Putin makes 'cryptic' references, threats in latest speech
National security correspondent Jennifer Griffin says the world is seeing the beginning of Russia's capabilities as Putin invades Ukraine.
Here’s the dirty little secret about Ukraine. For the most part, nobody cared. Many policymakers in Washington, D.C. didn’t think Ukraine was worth defending. Ukraine was not a strategic interest for America, they said. Especially Obama and Biden liberals, but plenty others, too.
All that changed Wednesday night.
RUSSIA INVADED UKRAINE: LIVE UPDATES
Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the country's Paralympic team ahead of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games via a video link in Moscow, Russia February 21, 2022. Sputnik/Alexey Nikolsky/Kremlin via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY.
Putin is far, far crazier than most Americans knew. He’s shocked the world by unleashing a war on 44 million people in Ukraine. Putin’s goal is to sweep in and wipe out Ukraine as a democracy in hours not days. To do this, Russia will strike Ukraine’s military command and control, causing chaos just when President Zelensky needs to reposition Ukraine’s forces.
Go sanction every Russian asset and kicking them out of all global business. But Russia will still have back-up from China and sanctions won’t affect Putin with the battle lust upon him.
Putin’s Russia is truly a danger to America and our allies around the world. Don’t forget Putin controls over 6,000 nuclear weapons.
America literally can’t afford to sit this out. Putin must be stopped now.
Russia triumphant in Ukraine will doom America to years, even decades, of rearming and guarding Europe – at a time when we must focus on the economic and military threats from China. America’s military is already overstretched. Look ahead. A Russian sweep in Ukraine puts the Baltics, and even Poland, at risk.
Sadly, being Commander-in-Chief is clearly out of Biden’s comfort zone. Biden’s military response has been pathetic. I wager the a-ha moment for Putin in plotting his invasion of Ukraine started with the fall of Kabul, as the world watched Biden fumble the military response. Biden fired no one after the Afghanistan debacle so Putin realized he’d face a weak team.
RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE IN LARGEST EUROPEAN ATTACK SINCE WWII
Biden had weeks to put US military deterrence in action using strong statements and crafted military deployments. Again he failed.
Team Biden also cynically ignored the fact that President William J. Clinton gave Ukraine security guarantees in 1994 when Ukraine dismantled its nuclear arsenal.
Just to keep the record straight, there were plenty of military indications of Russia’s menace even before the massing of troops that began in late 2021. The U.S. watched Russia build up its military after 2014 and master large-force snap military exercises. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley refocused strategy on preparing to fight Russia starting back in 2016, when Milley was Army Chief of Staff. President Donald Trump’s 2017 America First national security strategy called out the threat from Russia and so did the defense strategy released by Secretary of Defense James Mattis. So it’s not like we didn’t know.
Here today, it’s not too late for the U.S. and NATO to help Ukraine fight off Russia and deny Putin the win. Specifically, the U.S. and NATO need to commit military assistance to Ukraine. Ukraine needs combat aircraft surveillance, position tracking of Russian forces, and cyber defense right now. Ukraine needs help striking Russian tanks and invasion forces while they come down the highways. With help, Ukraine can put up a tough fight as they did in 2014 and 2015. Remember Russia’s ongoing war in eastern Ukraine has already claimed 14,000 lives.
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If Biden doesn’t give fast assistance, the alternative is supporting a long, bloody struggle as Russian forces occupy Ukraine.
Washington inertia may return. Already the talk is shifting toward just supporting Ukraine’s resistance in hopes Putin gets tired of a quagmire. That’s hope, not reality.
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Don’t get me wrong. Americans should think very carefully about using our military. No one – except Putin – wanted this war. But America’s strategic priorities have changed literally overnight, and we must face this new reality and act on it.
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