I have already outlined how poorly I believe President Obama is handling Russia and has handled Vladimir Putin for five years in office. However. his approach naive and reactionary as it is still is preferable to what Florida’s Junior Senator is now saying regarding the crisis. Marco Rubio will be on NBC’s Meet the Press program tomorrow.

Rubio appears to be urging military action based on his veiled comments. While I strongly believe Obama has done a poor job in handling Putin in almost every matter he’s been confronted with, sending troops to the Crimea is likely to be a military debacle of epic proportions. The US and western allies need to hold the line against Russia but that line needs to be somewhere else where we would actually have a chance of success. Obama’s red line’s have meant little in the past so we should leave it to the European allies to determine the time and place for the fight after consultation with the US.

Rubio’s comments below.

Sen. Rubio to POLITICO, “Putin’s invasion of Ukraine requires immediate and decisive U.S. leadership”: “Russia’s illegal military incursion in the Crimea region in Ukraine is a grave violation of a nation’s sovereignty and cannot go unpunished. First, President Obama should speak unequivocally and call this what it is: a military invasion. … Second, President Obama should dispatch Secretary Kerry and Secretary Hagel to Kiev to show U.S. support for Ukraine’s transitional government … Third, the U.S. should rally our allies to boycott this June’s G8 summit in Sochi …

“[I]f Russian troops do not leave Ukraine immediately, Russia should be expelled from this group. Fourth, any and all discussions and negotiations with Moscow on any issue unrelated to this crisis, including trade and other matters, should be immediately suspended. … This is a critical moment in world history. The credibility of the alliances and security assurances that have preserved the international order is at stake. If Putin’s illegal actions are allowed to stand unpunished, it will usher in a dark and dangerous era in world affairs.”

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On a side note the United States is scheduled to play Ukraine in Kyiv in an international soccer friendly on Wednesday. It is the last US match involving an “A” team (A “B” match still is to be played but that involves players on the fringes of the first team) before the World Cup roster for this summer has be named. The game has been moved to Cyprus and I understand this was done WITHOUT the US Government getting involved or providing any assistance. Make what you want of that.