Don't Back Down on Russian Sanctions

The article “Don’t Back Down on Russian Sanctions” offers critical information on the sanctions imposed on Russia almost 6 months ago. The United States responded to Russia’s invasion and annexation of Crimea (Ukraine), by imposing sanctions on Russia. The main sanction is banning the purchase of Russian-made rocket engines. These engines have been used to help launch military and intelligence satellites since the year 2000. Now, Obama is urging congress to ease up on the sanctions. Obama said, by doing this, Putin will become a little bit happier, and maybe finally acknowledge that he is sending troops and weapons to expand the war in eastern Ukraine.  The biggest problem about this situation is that the U.S. let itself become dependent on Russian made engines for defense purposes.  The good news is that the U.S. company “SpaceX” just had one of their engines certified by the pentagon so it can be used for defense and security purposed. In the end, it is important for the United States to think about their dependence on other countries.

By Josh Hubbs

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/05/opinion/dont-back-down-on-russian-sanctions.html?ref=topics&_r=0