# Obama tells Putin: 'you violated international law' **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 2, 2014, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646 "2014-03-02T01:33:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/41 "2014-03-08T19:29:41Z")
Unless all these folks criticizing Obama’s statement are completely pure of the sin of hypocrisy, I find their comments very hypocritical. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/42 "2014-03-08T19:38:03Z")
ravenman - Indeed, only the Lord can save us who are not completely free of the sin of hypocrisy!!1! Unfortunately, the thread isn’t about posters on this board but is about politics in general and geo-political bullshit in particular. However, thank you for checking in from your evangelical tent revival meeting. erm, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/43 "2014-03-08T19:56:21Z")
Thank you for reminding me that I have yet to decide whether you or **MarmiteLover** is the bigger idiot. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 8:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/44 "2014-03-08T20:06:21Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > Yep, it’s far better to tell a bunch of bogus, self-serving lies to the UN than not. Yeah, that’s exactly what I posted. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/45 "2014-03-08T20:18:45Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > “I’m very disappointed with you. And now I want you to think about what you’ve done.” Reminds me of the old Robin Williams standup routine where he’s making fun of English bobbies for not carrying guns when dealing with criminal suspects: “Stop! Or I’ll say stop again!” ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/46 "2014-03-08T22:20:52Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > :rolleyes: That POS must die NOW! Whoever thought that it expressed “sarcasm” is very wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Ebanyi\_Gomosek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ebanyi\_Gomosek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ebanyi_Gomosek)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/47 "2014-03-08T22:30:14Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > [EU gives Russia 48-hour deadline to return troops to barracks in Crimea.](http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/ukraine/10674260/Ukraine-crisis-EU-gives-Russia-48-hour-deadline-to-return-troops-to-barracks-in-Crimea.html) Otherwise, economic sanctions. Come to think of it, if anything can scare Putin, it’s that. Well, 48 hours have passed. Putin is mighty scared, there’s no doubt about that. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/48 "2014-03-08T22:42:41Z")
Would it be better if he were scared? Should Obama be trying to scare him? ---
**Author:** ![Ebanyi\_Gomosek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ebanyi\_Gomosek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ebanyi_Gomosek)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/49 "2014-03-08T22:46:31Z")
> [@Bozuit](#): > > Would it be better if he were scared? Should Obama be trying to scare him? No, certainly not. Obama’s handling of Putin has been masterful so far (see Snowden, Syria, Ukraine), so certainly the President should continue his course. Here’s what basically gonna happen next. Europeans are gonna kiss Putin in the ass. Now, they might negotiate the terms of the kiss (“Would Mr. Putin squat a little bit lower so his behind is easier to reach? Would Mr. Putin spread his butt-cheeks a bit wider?”), but kiss it they will. Obama is gonna huff and puff, and continue getting bitchslapped by Vlad (a KGB colonel vs a community organizer, the outcome is never in doubt) Kerry is gonna fly around, like a used condom in a hurricane. Kiev. Paris. Brussels. Geneva. The only tangible thing that’ll come out of it will be the fuel bill for all the useless flying, footed by your taxes. We need Reagan and Thatcher, instead we got a weak amateur and whatever clown is running UK now. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/50 "2014-03-08T23:04:22Z")
> [@dropzone](#): > > That POS must die NOW! Whoever thought that it expressed “sarcasm” is very wrong. I hate it with the heat of 10,000 suns, I does. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/51 "2014-03-08T23:08:13Z")
> [@Ebanyi\_Gomosek](#): > > No, certainly not. Obama’s handling of Putin has been masterful so far (see Snowden, Syria, Ukraine), so certainly the President should continue his course. > Here’s what basically gonna happen next. > > Europeans are gonna kiss Putin in the ass. Now, they might negotiate the terms of the kiss (“Would Mr. Putin squat a little bit lower so his behind is easier to reach? Would Mr. Putin spread his butt-cheeks a bit wider?”), but kiss it they will. > Obama is gonna huff and puff, and continue getting bitchslapped by Vlad (a KGB colonel vs a community organizer, the outcome is never in doubt) > Kerry is gonna fly around, like a used condom in a hurricane. Kiev. Paris. Brussels. Geneva. The only tangible thing that’ll come out of it will be the fuel bill for all the useless flying, footed by your taxes. > > We need Reagan and Thatcher, instead we got a weak amateur and whatever clown is running UK now. So what would be better? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/52 "2014-03-08T23:12:31Z")
Reagan? An avuncular actor in the early stages of Alzheimer’s is your choice to stand up to that KGB asshole? And what the fuck could he do, start WWIII? Over the Crimea? ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/53 "2014-03-08T23:24:15Z")
