Bob Woodward's new bookwar” provides a dire glimpse into the Biden administration’s national security decision-making process. Founded early in the war, the White House created its own self-fulfilling prophecy.
A red line that President Biden self-imposed was his evergreen fear of Russia's use of tactical nuclear weapons in Ukraine.
Gen. Mark Milley, then chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, cryptically told the Kremlin everything it needed to know when he asked Russian Gen. Valery Gerasimov, “Under what circumstances would you use nuclear weapons?” .
Milley was basically asking the Russians, “How much is allowed? What is the limit?” Thus he allowed Russian President Vladimir Putin to set our rules.
Gerasimov's reply was as follows. “If there is an attack on Russia that threatens the stability of the regime, condition 1. Second, if a foreign power attacks Russia using weapons of mass destruction, that is, chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons. Third. Russia reserves the right to use tactical nuclear weapons in the event of catastrophic battlefield losses.
That single phone call gave the Kremlin a roadmap to limit U.S. aid to Ukraine, and it has continued to exploit it ever since. Biden's escalation paralysis likely began with this call.
Mr. Gerasimov's third condition for Mr. Milley describes the Biden administration's “.just enough“Ukraine and its aid strategy for Ukraine”only weakens Russia“The approach to war. we discussedthe regime's “fear of winning outweighed its fear of losing. Enabling Ukraine to defend itself became the strategy. A war of attrition that would eventually bring both countries to the negotiating table.” It was considered the best course of action, not for Ukraine but for the United States.”
Since then, Putin has exploited that weakness. And the United States fulfilled its obligation. Every battlefield success by Ukraine, every new weapon system provided to the Ukrainian military, was countered by a new nuclear threat from Russia.
tactical and strategic nuclear forcesexercisestest firing, aide showing Russia's “''nuclear soccer,” andmeetingAll relations with North Korea are aimed at reinforcing the belief that Russia will respond with a nuclear option.
Letting Ukraine win was never an option.
“If we're not completely successful in getting Russia out of Ukraine, we're going to give President Putin something to do,” Biden said. “If we are completely successful in expelling Russia from Ukraine, nuclear use is very likely because President Putin has no intention of routing Ukraine without unsealing tactical nuclear weapons. Too much success is like a nuclear weapon, and too little success is like a kind of uncertain and uncertain outcome.”
Biden later said, “If President Putin uses tactical nuclear weapons on the battlefield in Ukraine, the United States will not respond with nuclear weapons,” adding, “We will not respond with nuclear weapons to their use on the battlefield in Ukraine.” . Bob Woodward concluded that “nuclear weapons were a silent shadow over all their deliberations.”
The Biden administration chose an easy mistake (arming Ukraine to defend itself) over the difficult but right decision to arm Ukraine to defeat and drive Russia out of the country.
According to a retired Army general,jack keenePutin is “fully determined to take control of Ukraine…and also determined to expand into Eastern Europe and expand the Russian Empire.” More than 11,000 people are also integrated into the KremlinNorth KoreanThe Kursk counterattack threw troops into Russian formations.
But Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told NBC he is determined to secure Ukraine's independence.meet the pressAnchor Kristen Welker: “We're not ready to give free rein to this fucking terrorist Putin.”
Russian casualties are not a fatal problem for President Putin. He will continue the pressure to produce carnage. President Putin's “special military operation” is now approaching its 33rd month. he was responsible for712,610 Russian casualties. During October, Moscow suffered on average the following losses:1,500Army for a day. According to the Ukrainian General Staff, Russia lost1,950Soldiers of November 11th.
While the Biden administration seeks to “right the ship” on Ukraine in its final months in office, the incoming Trump team is considering cutting aid to Ukraine and firmly supporting Israel in its conflict with Hamas. . However, the two countries are inseparable due to the “axis of evil” led by Russia.
KeeneDescribing the relationship on Fox News, he said, “China, Russia, Iran, North Korea are colluding, collaborating, coordinating, and becoming very aggressive and assertive…Russia invades Ukraine. What they did was not an isolated thing. It's not an isolated thing that Iran operated all its agencies in the Middle East.”
Sen.bill hagerty's(R-Tenn.) commented on Face the Nation that cutting aid to Ukraine to “stop the genocide” is not the solution. It will not stop the genocide, but will only encourage it.
Russia will fire more artillery, launch more cruise missiles and drones, and throw more bodies into the Ukrainian meat grinder until Kiev surrenders. Ukrainian cities and their civilian populations will bear the brunt of the massacre. The same goes for soldiers in the trenches when they run out of ammunition.
Biden made a last-ditch effort to spend the remaining $6 billion.aid packageApproved by Congress in April, $20 billionLoans to Ukraine will have no effect on the outcome of the war unless it also provides precision deep strike weapons and authorization to use them. Doubling down on defensive weapons will not win the war, it will only prolong it. Why is that lesson so difficult to understand?
But Europe is starting to understand that.
Elected Chancellor of GermanyFriedrich Merz“He will press Russia for a 24-hour deadline to end the war. If this demand is not met, he will insist on deploying Taurus long-range missiles to Ukraine.”
Even Britain and France are developing much-needed backbone as a second Trump administration looms. According totelegraph paper“Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron… will discuss on Monday whether Joe Biden… can be persuaded to give Ukraine permission to fire Storm Shadow missiles deep into Russia.”
The best course of action for the US government is a Ukraine First policy, which means defeating Russia. Ukraine faces negative consequences unless it is provided with critical weapons systems to defeat Russian and North Korean militaries and their weapons systems in Russia. On the other hand, Israel is currently able to stand up to Hamas, Hezbollah, and Iran on its own. Russia's defeat in Ukraine would weaken its support for North Korea and Iran.
Mr. Trump needs to identify the winners in order to get behind the curve. Biden did not enable Ukraine's victory, he is simply working to survive. That said, the Trump administration would do just as well by remembering the Captain.james lawrence'sIn June 1813, he called on the fate of the USS Chesapeake: “Don't let go of the ship!”
Ukraine is that ship, a ship of democracy fighting for survival in the Black Sea region. A Russian victory would encourage other powers within the Axis of Evil to pursue their territorial ambitions. Preventing that from happening is in the national security interests of the United States.
Colonel (retired)Jonathan SweetHe served as an Army intelligence officer for 30 years.mark tothHe writes about national security and foreign policy.
