Blame Europe -- U.S. officials are right about one thing: Europe needs to wake up

There have been more than a few officials -- including cagey Democratic presidential hopeful and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton -- saying that the next step in the continuing crisis in the Ukraine should come from Europe.

The good news: We are not the only ones with an incoherent foreign policy that seems to have no effect on anyone anywhere. And, we are not the only ones who can now officially be classified as "wussies" when it comes to handling Russia.

The bad news: Someone is going to have to step up and put his or her proverbial foot down or this situation is going to get much, much worse.

The shooting down of a passenger airline jet, allegedly by separatists backed by the Russian government, is a consequence of what happens when you put big guns into the hands of rebel groups without the training and leadership to handle them. And it is evidence of the danger of not calling the bluff of a superpower who is manipulating unrest behind the scenes.

It is inexcusable that this tragedy happened. And it is a crime.

The calls for Europe to act come on the heels of the United States' own ratcheting up of its sanctions against Russia, which, so far, have been much too little, too late.

And while the call for Europe to stop tiptoeing around Moscow is dead on, the United States has got to start standing strong when it comes to aggression by those whom this nation cannot consider as reliable allies.

It seems the only ones we have strong words for lately are our friends.

This is a crisis in the making, and it is time for leadership -- from somewhere or anyone.

We will see if it is forthcoming.

Published in Editorials on July 18, 2014 10:53 AM