> [@Ebanyi\_Gomosek](#): > > We need Reagan and Thatcher, instead we got a weak amateur and whatever clown is running UK now. This Putin worship lately -seemingly across the US political spectrum (such as it is)- puzzles me, particularly regarding the current excellent adventurism Mr. Putin has embarked upon in Crimea. What will actually happen regarding sanctions remains to be seen, but those who doubt the interconnectedness of the G8 economies, and therefore the degree of influence which can be exerted on Russia via the G7, are likely to be puzzled on their part by the speed with which a negotiated separation or rapprochement of Crimea (and acceptance by Ukraine of long term EU trade agreements) will be managed. My prediction is that these will both occur prior to the US midterm elections. If this or a similar end to the crisis shuts up those who see the consistent, skillful and proactive actions of the Obama Administration and the State Dept. as “amateurish” (because nobody seems to be firing their sixguns into the air like Saint Ronnie woulda) remains to be seen. I doubt it. ---
**Author:** ![Ebanyi\_Gomosek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ebanyi\_Gomosek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ebanyi_Gomosek)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/54 "2014-03-08T23:31:45Z")
I’m sorry, I actually haven’t been following the news closely in the last few days, but it appears the kiss has already been delivered. [http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/06/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140306](http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/06/us-ukraine-crisis-idUSBREA1Q1E820140306) \*As expected, the EU summit was unwilling to adopt more than symbolic measures against Russia, Europe’s biggest gas supplier, because neither industrial powerhouse Germany nor financial center Britain is keen to trigger a trade war. France has a deal to sell warships to Russia that it is so far not prepared to cancel, London’s banks have profited from facilitating Russian investment, and German companies have $22 billion invested in Russia. \* Does anyone know where Kerry’s plane now and when will Obama deliver another one of his trademark speeches. threatening “grave consequences” (and perhaps drawing a few red lines and blue circles along the way) ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/55 "2014-03-08T23:34:28Z")
Again, what would be preferable? ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/56 "2014-03-09T00:22:15Z")
> [@xenophon41](#): > > This Putin worship lately -seemingly across the US political spectrum (such as it is)- puzzles me, particularly regarding the current excellent adventurism Mr. Putin has embarked upon in Crimea. . I don’t know if you have but I do think several posters here have confused a certain reluctance to embrace the geo-political narratives of John Kerry as implicit support for Vlad the Gay Hater: to state the trite, one does not necessarily lead to the other. At the moment, John Kerry makes Harry Potter look like a documentary. It’s really rather insulting. Also, you don’t have to support Putin’s strategies to grasp no leader wants that level of uncertainly happening on a direct border. ---
**Author:** ![BrokenBriton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@BrokenBriton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrokenBriton)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/57 "2014-03-09T00:48:44Z")
and annuder thing … to a large extent Putin is the prisoner of expectation; the Russian people and the Russian military are not going to smile too kindly on a leader who doesn’t act to protect the 80+% of ethnic Russians in an adjoining state. How he acts is one thing, but act he must. Again, understanding the _realpolitik_ does not mean someone supports Putin. ---
**Author:** ![xenophon41](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xenophon41/32/253_2.png) [@xenophon41](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xenophon41)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/58 "2014-03-09T02:53:49Z")
**BrokenBriton** , I’m talking about all the commentary extolling Putin’s political/strategic cleverness in this (and previous - see Syria) situations, invariably contrasted with the “bumbling” of Obama. The fact that the end results in Syria were consistent with Obama’s stated goals and not necessarily with Putin’s doesn’t seem to faze these realpolitik experts, who continue to believe in odd things like the inevitability of Putin’s military actions in Crimea. This will certainly be the case after whatever resolution comes of the Ukrainian crisis, actual negative or positive consequences be damned. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/59 "2014-03-09T03:42:43Z")
> [@BrokenBriton](#): > > and annuder thing … to a large extent Putin is the prisoner of expectation; the Russian people and the Russian military are not going to smile too kindly on a leader who doesn’t act to protect the 80+% of ethnic Russians in an adjoining state. How he acts is one thing, but act he must. > > Again, understanding the _realpolitik_ does not mean someone supports Putin. Sure, if Canada decided to invade Detroit because of the uncertainty there, not to mention defendingall those ethnically similar people, we would surely understand that Canada didn’t really want to do it. They were just compelled to. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2014, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646/60 "2014-03-09T17:12:10Z")
Some people are so blinded by their hatred of American sins that they identify with rivals or enemies of the US whose sins are worse. Whatever you criticize the US for, chances are Russia has done something similar with a hell of lot more audacity. The “enemy of my enemy” proverb doesn’t necessarily apply. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obama-tells-putin-you-violated-international-law/682646.md?page=4)