The Biden Administration's Tepid Mentality in the Russo-Ukrainian War

 Musings

The war between Russia and the Ukraine is now almost 2 1/2 years old. From the beginning America offered some to support Ukraine but in classic political fashion was only willing to stick its toe in but was hesitant to say or do too much because it may want to pull its toe back out. This was shown with our earliest assistance when we gave Ukraine weapons but put limitations on when and how they could use them, so that when the Ukraine struck back at Russia it would not make Russia too mad. That might escalate the war. It is a naive mentality to tell someone that is at war  but that's also classic Washington diplomatic politics. This attitude is also unbelievable in that the Ukraine was attacked by Russia. That is no time to be restrained.

 Russia is the largest country in the world by far. It  crosses 11 time zones from the Atlantic to the Pacific. It has almost 150 million people and a gross domestic product many times that of Ukraine. The Ukraine has approximately 33 million people, or 1/5 the size of the Russian population, and far less land and natural resources to draw upon. Given the gross discrepancy between the size of the two parties it is unclear how Washington, requiring restraint, could have expected anything other than for the Ukraine to be destroyed in the war.  Image two boxers in a ring and one is told not to hit or the other guy, it might make him mad and then he will really pound you!  However, that is how we started and that is what is still going on. In 2 1/2 years our foggy bottom diplomats in the Biden administration have stumbled along at a snails pace (maybe caterpillar) in their encouragement to Ukraine and that attitude apparently continues.

Contemplations

I cannot conceive of how Washington came up with this policy. It appears to be the same type of thing that the American diplomats constantly preach because they want to move slowly, make sure everything is under control, nothing happens they don't expect, and they have to hold lots of meetings to do their own contemplations while they are not particularly cognizant of how important time is to the people  fighting and dying in the war zone.

In the early stages of the war there were a number of instances where the Ukraine asked for more powerful support with regard to missiles, jet planes, armored vehicles, tanks, air defense systems and similar weapons of war which were refused do to the fear of escalation. Of course the only escalation was that Russia could stand behind its border and keep sending more and more planes, drones,  missiles and troop formations into the Ukraine destroying civilian targets and infrastructure while the Ukraine tried to protect its borders and hold the Russians at bay. That's an interesting way for Washington to set up an ally. A classic example of this , supposedly  now being modified, is the missiles we are finally sending. The original missiles we sent to the Ukraine could only  strike a target at  100 miles. We did not want to give the Ukrainians missiles that went farther because they might shoot them  further into Russia. We are now giving the Ukrainians missiles that go 190 miles so that they can try and destroy weapon stockpiles and other targets of war further into Russian held territory. What an interesting concept, and Washington is congratulating itself on learning this in only 2 1/2 years! A similar example is the patriot missile batteries that can shoot down the Russian ballistic missiles.  The Ukrainians have three of those. They have asked for many more and we now have some of our allies who are offering up these weapons as America did not want to send more. I particularly note this distinction because we have given Israel many  air defense systems including the so-called Dome that has protected the Israelis very efficiently but we don't seem to know how to ship more of those weapons one stage further to the Ukraine. Somehow I don't think the Israelis are as much at risk from Hamas  and Hezbollah as the Ukrainians are at risk from Russia. With the limited additional support that has now reached Ukraine we have reports of Ukrainian attacks on airfields, blown up storage dumps further into Russia, destruction of Russian surface to air missile systems, radar systems, air defense command posts, etcetera, that were previously not in danger. That seems to me like an appropriate way to be fighting a war, foggy bottom notwithstanding.

The last befuddlement  I stumbled upon while trying to comprehend the administration's attitude and actions was another inexplicable debate going on in the administration about the Ukraine's efforts to attack and destroy Russia's oil and gas resources and refining. It was reported that the Biden administration  condemned these attacks because it could lead to a greater Russian retaliation. Well, duh. Hopefully, the Ukrainians will destroy massive amounts of Russia's oil and gas capacity as that is where Russia gets much of  its foreign exchange funds  used to propel its actions. Maybe such strikes can make Russia rethink its militaristic attitude. These comments by the administration apparently come from the Defense Secretary who was trying to tell the Ukrainians  how they should fight their war. Interestingly, our other allies supporting Ukraine don't seem to be bothered by this issue which has the administration making such incomprehensible statements. Perhaps Mr. Biden is a little bit too caught up in the current political campaign and does not want people to pay more for gas. Neither do I, but I think the Ukrainians are doing what they should do.

Thoughts

It is good that we are sending more aid to the Ukraine. We should even be increasing our aid. That is not a wish for escalation that is a wish to put the Ukrainians in a position that they can make Russia reconsider its war tirade, allow  some issue to surface for  Russia to use to  declare they won and go home, and try and bring this debacle to an end. We are not involved in the fighting we are supplying. In offering that support we have to quit telling everyone else how they should do what they're doing. It is a classic case of what makes America a difficult and undesirable ally. In many instances we think we know what everybody else should do and when. This seems to be another example where our diplomats have lost their way and they should get out of the way.

Obadiah Plainman

Copies of all previous postings of this blog can be found at:  thoughtscm.com