Is there a reason Burns still has his job? Either Putin's invasion was one of the worst intel failures of all time, or he was fooled and made a terrible call. Or there are deals they care about more than Ukraine. He met with Patrushev in November, what did they talk about?
https://twitter.com/margbrennan/status/1501956411739283458
Being a diplomat, even a Russia expert, may not be of much use during a war, when Putin sees any lifeline of communication as a sign of weakness. Is he still giving orders after being so catastrophically wrong?
If US intel was sure Putin was going to invade, as it seemed to be, why didn't they arm the hell out of Ukraine and implement sanctions immediately, as I and others implored at the time? Not to "provoke" Putin when he was already set on war? Makes no sense.
This is another reason I suspect Ukraine is just another chip on the table for the US with Russia. Putin knew the US wanted other things re Iran or whatever John Kerry is doing, and strung them along until tanks were rolling. Crucial weeks to prepare Ukraine were lost.
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