"The Fake News Media wants so badly to see a major confrontation with Russia, even a confrontation that could lead to war. They are pushing so recklessly hard and hate the fact that I’ll probably have a good relationship with Putin. We are doing MUCH better than any other country!" posted President Trump on Twitter, prompting Columbus Dispatch senior reporter Randy Ludlow to respond.
"My son is a Marine master sergeant. And yes, I’d love to see him ship out to Crimea," Ludlow declared, almost instantly receiving criticism from other users on the social network.
This is how "Um, Dad..." moments begin.
The annexation of Crimea occurred swiftly under President Obama’s watch. Russian forces ‐ and unofficial "Russia-allied" militants ‐ began appearing in Crimea by the thousands in February 2014. The Ukrainian government, by then under the anti-Russian government of acting president Oleksandr V. Turchynov, loudly protested to the sudden population boom of Russian soldiers on the peninsula. President Obama responded by issuing a statement that month warning Russia that "any violation of Ukrainian sovereignty would be deeply destabilizing" and "there will be costs."
Yet by mid-March, Crimea ‐ now flooded by thousands of Russian soldiers ‐ declared "independence" after a "vote" Putin forced in the peninsula. Russian attacks continued throughout eastern Ukraine, and the pro-Russian leaders of Crimea now demanded that Putin annex them into the Federation.
On March 19, Putin announced that "Crimea has always been an integral part of Russia in the hearts and minds of people" and called Western nations liars and "cheaters" for having expanded NATO into Ukraine.
The Obama administration did not respond. The Pentagon ignored Ukraine’s pleas for military assistance. Putin officially signed the legal documentation to annex Crimea in late March 2014.
Obama’s inaction earned him a stern critique from even mainstream media sources. "President Obama has led a foreign policy based more on how he thinks the world should operate than on reality," an editorial in the Washington Post dated March 2014 read. "As Mr. Putin ponders whether to advance further ‐ into eastern Ukraine, say ‐ he will measure the seriousness of U.S. and allied actions, not their statements."
