Just a normal exercise of insiders (US Intelligence Community) making sure the other guys (Ukrainian Generals) get blamed for the failure?
Anyone concerned about how deep our involvement was?
Link: https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/03/29/world/europe/us-ukraine-military-war-wiesbaden.html?smid=nytcore-android-share
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It was more interesting in showing the tension in the US between helping them and avoiding escalation, which has always been the #1 US interest.
And it should end any doubt about just how superior the US military is compared to the hapless Russians. Which Putin surely knows.
Putin failed because the US helped the Ukrainians. He will not stop the attack if he believes that help is going to end.
The path only way to get peace is to make Putin understand that he can’t win.
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What was Conors conclusion?
I see that Conor fully supports the IC “Pro’s” who are currently torpedoing the reputations of their Ukrainian clients.
last section...which concludes with these paragraphs...
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So much had changed since General Donahue left two years before. But when it came to the raw question of territory, not much had changed. In the war’s first year, with Wiesbaden’s help, the Ukrainians had seized the upper hand, winning back more than half of the land lost after the 2022 invasion. Now, they were fighting over tiny slivers of ground in the east (and in Kursk).
One of General Donahue’s main objectives in Wiesbaden, according to a Pentagon official, would be to fortify the brotherhood and breathe new life into the machine — to stem, perhaps even push back, the Russian advance. (In the weeks that followed, with Wiesbaden providing points of interest and coordinates, the Russian march toward Pokrovsk would slow, and in some areas in the east, the Ukrainians would make gains. But in southwest Russia, as the Trump administration scaled back support, the Ukrainians would lose most of their bargaining chip, Kursk.)
In early January, Generals Donahue and Cavoli visited Kyiv to meet with General Syrsky and ensure that he agreed on plans to replenish Ukrainian brigades and shore up their lines, the Pentagon official said. From there, they traveled to Ramstein Air Base, where they met Mr. Austin for what would be the final gathering of coalition defense chiefs before everything changed.
With the doors closed to the press and public, Mr. Austin’s counterparts hailed him as the “godfather” and “architect” of the partnership that, for all its broken trust and betrayals, had sustained the Ukrainians’ defiance and hope, begun in earnest on that spring day in 2022 when Generals Donahue and Zabrodskyi first met in Wiesbaden.
Mr. Austin is a solid and stoic block of a man, but as he returned the compliments, his voice caught.
“Instead of saying farewell, let me say thank you,” he said, blinking back tears. And then added: “I wish you all success, courage and resolve. Ladies and gentlemen, carry on.”
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It's pretty clear that U.S. Military and Intelligence assistance to Ukraine was effective and appreciated. It remains to be seen if the United States maintains its long established commitment to Democracy over Autocracy...in Ukraine...and at home.
How dangerous it was/is/will be so close to a nuclear war as the red lines were broken again and again. We knew US military personnel in Ukraine. NYT admitted all of what we have been saying. They just quoted insiders evaluation of nuclear situation, i.e. from 5-10% to 50%, to make it sound more accurate and authentic. I guess it is secret only to those who read propaganda.
If I have time, I will give 2 and 3.
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He knows that if he launched a nuke, Russia would be no more. That’s the last thing a power hungry autocrat wants.
Which he probably knows is the result if he loses this.
I remember when we wondered if giving stinger missiles to Afghan fighters was too provocative. Range was, what, a mile? Here, we were sabotaging pipelines and researching targets for OUR weapons inside Russia. The American people deserved much, much, much more clarity and honesty.
There is never transparency in such matters until of course it’s declassified . Don’t hold your breath.
Oh and we have CIA, special ops operations in many different countries.
To serve their own interests.
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