What are the U.S. goals in Ukraine?

OPINION:

The new strategy by the Pentagon to bleed Russia dry is dangerous. Policy should be set by the White House, but it looks very much like the generals are now doing what they want and the feeble old man in the Oval Office is rubber stamping everything. Yes, we need to send the equipment, but we ought to have sent it back in December and January so we could have averted war. And once Russia struck, we should have

sent a huge amount of aid, not the small amounts we have sent.

Eastern Europeans and the British are starting to articulate long-term goals and policies, but we see exactly none of this from Washington, Berlin or Paris. What, exactly, do western leaders want to happen in Ukraine? What type of government do they hope for? And where do they see relations with Russia?

Equally important, who is looking at what is going to happen inside Russia? If Russia looses, will President Vladimir Putin fall? What happens then? There is a real risk that Russia could collapse. Has anyone in government given any thought to what China wants to happen? China is giving Mr. Putin some help but not enough to matter. Why is this the case, if they are allies? Perhaps China wants Mr. Putin to fail. That would open the door for China to seize Siberia and its vast mineral wealth.

Is anyone in U.S. government, academia or industry thinking any of this through? Probably not. Mr. Putin losing could be far more

dangerous than anyone thinks, but no one is looking.

JAMES BARENDS

Wayne, Pennsylvania