Ukraine and the West:Decision and Danger

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen announced that there will be more planes in the air;more ships in the water;and more readiness on the land in response to Russia's recent moves in the Ukrainian crisis.Just how dangerous is the current situation in Eastern Europe?I think it's pretty explosive,said General Richard Myers,US Air Force retired,former Chairman of the Joint Cheifs of Staff.Russia is doing several things that are dangerous:1.The overflight of the destroyer USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea by a Russian fighter aircraft;2.Massing so many troops on the border with Ukraiine;3.Taking over at least 10 towns in Eastern Ukraine.World War I started as an incident that got out of hand.This is very dangerous stuff that Russia is playing with.
If shots are fired and people are killed,this could escalate.I'm sure there are lots of options being presented to President Obama,such as providing weapons to Ukraine or providing weapons to them along with US advisors.They'll go thorugh them in the Situation Room.I don't think there are good military options.As for Russia attacking a NATO country,you would think not and you would hope not,but I don't know.*
Major General Mark Kimmitt,US Army retired,who was Assistant Secretary of State for Politico-Military Affairs under President George W. Bush,said Russia's moves are part of the great chess game.You can almost hear the echoes of Czechoslovakia 75 years ago.
These are Russian provocateurs in Eastern Ukraine.The term "Ukraine" means "border."President Putin wants to restore that buffer zone with NATO.There's no reason that a reasonable deployment of US and European troops in Ukraine woudn't stop Putin with a show of strength,General Kimmitt believes.*
Overnight Wednesday,Ukrainian soldiers reportedly fired shots in the air when armed pro-Russian forces attempted to storm a military base in Eastern Ukraine.
Update:During this incident,three Russian militants were reportedly killed and 19 wounded.

High Level Exchanges Begin

The U.S.-China Strategic and Economic Dialogue began at the end of July.The dialogue had been planned during the George W. Bush presidency.It encompasses both economic and political matters.On the economic front,the two countries agreed to continue working for global economic recovery by easing their trade imbalance and revising financial regulations.They will also correct protectionism and climate change,while working to reform the World Bank and International Monetary Fund,so that China's rising status in the global economy is more fairly represented.
For its part,the U.S. reassured China that it has a exit strategy from deficit spending and monetary easing,which China fears may harm its 801.5 billion dollar investment in U.S. Treasury securities.Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the U.S.-China efforts were vital,not only to the well-being of the two nations,but also to the health of the global economy.

Nature Note:Presidential View

Driving north,every view is good.Autumn turns every stretch of land into a place of interest.Bold colors appear where,weeks before,nothing would have arrested the eye.The trees erase all tedium with their red,orange and gold leaves.Overhead,President Bush is flying home to Washington from Camp David,the presidential retreat in Maryland's Catoctin Mountains,in a formation of three U.S. Marine Corps helicopters.I wave at them;I couldn't just drive on,even though it's unlikely the President saw me wave.A little further north,a red-tailed hawk soars above the highway.