#CassidyHutchinson is 25 years old and frightened, but she’s there at Congress’s request and there to defend democracy!!
#CassidyHutchinson has settled in to the testimony. I remember that sensation. It gets easier because you just need to remember the facts. She’s laser-focused and doing great.
Trump and his Secret Service detail fighting over going to the Capitol on 1/6.
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“America’s goal is straightforward: We want to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression.”
“Standing by Ukraine in its hour of need is not just the right thing to do. It is in our vital national interests to ensure a peaceful and stable Europe and to make it clear that might does not make right.”
“If Russia does not pay a heavy price for its actions, it will send a message to other would-be aggressors that they too can seize territory and subjugate other countries. It will put the survival of other peaceful democracies at risk.”
Pretty disappointed with this @nytimes editorial board opinion. It's shoddy on the analysis of the Russia-Ukraine war. 1/ nytimes.com/2022/05/19/opi…
The conclusion they drew after @ODNIgov testimony (growing dangers from protracted war)... appeasement? Seems to me that Russia has reduced its appetite at every defeat & arming Ukraine would be better than delivering, through negotiations what couldn't be obtained through force.
The board tries to rationalize a break from it's March advocacy for a free Ukraine, saying U.S. aims have become hard to discern. Seems to me that "degrading" Russia's ability to war, as stated by @SecDef, is pretty clear & moving in the right direct.
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told the Senate Armed Services Committee last week that Putin could slide into “a more unpredictable and potentially escalatory trajectory” if the war drags on “or if he perceives Russia is losing in Ukraine.”
Terribly misguided strategy from National Security Council & @JakeSullivan46. Let’s play this out. Ukraine & Russia keep fighting it out for many months with a disastrous human toll & Russia gets frustrated, incrementally escalating setting conditions for spillover => Bad for US.
🧵… Ukraine... “You won’t let us drown, but you won’t let us swim.” 🇺🇦 can't understand why the 🇺🇸 privileged relations with Russia—an irredentist & revanchist authoritarian—over support for 🇺🇦, for so long. In the 2 months since 🇷🇺 attacked 🇺🇦, the 🇺🇸…
…has lived up to this reputation. It has aided 🇺🇦 in fits & starts... at the expense of more uncompromising support. It needs to discard the desire—which shapes NSC views—to see 🇺🇦 compromise with 🇷🇺 for the sake of a negotiated peace & give 🇺🇦 the support to end the war ASAP.
The U.S. can shore up regional stability, global security, & the international order by working to ensure a Ukrainian victory. To achieve this goal, D.C. must finally abandon a policy that has prioritized trying to build a stable relationship with Russia (🇷🇺 isn’t interested).
Ukraine has been winning. They are likely to keep winning. But there is great cause for concern. In the next phase of war, Russia will focus its combat power on more limited objectives. Russia will leverage its overwhelming fires to break the UAF. Ukraine needs help to win.
Ukraine needs air power, artillery, armor, & ammunitions. This equipment needs to be in Ukraine now, not next week.
The U.S. is failing in two areas, imagination & implementation. First, there's resistance to sufficiently arming Ukraine, due to misplaced fears of escalation.
There's handwringing that winning undermines compromise and fruitful negotiations. Thus, Ukraine can't win too much. The reality is, if Russia starts to win, it will press the advantage, seek more gains, & inflict more Buchas. The only way this war ends is if Russia loses.
Thank you for the opportunity reach you readership. @haaretzcom
“Regarding Israel, Vindman said that as a Jew, he wants to support the Jewish state and that at times he finds himself ‘kind of struggling with how much criticism to offer.’”
“He argued that it was ‘very shortsighted to side with an authoritarian regime and sacrifice Israel and the Jewish people’s values based on some misconception of short-term interests, because that is really what’s driving Israel’s foreign policy right now,’ he said.”
“…staying on the sidelines & not adopting a tougher approach toward Russia was ‘having an impact on the standing of Israel,’ he warned. Vindman also noted that Israel had resisted Ukrainian requests for military [aid], & unconfirmed reports that Russia has used Israeli drones.”