Does the Budapest Memorandum compel us to defend Ukraine against Russia [View all]
I've seen several headlines from dodgy news sources saying that the US and the UK may be compelled by treaty obligation to go to war on the side of the Ukraine if Russia invades. The treaty in question appears to be the Budapest Memorandum. You can see the text of it here: http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Ukraine._Memorandum_on_Security_Assurances
It seems to me that it compels us to take up the issue with the UN Security Council, where Russia will obviously exercise it's veto rights. I don't see where we will have to enter a shooting war on Ukraine's side if Russia invades. Am I missing something or are people just using it to stir things up?
To be clear, I am appalled by the notion of Russia invading the sovereign nation of Ukraine. I would hate for that to happen. I also understand that the situation with the predominantly Russian Crimea region is complicated. Regardless of all that, I don't want the United States to enter a shooting war with Russia. As bad as a Russian invasion of Ukraine would be, war between us and Russia would be far, far worse.
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