Russian military attacks in Aleppo, in which hundreds of Syrian civilians have been killed and a humanitarian convoy was attacked, have hardened European views toward Russia.

When did the EU officially decide that the Syrian government had no role to play in Syria? Or was it not dealt with in those terms? When did the EU ratify the decision it officially prefers Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists govern Syria rather than Syrians? Maybe I’ve not kept up. I mean, it seems like I have, but I keep having to wade through reports of these foreign terrorists bombing and rampaging their way through Syrian civilian areas, and it’s cut down on the rabid anti-Russian propaganda I have time for.

The Obama administration has worked closely with the European Union to ensure trans-Atlantic unity on sanctions, arguing that they are crucial to containing Russia.

Wait, was the U.S. entering the War on Terror on the side of Al Qaeda in Syria considered ‘sanctions?’

Even among the staunchest supporters of sanctions — Germany, Poland, the U.K. and the Baltic states — maintaining such measures will become untenable if it looks like the United States will break ranks.

I’m not following this very well. The U.S. plan for European sanctions against Russia will be put in doubt if the U.S. abandons those sanctions along with the overt build-up to war next year? I should think it would. What’s that sound? Is it air being let out of the inflated Russian threat or the sweet sound of home heating, clean burning, free flowing Russian natural gas?

On Sunday, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the EU has “a very principled position on the annexation of Crimea and the situation in Ukraine” that was not going to change “regardless of possible shifts in others’ policies.”

So the U.S. stages a coup in Ukraine, depicts the restrained Russian reaction as an invasion, but even after the war party in the U.S. is rubbished in the next election, the E.U. is so belligerently drunk it intends to follow through on the averted war by itself?

“Wouldn’t it be great if we got along with Russia?” he rhetorically asked on numerous occasions, voicing his desire to cooperate with Moscow to fight ISIS, even though most Russian strikes in Syria over the past year have been against non-ISIS targets.

Wouldn’t it be great? Personally, I wasn’t disappointed to see the Russians set themselves to defeat the Salafist terrorists. But then, I’ve never thought that a foreign policy strongly backed by Sen. John McCain of Arizona made a goddamn whit of sense. Like backing ultranationalist neo-Nazi militias in Ukraine and Wahhabist Salafist militias in Syria. The man’s a idiot. An angry, blind, dangerous idiot.

There are also concerns about several of his advisers.

Really? I’ve had concerns about several of President Obama’s advisers.

Lifting Western sanctions on Russia while it still occupies Ukrainian territory would embolden Putin into thinking he has reconsolidated a sphere of influence along his borders.

That territory is Russian now. It’s not going back to the coup regime in Ukraine. EU figureheads can stomp their little feet and pound their little fists as much as they like, but no petulant conniption fit is going change that. How would the U.S. have reacted if the Soviets had blatantly staged a Warsaw Pact-backed takeover of the Mexican government? It’d’ve annexed everything up to and including a...

Russian military attacks in Aleppo, in which hundreds of Syrian civilians have been killed and a humanitarian convoy was attacked, have hardened European views toward Russia.

When did the EU officially decide that the Syrian government had no role to play in Syria? Or was it not dealt with in those terms? When did the EU ratify the decision it officially prefers Al Qaeda and ISIS terrorists govern Syria rather than Syrians? Maybe I’ve not kept up. I mean, it seems like I have, but I keep having to wade through reports of these foreign terrorists bombing and rampaging their way through Syrian civilian areas, and it’s cut down on the rabid anti-Russian propaganda I have time for.

The Obama administration has worked closely with the European Union to ensure trans-Atlantic unity on sanctions, arguing that they are crucial to containing Russia.

Wait, was the U.S. entering the War on Terror on the side of Al Qaeda in Syria considered ‘sanctions?’

Even among the staunchest supporters of sanctions — Germany, Poland, the U.K. and the Baltic states — maintaining such measures will become untenable if it looks like the United States will break ranks.

I’m not following this very well. The U.S. plan for European sanctions against Russia will be put in doubt if the U.S. abandons those sanctions along with the overt build-up to war next year? I should think it would. What’s that sound? Is it air being let out of the inflated Russian threat or the sweet sound of home heating, clean burning, free flowing Russian natural gas?

On Sunday, EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said the EU has “a very principled position on the annexation of Crimea and the situation in Ukraine” that was not going to change “regardless of possible shifts in others’ policies.”

So the U.S. stages a coup in Ukraine, depicts the restrained Russian reaction as an invasion, but even after the war party in the U.S. is rubbished in the next election, the E.U. is so belligerently drunk it intends to follow through on the averted war by itself?

“Wouldn’t it be great if we got along with Russia?” he rhetorically asked on numerous occasions, voicing his desire to cooperate with Moscow to fight ISIS, even though most Russian strikes in Syria over the past year have been against non-ISIS targets.

Wouldn’t it be great? Personally, I wasn’t disappointed to see the Russians set themselves to defeat the Salafist terrorists. But then, I’ve never thought that a foreign policy strongly backed by Sen. John McCain of Arizona made a goddamn whit of sense. Like backing ultranationalist neo-Nazi militias in Ukraine and Wahhabist Salafist militias in Syria. The man’s a idiot. An angry, blind, dangerous idiot.

There are also concerns about several of his advisers.

Really? I’ve had concerns about several of President Obama’s advisers.

Lifting Western sanctions on Russia while it still occupies Ukrainian territory would embolden Putin into thinking he has reconsolidated a sphere of influence along his borders.

That territory is Russian now. It’s not going back to the coup regime in Ukraine. EU figureheads can stomp their little feet and pound their little fists as much as they like, but no petulant conniption fit is going change that. How would the U.S. have reacted if the Soviets had blatantly staged a Warsaw Pact-backed takeover of the Mexican government? It’d’ve annexed everything up to and including a toehold on South America before it stopped for breakfast.

It would put an end to the effort to impose costs for his military aggression without requiring him to live up to any of the conditions, including withdrawal of forces and return of control of the border to Ukraine, required by the Minsk cease-fire agreement signed in February 2015.

Which tells us what about the aims of the EU in the Minsk peace talks?

It would abandon Ukraine in its time of need and betray other countries formerly part of the Soviet Union that aspire for closer ties with the West.

How many hundreds of thousands of troops does Ukraine need along its border with Russia in order that it not feed ‘abandoned?’ Apparently the answer is three. What if it’s dark this Winter, and Ukrainsey-wainsey gets scawed? Weal scawed? Baby gets another 300,000 NATO troopers, forward-depoloyed battlefield nuclear weapons and a bwanky?

It also would mark a return to “Big Power” politics at the expense of smaller countries in the region and principles of sovereignty and territorial integrity, calling into question the post-Cold War dispensation of a Europe “whole and free.”

Delusional. The post-Cold War era ought not need be defined by another Cold War. Nor a hot war, for that matter. Especially not to suit the whims of petty tyrants looking for scarecrows to stake their protection rackets on.

When there was an actual challenge for Europe, in the Balkan Wars, the truth was that Europe collectively simply didn’t care. That was the lie being put to European unity and resolve. The question was settled then. It tells us nothing now to see whether the drums can be made to beat loudly enough for the World War Three that never was.