Chess Legend Garry Kasparov: How Many Will Be Lost on Obama's Watch in Ukraine?

Chess Legend Garry Kasparov: How Many Will Be Lost on Obama's Watch in Ukraine?

Human Rights Foundation Chairman Garry Kasparov has been a consistent voice against the aggression of Russian premier Vladimir Putin, and on Thursday night on Twitter he made his dissatisfaction with Obama’s passive approach to the situation in Ukraine strikingly clear: “How many will be lost to murder & autocracy on Obama’s watch?”

Kasparov is a longtime activist against Putin’s repression and has been the personal victim of his abuse, having been physically attacked at the sentencing of punk protest band Pussy Riot in 2012. He has refused to give up, instead comparing Moscow to Pyongyang and vowing to keep up the fight.

Kasparov has been at the forefront of analysis on the Ukrainian situation since it began to escalate late last year, dismissing the pro-Putin argument that Russia and the post-Soviet states are “too different” to handle a viable democracy and suggesting that Russian activists take a close look at the work the Ukrainian opposition has done in the past few months. That was before they achieved the release of former Ukrainian premier Yulia Tymoshenko.

His latest righteous tirade against President Obama for his claim that the United States would ensure “consequences” should either party in the Ukrainian uprising “cross the line” began when a tweeter asked him for comment on the latest threat from the president. Compiled by Twitchy, the multi-tweet response is worth reading all the way through. Kasparov did not mince words, saing President Obama “was ‘leading from behind.’ Now ‘leading from nowhere at all.'”

Nor did he leave it at that, but he made the link that a tepid response from President Obama would necessarily mean blood on Washington’s hands: “Truman saved millions from Iron Curtain in Europe & from Communism in Asia. How many will be lost to murder & autocracy on Obama’s watch?” The comment appeared to be limited to the deaths in Ukraine, but President Obama’s response to that political disaster has been his most aggressive; people continue to die for their country in Venezuela also, as protests escalate in support of political prisoner and opposition party leader Leopoldo López.

Not everything was as serious from Kasparov, however, who took a second to get in a tongue-in-cheek jab at the President: “Yes, Obama could sell his red lines on eBay as new. They are all in mint condition, never used!”

COMMENTS

Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.