ANALYSIS – There are those who say we should abandon Ukraine in its war against the invading Russian army. I'm not one of them. I have, however, pushed hard on the idea that Europe must lead in the efforts to arm and sustain Ukraine.
One of my biggest complaints about the Biden-Harris policy toward Ukraine (beyond their blank check, “just throw money at it” approach) is their cowardice and incrementalism in arming Ukraine. And its lack of winning strategy.
The administration vows to back Ukraine till the end, but consistently balks at giving them the weapons and ability to fight Russia on anything resembling equal terms. And then, much later, they finally give them the weapons anyways, after the need has diminished. (RELATED: Biden Sends New Long-Range Weapons To Ukraine)
This happened with a slew of arms, including earlier the M-1 Abrams tank and more recently F-16 fighters. But as the situation on the ground becomes more dire, U.S. and allied war fatigue is setting in, and Ukraine has actually invaded Russian territory, there is a new urgency to provide Kyiv the weapons and permissions to hit deep Russian targets.
At the moment, the U.S. and U.K. have not given Ukraine permission to use long-range missiles against targets inside Russia allegedly for fear of escalation.
But House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Mike McCaul (R-Texas), a major GOP critic of the Biden-Harris national security approach, has been leading a pressure campaign and organized a letter sent Monday urging Biden to remove limits on Ukraine's use of the missiles.
And now, the lame duck Joe Biden says he is considering lifting restrictions on Ukraine using U.S. long-range missiles against Russia. (RELATED: Report: White House Set To Approve Strikes Deep Inside Russia Using Western Missiles)
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has repeatedly called for restrictions on Western-supplied, long-range weapons to be lifted so his military can strike Russian airfields and missile launchers, as well as the ammunition depots, fuel storage and command and control centers that are critical to Moscow's war.
If permission is finally granted, it would follow the Biden pattern of initially resisting but eventually allowing Kyiv to have greater capabilities.
The ability to use U.S. long-range Army Tactical Missile System (ATACMS) would allow Kyiv to strike back in response to Moscow's use of deadly “glide bombs.”
Meanwhile, the U.S. is close to an agreement to give Ukraine Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missiles (JASSM) long-range cruise missiles that could alter the strategic landscape of the war by putting more of Russia in range of powerful, precision-guided bombs.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) provides an excellent interactive map here showing known Russian military and paramilitary objects in range of Ukrainian ATACMS, at least as of August 26, 2024.
The inclusion of JASSMs in a weapons package is expected to be announced this autumn. However, sources added that once confirmed, deliveries could still take months as Washington would need to work through technical issues before shipment.
The JASSM is a U.S. precision-guided all-weather air-to-ground cruise missile with a maximum range of 187-610 miles, depending on the version.
The missiles' range would theoretically allow Ukraine to strike more than a dozen Russian airfields from within Ukraine.
Politico reports that McCaul believes the devastation from recent Russian attacks has changed the Biden-Harris calculus. He also believes that the White House wants to start brokering a peace deal before our looming elections. (RELATED: Former NATO Chief Says Trump Will Be A ‘Loser' And Wants To ‘Surrender' On Ukraine)
“I think when [Russia] came back with that massive glide bomb attack,” McCaul said. “I think personally that [administration officials] want to try to negotiate something before the election. They're not in any position without any leverage to do so, unless [Ukrainian forces] have some victories.”
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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To avoid looking ignorant or stupid or a warmonger you should do a little research on the Ukraine war.
A couple very good suggested readings for you are Putin’s speeches especially before it started and they are freely available in English online. In the last day or two here’s another good suggested reading: https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/nuland-admits-us-discouraged-ukraine-signing-russian-peace-deal-moment-it-was-really.
Sure seeds for WW3
Why don’t we just lob a few hundred nucs into Russia from here. There’s no threat of a nuclear war is there???? It’s having a war that is the only matter. Good Lord! Russia is the owner of the largest nuc arsenal in the world and is led, according to all media accounts by a mad man and your is advice is to attack them – for whom – a non-democratic dictator while they are killing millions of innocent lives. I am not a peacenik but a retired career fighter pilot – but I strongly suggest caution and restraint – maybe try that thing called negotiation – you know – just to save the world!
You’re Crazy!
We know Obama and (his puppet) Biden as EMPIRE-HUNGRY.
