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Sen. Tom Cotton Hits the Right Chord on Ukraine
It’s been interesting to hear pundits argue various interpretations and strategies about the situation between Ukraine and Russia. For sure, no serious person thinks the U.S. should go to war with Russia over Ukraine. Bolstering the U.S. and NATO presence near Russia’s border (think Poland and the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania) is another matter, along with helping Ukraine defend itself. Those efforts are underway, albeit belatedly.
On one end, you have former President George W. Bush and Sen. Marco Rubio adviser Max Boot. He’s now a Washington Post columnist and a senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Boot thinks we should supply Ukraine’s army and, when it loses to Russia, support a guerrilla war not unlike “Charlie Wilson’s War” in Soviet-occupied Afghanistan.
Don’t underestimate Ukraine’s willingness to fight Russia. After all, it has a long and not very pleasant history with its bad neighbors, starting with the Holodomor, where Soviet dictator Josef Stalin literally starved almost as many millions of Ukrainians from 1932-33 as German dictator Adolf Hitler exterminated Jews during World War II. And remember that Chernobyl, the worst nuclear disaster in world history thanks to the Soviets, is located in northern Ukraine. Memories are long. Maybe Ukraine could offer Russian troops a chance to encamp there for the winter.
Senator Cotton is one of the most clear-eyed people we have in the Senate these days. He clearly states the problems and why it got to this point. He lays out the solutions in a clear and concise manner. Hugh is great because he is one of the best interviewers in media these days. He lets the person talk, but asks strong follow-ups and doesn’t let them spout talking points.
As to the substance of the interview…Sen Cotton is right that our weakness has been an issue. He is also right that President Trump’s policy deterred Putin for his term, and the President Biden has completely unraveled that deterrence. I have no idea if the Ukrainians can stop the Russians. If the Russians are determined, then I doubt they can, but how determined are they? Will they accept high casualties over time? In the short term, I suspect the Putin can hide the casualties, but if he cannot engage in a “Short, Victorious War” then he is going to be in big trouble…then again, he controls the media and the narrative. Maybe he can survive such an affair when Vyacheslav von Plehve did not.
I know a little something about Ukraine too.
There are a lot of articles about what Russia wants from this crisis, but is there consensus about what the US wants?
Don’t know about the US as a whole, but the Beltway Class wants their money laundering machine back.
Ukraine’s problems with their neighbors did not start with the Holodomor. They go back at least as far as a Mongol invasion in the 13th Century.
As usual, the history is complicated. At the time, both Kiev and Moscow were part of the Kievan Rus. This is one of the reasons that the Russians also fear foreign invasion, and want buffer zones.
The Russian core territory lacks natural defenses.
We faced the same problem. We solved it through conquest.
Fidel Castro might differ. Watch this space.
It was ever thus: weakness is provocative. And Brandon is as weak as they come.
God in Heaven, have mercy on us and on the whole world…
Kelly, Great Presentation. It is presentations like this that help build a consensus on the appropriate action. Yes, Brandon is failing miserably on this issue , but he is also falling apart and time will tell what happens to his administration.
Clear identification of our interests like those presented by Senator Cotton are a great help to show the resolve of the American People aside from the idiocy of the Commie Democrats.
Senator Cotton is also clear-eyed as to the source of COVID-19, back when everyone else was cowed by the media. He would make a great President.
Russia can occupy parts of Ukraine. I have no illusions on that. But I also have no doubt that there will then ensue a guerrilla war that will drag on . Ukrainians have held onto their national identity for 500 years through the Tzars, and the Kommisars. Putin and his thugs will not be able to digest what they swallow. If their free neighbors on their Western border are willing to help them by getting weapons to them, Putin will have a major headache.
Thousands have already died in the fight. This is a memorial in Kyiv I saw when I was there in September. Pictures of those who have died in the fighting against Russia. it goes on for an entire city block.
Ukraine also lacks defensible natural borders except for the Carpathian mountains in the West. Poland to the Northwest, Russia to the East and the Ottomans to the South all at one time or another carved it up.
Kelly, I don’t understand this comment. Would you elaborate?
I disagree in a way with Cotton about Putin. He may want to reassemble the tsarist or Soviet boundaries, but he doesn’t have the means and he knows it. He is very cautious but it doesn’t mean he wouldn’t act given the chance. So don’t give him the chance. He also knows he would have terrible indigestion if he did.
The amount of ridiculous propaganda coming out of Washington is laughable. Putin is going to stage a coup and put in his guy? Projection on what Washington and the EU did back in the color revolution days.
Putin is very unlikely to invade either. Why should he? Ukraine’s economy is not doing well. Who is going to invest there at the moment?
Ukraine’s best option is to go back to the Minsk Agreement and quit listening to the likes of Max Boot. Ukraine needs good relations with both Russia and the EU and the EU should provide greater accessibility to its markets, something it has refused to do. Ukraine is the poorest country in Europe for a reason.
What makes Tom Cotton a “national security expert”? I assume this is meant in the sense that these things are his preferred subject matter on talk-shows.
He graduated from Harvard and is a combat veteran. That’s a pretty good start.
Ukraine spent a lot a money on Biden Inc and it does not seem to be paying off for them
What the US wants is to keep the Russian Navy out of the Atlantic. Every Russian excursion westward gets them closer to port access to the ocean.
Secondly, the US wants Russia to not become a superpower again. We saw what happened the first time around. We won the cold war at great cost, put Russia in it’s place, and it would be best for all parties for them to stay there.
Oh; really?
And:
Not exactly true.
While the
NYTFourth Branch of the US Government’s official publication is now sayingWhat NATO has to say is:
And the Atlantic Council (remember them from Trumpeachment? and their ties to Kerry, Biden, and others?)
Courtesy of Matt Bracken:
The real question: What’s Tom Cotton’s agenda?
This is a good post with good comments about a good interview with Tom Cotton. However, my mind keeps wandering to the question of which instruments are used to make music by hitting a chord. Xylophone, perhaps?
Interesting pov
https://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed/la-oe-shifrinson-russia-us-nato-deal–20160530-snap-story.html?_amp=true
Zither.
Isn’t that plucking or strumming more than hitting?
Yes, he was one of the first, perhaps THE first at the Federal level to raise the alarm about COVID-19 and China’s involvement. Of course, that means that the media portrays him as a knuckle dragging xenophobe…and now we learn that the NIH purposefully obfuscated the possibility that the virus came from a lab (that we partially funded) for political reasons (let’s not piss of the Chinese).
Dulcimer?
Well, he is on the Senate Armed Services Committee and the Senate Intelligence Committee which are two of the locations that you hone your skills on national security. Couple that with his time in the House where he was on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Piano
To deter Russian expansion since it is counter to US interests. I know that neither of his son’s are working for any Russian, Chinese, Ukrainian, or any other foreign companies.
Hmm. So that puts him in Adam Schiff/Joe Biden territory.
Well they haven’t hit high school yet, it’s an unreasonable expectation.
If THAT is your take, then you might want to actually listen to his weekly discussions with Hugh. It MIGHT actually illuminate you to just how silly that statement is. I’m not holding my breath though.