Search Results for: ukraine
April 5, 2022 — Steven Hayward
A certain amount of caution is recommended about reporting and commenting on the Ukraine War, mostly because solid facts are hard to come by (the “fog of war” and all that), and judgment about what to do is in equally short supply, especially inside the head of our president. A few things appear certain. First, the Ukrainians have fought with great skill and effectiveness, and surprised the world with their
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March 21, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Remember how everyone said Trump was Putin’s poodle, and an isolationist to boot? Worth taking in his interview this morning with Stuart Varney on Fox Business: So much for the “Trump as isolationist Russian stooge.” You get a good sense here why Putin didn’t invade Ukraine on Trump’s watch.
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March 5, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Conservatives are currently under attack on two contradictory grounds: 1) they are pro-Vladimir Putin, and 2) they are warmongers trying to embroil the U.S. in a war against Putin. Of course, it is possible that there are some conservatives in each of these alleged camps. Still, it is odd to be attacked from two utterly antithetical directions at once. I know hundreds of conservatives, and not one of them, to
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March 5, 2022 — Steven Hayward
The Ukraine crisis isn’t going away, and with recriminations on all sides making the rounds here at home, it seemed propitious to check in with Michael Anton, who, among other things, served on the National Security Council in two administrations. To say Michael is not happy with the state of play here at home is an understatement, and Lucretia and I fully join in. It doesn’t take long for us
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March 2, 2022 — Steven Hayward
The “fog of war” is even foggier in the age of 24/7 news and social media, so it is impossible to know what the hell is happening on the ground in the Ukraine, let alone in Moscow. High time, then, to check in with Col. Austin Bay, author of Cocktails From Hell and other books, Creators Syndicate columnist, and contributor to StrategyPage. I was delighted to discover that we’re both
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February 26, 2022 — Scott Johnson
I don’t think there is a better place to follow breaking news than Twitter. I can’t vouch for the authenticity or accuracy of the videos, but these six tweets show up on my feed directly or indirectly via sources I have chosen to follow. Marc Thiessen and Michael Doran are of interest, as always. Each of the four following theirs is worth a look. UDPATE: The AP has just posted
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February 24, 2022 — Scott Johnson
The news this morning tells us that Vladimir Putin has launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and demanded Ukraine’s army give it up. Speaking on state television early this morning, Putin claimed that Russia was not planning to occupy Ukraine but vowed to punish those who stood in their way. “The goal is to defend people who have been victims of abuse and genocide from the Kyiv regime. And we
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February 23, 2022 — Steven Hayward
Scott noted here that it has taken over 80 years, but Hollywood finally got round to exonerating Neville Chamberlain for his malfeasance in Munich in 1938. Today’s media isn’t even waiting 80 hours to exonerate President Biden. They are already declaring this to be Biden’s finest hour. Behold the Washington Post just three days ago: With or without war, Ukraine gives Biden a new lease on leadership Six months ago,
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February 22, 2022 — John Hinderaker
…belongs to Alexander Vindman. He is the former National Security Council staffer who played a role in the first Trump impeachment charade, and since then has made a modest television career bashing Republicans. Think of him as the Michael Avenatti of the national security establishment. Yesterday, as a guest on the Rachel Maddow show, Vindman tried to blame Russia’s Ukraine incursion on conservative pundits in the U.S.: Guest host Ali
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February 21, 2022 — John Hinderaker
Today Vladimir Putin recognized the “Donetsk People’s Republic” and the “Lugansk People’s Republic” as independent of Ukraine, and ordered Russian troops into the breakaway region “to keep the peace.” Russian President Vladimir Putin recognised two breakaway regions in eastern Ukraine as independent on Monday and ordered the Russian army to launch what Moscow called a peacekeeping operation into the area, accelerating a crisis the West fears could unleash a major
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February 4, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Sen. Josh Hawley has sent a letter to Secretary of State Blinken asking that the Biden administration “clarify” its “support for Ukraine’s prospective admission in NATO.” Hawley’s letter is well argued, thoughtful, and far from unreasonable. However, I disagree with what he advocates. I take Hawley’s main point to be that Ukraine’s admission would entail a military commitment to defend Ukraine, and that this would detract from our ability to
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January 23, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
Vladimir Putin has several options for going after Ukraine short of an out-and-out ground invasion. The Washington Post tries to lay them out in this article. For example, Putin could launch air attacks, perhaps combined with cyber-attacks, and seek Ukraine’s capitulation that way. Or he could step up the war of subversion he’s been waging in eastern portions of Ukraine for some time. The Post quotes two analysts who doubt
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January 21, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
I don’t know anyone who believes the U.S. should respond with American boots on the ground. I know few people who believe the U.S should do nothing. The range of acceptable options lies somewhere between imposing more sanctions on Russia, but going no further, and providing some form of military assistance short of ground troops. As to sanctions, there’s a debate about how much damage even stringent ones would impose
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January 19, 2022 — Paul Mirengoff
During Joe Biden’s lengthy press conference today, the subject of a possible Russian military action against Ukraine came up. Asked what his response to such an action would be, Biden said Russia would be “held accountable,” a meaningless phrase. He added that our response will depend on the scope of a Russian invasion: I think what you’re going to see is that Russia will be held accountable if it invades,
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November 22, 2021 — Paul Mirengoff
With something like 100,000 Russian troops lurking on the Russia-Ukraine border, Western intelligence officials are increasingly convinced that the Vladimir Putin wants to take control of a larger swath of Ukrainian territory, and the U.S. has warned our allies of a possible “incursion” (as the New York Times puts it). Russia wasn’t poised to invade Ukraine when Donald Trump was president because Trump projected strength. Joe Biden projects weakness and
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April 12, 2021 — John Hinderaker
America’s adversaries are on the march. China has suppressed Hong Kong and threatens Taiwan, along with Japan and other Asian allies of America. ISIS is rearing its head again in the Middle East. And Russia is once again threatening Ukraine. Russia now has more troops along its border with Ukraine than at any time since 2014, and Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky has little hope that war can be avoided. Moscow’s
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October 22, 2020 — Paul Mirengoff
There is no dispute that, as vice president and point man on U.S. policy towards Ukraine, Joe Biden caused the Ukrainian government to sack its lead prosecutor, Viktor Shokin. Biden has bragged about doing so. There is also evidence that, before his removal, Shokin was investigating Burisma, the shady company on whose board Hunter Biden served. And there’s no dispute that Hunter Biden had no background relevant to Ukraine or
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