I just watched a CNN interview with John Bolton. Usually, that guy is a neo-con extremist, but he said something about NATO’s support of Ukraine in its war against Russia’s illegal invasion that rang very true. He expressed dismay over NATO’s lack of a coherent plan to help Ukraine end the war, that debates over which military hardware to supply or not supply in a piecemeal fashion meant that partitioning and rationing of such systems diminished their collective effectiveness. In short, NATO is failing Ukraine’s efforts to end the war by not giving the country what it needs when it needs it. Bingo! It is a version of what I’ve been saying: NATO should have given Ukraine everything immediately instead of debating and negotiating what to send and when. The tank controversy is a prime example. Ukraine has been begging for tanks from day one, and it took NATO nations a year to finally acquiesce when they could have complied earlier, potentially allowing Ukraine to beat back Russia months ago. The same can be said for fighter jets and air defense systems. (And don’t let the “training” of Ukraine pilots as an excuse persuade you — it’s a stupid excuse.) This “just in time” method of supplying Ukraine has always been ridiculous and only nearly has not been a complete disaster. It likely caused the war to drag on longer than needed. NATO has been and continues to drag its feet, and this really only reinforces my initial intuition; NATO seems more intent on making sure Ukraine does not win outright for fear of angering Russia. NATO should be flooding the zone with everything much earlier.
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