The War on Extreme Violence

Last week the Russians signed on to a cease-fire in eastern Ukraine. This week Russian missiles crashed into the small city where nine thousand Ukrainian troops were surrounded--an example of Vladimir Putin's diplomacy in action. And the American response? Well, the administration has convened a Summit on Countering Violent Extremism. Isn't that dandy?

I particularly admire terms that can be reversed and still make as much sense as they did in the original. If Violent Extremism is bad (well, I realize that's a judgmental term, but let's just postulate that it's bad, for the sake of argument), then what about Extreme Violence? Surely that's bad as well. Those Russian Grad missiles are extremely violent, even if Mr Putin himself is not a Violent Extremist. (To make matters easier, he's not even extremely religious, so Mr Obama needn't fear offending anyone of the Russian Orothodox faith.) So surely it's time -- long past time! -- to send some serious weapons to the Ukrainian Army. How many more months must pass, Mr Obama, before you stop your dithering?