Brooks Calls on Obama to Give ‘JFK at Berlin’-esque Speech in Kyiv
On Friday’s “NewsHour” on PBS, New York Times columnist David Brooks called on President Barack Obama to make a grand gesture to reinforce his foreign policy regarding Ukraine and Russia. According to Brooks, Obama should give a speech in Kyiv much like former President John F. Kennedy’s 1963 speech in West Berlin, which was regarded as a statement of western resolve against the expansion of Soviet-style communism.
“George H.W. Bush, we had a seizure of a big country seizing a small country under George H.W. Bush, Iraq seizing Ukraine — Kuwait,” Brooks said. “And we did something. Now, we had another case of Russia seizing Crimea. Now, nobody thinks we should put troops on the ground, but, nonetheless, some assertive way to control Putin’s ambitions, I think, is called for, something more assertive.”
“And the one thing I endorse and a couple of people have proposed, that the president goes to Kyiv, in the way to JFK went to Berlin, just to make a statement,” he added. “You don’t have to put boots on the ground. You’re making a statement, we stand with these people. And that’s the kind of assertive use of U.S. power, U.S. prestige and most importantly U.S. values that I would like to see the president do a little more of.”
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