And Victoria Nuland as the Chief War Monger in Obama’s Service,
and we know Boris Johnson as their ‘poodle’ who p….d up the legs of Peace Negotiators.
And these reckless PROXY WARS are going on, with no end in sight.
The one in Gaza – and now, in West Bank, too – would not have been possible without the
OBAMA AGGRESSION AND ATTEMPT TO RE-ESTABLISH US CONTROL OVER MID-EAST.
Without his aggression against Libya, Syria, Iraq, Yemen, followed by the Ukraine-Putsch,
the Genocide of Herod Netanyahu would not have been possible.
And Peace will not be possible, unless Despot Herod was removed
– is there no courageous opposition, as there was in Hitler’s Reich?
But let us stick to Ukraine, for the moment, because PEACE WAS POSSIBLE THERE in 2022!
ONLY, BORIS PREVENTED IT, ON ORDER FROM BIDEN (resp. Obama)
It may be possible again – if Starmer and Macron got off the false belief of their “importance”!
So, let us see: DO WE REALLY WANT WWII?
IT LOOKS LIKE IT: FIRST, BORIS PREVENTED PEACE TALKS (that were already going on)
THERE WERE ALREADY BRITISH TROOPS IN UKRAINE, AS FROM 2015
– building up the Ukrainian DONETSK FRONT LINE (with Brit. Artillery? – causing 14,000 deaths?)
NOW, STARMER WANTS TO EXTEND THE WAR (by causing MORE DEATHS!)
Let us see, whether there are not better ways AND HUMAN SENSE to solve this UNNECESSARY PROXY WAR:
ARE LONG RANGE MISSILES SUPPLIED BY ANY OF NATO A DECLARATION OF NATO WAR?
LEGALLY: YES!
So, let’s keep that away and talk sense:
Our Politicians and a SLAVISH PRESS only talk of “ending the war on terms fair to Ukraine”
NOBODY ASKS WHAT WOULD BE FAIR TO THE ETHNIC RUSSIAN 1/3 OF UKRAINE POPULATION, ESP. IN DONBASS AND KRYM!
Ukrainian policies have been shown to be obsessed with “UKRAINIZATION”, i.e. NO other languages, cultures, religious groups!
ALL THESE IDENTITY CONDITIONS OF THE MANY MINORITIES (Russian, Hungarian, Romanian, Slovak, Greek, Roma) are banned!
In the past, Ukrainian Nationalists have used Genocide and Holocaust as means to “UKRAINIZE” all former Polish regions!
THAT IS THE FEAR WHICH, AFTER THE MASS MURDERS OF MAIDAN, ODESSA, KORSUN et al. DROVE PEOPLE TO SECESSION!
AND NATO, USA, EU HAVE NEVER GIVEN THESE FACTS THE SLIGHTEST ATTENTION: TO THEM IT’S ALL “UKRAINIAN PEOPLE”
– WHICH IS NOT TRUE: UKRAINE IS A MULTINATIONAL STATE – AND ALL THESE NATIONS HAVE HUMAN RIGHTS!
Take an example of similar conditions: Belgian is 2/3 Flemish and 1/3 Wallon. If the Flemish had, in a violent PUTSCH, taken power,
and had forbidden the Wallon the use of French, Wallon culture and Catholic Church, and had killed several dozen Wallons who protested
– and the Wallons had declared Independence – the Flemish had sent radical militias (who were, in good part, but not fully, rebuffed),
and then a NATO-strengthened army, leading a CIVIL WAR OF 8 YEARS against the Independent Wallonia, and the Flemish Regime,
supported by NATO, USA, EU, would still insist in the ban of all INDIGENOUS PEOPLES’ RIGHTS,
and the WALLONS now, after those 8 Years, being supported by France and its Forces
– WHERE WOULD WE ALL STAND?
THESE PROBLEMS, DEMANDS, AND RIGHTS MUST BE NEGOTIATED, SOLVED, AND AGREED AS PRE-CONDITION OF PEACE!
WW III here we come! This regional conflict could have, and should have, been stopped in its tracks from the get-go! The U. S. and Great Britain prevented an early settlement.
Why don’t we skip the rhetoric and go straight to WW111…Ukraine is not going to defeat Russia, but Putin is warning us. Sorry, I am not a fan of Zelensky, and I am disgusted that we would even consider escalation!!