It’s hard to find even a scintilla of optimism concerning the Ukraine-Russia war. From Ted Snider at antiwar.com:
The New York Times reported on May 1 that “the Biden administration” – the same one that ignored Putin’s warnings about Russia’s red line regarding NATO expansion to Ukraine – “increasingly casts aside fears expressed by some early in the war that too much American assistance to Ukraine risked a direct conflict with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.”
As direct assistance to Ukraine by the US, UK and its other allies intensifies dramatically, there are several reasons to be increasingly concerned.
The Long War
The US signaled early that this war was not to be a fast war to defend Ukraine from the Russian invasion. Secretary of State Antony Blinken has repeatedly declared that this war over “core principles” is “bigger than Ukraine.”
Since then, several signs have pointed to an evolving policy of dragging diplomacy to allow for a long war. Blinken has announced that the war could last for the rest of this year. National security adviser Jake Sullivan used the formulation “for months or even longer.” More dramatically still, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Mark Milley “measured [it] in years.” NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said on April 28 that “NATO allies are preparing to provide support over a long period of time.” And, as if on script, on the same day, President Biden asked Congress “for $33 billion to bolster Ukraine’s fight against Russia, signaling a burgeoning and long-haul American commitment.”
STRAIGHT LINE LOGIC 