infrastructure", but is really just a shot across
the bow at Putin for whom high commodity prices are orders of magnitude
more important than how the Russian stock market performs.
And now, as
Bloomberg just reported, the US has escalated even further, citing the
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey, who "has
claimed that in the case of an escalation of unrest in Crimea, the U.S.
Army is ready to back up Ukraine and its allies in Europe with military
actions."
So much for those peaceful hour long phone calls between Obama and Putin.
From Bloomberg:
According
to the Web site of the Atlantic Council, Dempsey said that "he's been
talking to his military counterparts in Russia, but he's also sending a
clear message to Ukraine and members of NATO that the U.S. military will
respond militarily if necessary."
"We're
trying to tell [Russia] not to escalate this thing further into Eastern
Ukraine, and allow the conditions to be set for some kind of resolution
in Crimea. We do have treaty obligations with our NATO allies. And I
have assured them that if that treaty obligation is triggered [in
Europe], we would respond," Dempsey said.
According
to the General, the incursion of Russian troops into the Crimea creates
risks for all the countries of Europe and NATO allies.
"If
Russia is allowed to do this, which is to say move into a sovereign
country under the guise of protecting ethnic Russians in Ukraine, it
exposes Eastern Europe to some significant risk, because there are
ethnic enclaves all over Eastern Europe and the Balkans," Dempsey said.