Obama is barking up the wrong tree on Ukraine: Petras Tue Jun 3, 2014 6:34PM GMT
3 An American professor and author says US President Barack Obama is “barking up the wrong tree” over the crisis in Ukraine because he will ultimately fail to rally support from Europe for his anti-Russia plans. Obama arrived in Poland on Tuesday as the first leg of his four-day trip to Europe which will also involve visits to Belgium and France. In the Polish capital Warsaw, Obama said Washington's commitment to the security of its allies in Eastern Europe is of particular importance due to the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and said the US will increase its military presence in the region. In Belgium, Obama will have a meeting with leaders from the Group of Seven, which was formerly known as the Group of Eight before Russia was removed over the crisis in Ukraine. The meeting was originally scheduled to be held in Russia. Media reports say Obama is to use his speeches and meetings with Washington’s European allies to stress that if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not change his current stance towards the crisis in Ukraine, Moscow will face more economic sanctions. However, James Petras, professor emeritus at Binghamton University from New York, says Obama will most likely fail to rally support from Europe for anti-Russia sanctions. “There is a deep division between Europe and the United States regarding policy to Russia. Europeans, particularly the Germans and others, have engaged in very comprehensive trade agreements with Russia which would affect thousands of German enterprises and hundreds of thousands of German workers,” Petras, who is the author of 65 books, said in a phone interview with Press TV on Tuesday. “Right now, Obama is cut between his European allies, on the one hand, and the Republicans, on the other, who are pressuring for escalation and confrontation,” he added. Petras also predicted that “the outcome is likely to be a failure for Obama,” saying “I don’t think that the Europeans would want to increase sanctions, particularly with their dependence on Russian gas and oil. I think Obama is just barking up the wrong tree.” ISH/ISH http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2014/06/03/365430/obama-barking-up-the-wrong-tree/
