Obama Should Impose Sanctions On Vladimir Putin Posted 03/18/2014 06:37 PM ET “What will you do with those who have neither accounts nor property abroad?” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin asked... “What will you do with those who have neither accounts nor property abroad?” Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin asked... View Enlarged Image Crimea Crisis: The Russians are laughing, and deservedly so, at the administrations imposition of asset freezes and travel bans on seven government officials. And laughing hardest is the oligarch responsible. In politics, they say, once they start laughing at you youre toast. The imposition of sanctions for Russias assault on Ukrainian sovereignty in the form of freezing the U.S. assets of seven cronies of Vladimir Putin and barring them from visiting Disneyland has certainly provoked guffaws in Moscow. One Russian on the list, Putin aide Vladislav Surkov, scoffed at this cost of Moscows Crimean moves: Its a big honor for me. I dont have accounts abroad. The only things that interest me in the U.S. are Tupac Shakur, Allen Ginsberg and Jackson Pollock. I dont need a visa to access their work. I lose nothing. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin responded to his listing by calling President Obama a prankster. What will you do with those who have neither accounts nor property abroad? he asked Comrade Obama on Twitter. Or didnt you think of that? Were making it clear that there are consequences for their actions, President Obama said in the White House briefing room on Monday. And a senior administration official insisted that these are by far and away the most comprehensive sanctions applied against Russia since the end of the Cold War. Were not impressed. A better move would have been for Obama to rescind his decision to cancel the deployment of missile defense interceptors in Poland and their associated warning radars in the Czech Republic. We also could have heeded the call of Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic to expedite natural gas export applications, a fitting response to Russias use in Ukraine of energy as a weapon. These and other moves would have been more appropriate and meaningful. This would have been the perfect time to show less of the flexibility President Obama promised the Russians and more of the backbone Americans expect in a commander in chief. Putin doesnt seem impressed either. Shortly after the sanctions, he decreed that Crimea is a sovereign and independent state. Unfazed by Obamas action, Putin said the plebiscite was conducted in full accordance with international law and the U.N. charter and cited Kosovos independence from Serbia as its precedent. Playing along with Obamas schoolyard game, Putin is slapping similar sanctions on administration officials and high-profile U.S. senators to roughly mirror the U.S. sanctions against Russian officials and lawmakers On Sunday, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, a two-term Illinois Republican who sits on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Newsmax that we and other countries should freeze the assets of Putin himself. Everybody knows of the corrupt money that has gone through Putins hands. Its time to freeze him out. Putins true net worth has not been published, but some say it could be as much as $70 billion, the fruits of Russias corrupt command economy. Most of it is probably well hidden. Yet, as Kinzinger notes, similar action was taken over the weekend against deposed Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych by the governments of Austria and Switzerland. Dont aim at the puppets, Mr. President. Aim for the puppet master. © 2014 Investors Business Daily, Inc. All rights reserved. Investors Business Daily, IBD and CAN SLIM and their corresponding logos are registered trademarks of Investors Business Daily, Inc. Copyright and Trademark Notice | Privacy Statement | Terms and Conditions of Use
Posted on: Wed, 19 Mar 2014 11:18:20 +0000
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