Bohdan Yaremenko
chairman of the board of the Maidan of Foreign Affairs
A couple of days ago I somehow missed a rich in imagery statement by the Pentagon spokesman Captain Jeff Davis. "What we don't see (is) this unicorn a lot of people are chasing, this idea that there's some massive short-term build up or movement about to happen," – said Captain Davis in a seeming attempt to downplay the talk of a new Russian invasion of Ukraine and concerns about Russian non-stop rapid military drills from the Baltic to the Black Sea.
I am not sure what kind of reaction to the statement the Pentagon expected from Russia's neighbors. What I do know is that the governments of the Baltic states, Poland and Ukraine conducted special meetings to develop their response precisely to the thing the Pentagon could not see – that illusive Russian unicorn alongside their borders.
The difference between those two reactions is not surprising, however.
As I recall, in winter and spring of 2014 the Pentagon didn’t make any statements, either on the unicorns or on the speedy massive Russian build up and movement that preceded the Crimea occupation. Nor did it warn Ukraine, the country whose territorial integrity the US supposedly guaranteed, about the threat.
To be fair, there is no doubt the styles of the Operation Neptune or Iraqi Freedom preparations somewhat differ from those of the Russian military drills in Eastern Europe. But may be it's about time to update Captain Davis’s manuals? Otherwise, the blind American eagle will never manage to see the Russian unicorn.
