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President Joe Biden spoke to the American people after a fashion. He, or whoever writes his material, sought to calm rising fears about the consequences of intervening ever deeper in the Russo-Ukraine war. Early popular enthusiasm for the victims of Russian aggression has given way to more practical concerns over the potential for an expanded war, higher prices, a possible recession, and more. The president began with his war aim: "We want to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous Ukraine with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression." That's a reasonable diplomatic end but not a very good cause for war. What Biden said about Ukraine also applies to most every other nation on earth. The US wants every country every where to be democratic and independent. But it usually doesn't go to war or support wars to promote that end. For instance, in the 1990s and 2000s an estimated 5.4 million people died when multiple countries intervened in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. No doubt, Washington wanted "to see a democratic, independent, sovereign and prosperous [DRC] with the means to deter and defend itself against further aggression." But the US did nothing to make that happen because the interest at stake did not warrant the effort, expense, and risk of doing so. |
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The White House on Tuesday defended President Biden's plans to meet with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Saudi Arabia, a country he once vowed to make a "pariah." Although the dates for Biden's trip to Saudi Arabia haven't yet been set, he did confirm that he has plans to meet with MbS, who is the Kingdom's de facto leader. Defending the MbS meeting, the White House said it will serve the US national interest. "This trip to Israel and Saudi Arabia - when it comes - would be in the context of significant deliverables for the American people in the Middle East region," said White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre. "If he determines that it's in the interest of the United States to engage with a foreign leader and that such an engagement can deliver results, then he'll do so," she added. |
The murder of journalist Shereen Abu Akleh on May 11, 2022 is, sadly, not the first time Israeli forces have killed American citizens and gotten away with it. The Israeli bulldozer that ran over - and then backed up over - 23 year-old Rachel Corrie to ensure her back was broken on March 16, 2003 is another sad example. Today, we call to mind the most egregious example 55 years ago (June 8, 1967), when Israeli aircraft and torpedo boats attacked the USS Liberty in international waters, killing 34 and wounding more than 170 (total crew was 294). At the height of the attack, Seaman Terry Halbardier jerry-rigged an antenna so an SOS could be sent. The Israelis heard the SOS and broke off the attack. |
| The New York Times reported on Wednesday that despite the billions of dollars in weapons the US is sending Ukraine, Kyiv has shared few details on its operational plans with Washington. Current and former officials told the Times that US intelligence agencies have a far better picture of Russia's military operations than Ukraine's. Even in high-level talks with Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Mark Milley, Ukrainian officials have only shared their strategic goals, not their operational plans. Washington has such little information on Ukraine's operations that it has tried to learn information from other countries operating in Ukraine, training sessions with Ukrainian forces, and even from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's public comments. |
Republican hawks are predictably pushing for many irresponsible aggressive policies towards China. The latest example of this came last week in a speech by Nebraska Sen. Ben Sasse, who called for $1 trillion military budget, an explicit security commitment to Taiwan, and the creation of what he calls a "NATO for the Pacific." Any one of these ideas would be bad for the United States, and all of them together would be ruinous. The US approach to Asia is already heavily militarized, and what Sasse proposes would make it even more so. If Washington did as he wanted, the US would further overstretch itself and put itself on the path to unnecessary war with China. |
A senior Biden administration official told The New York Times that "right now it's almost impossible to imagine" the US and Russia negotiating a replacement for New START - the last remaining arms control treaty between the two powers - before it expires. New START limits the number of missiles, bombers, and warheads the US and Russia can have deployed. President Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed to extend the treaty for five years back in January 2021. US and Russian officials had held arms control talks since then, but they fell apart after Russia invaded Ukraine. |
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