The View from Right Field

Where Do We Get Our Purposes From? Business, Government – Or Ourselves

The following letter to the editor, which appears in the Financial Times on May 16, 2022, relates to a column by Brooke Masters in the FT of May 12, 2022, entitled “Profits not purpose still dominate at Volkswagen”:

Brooke Masters notes that Herbert Diess, Volkswagen chief executive, has called for a quick end to the Russian war against Ukraine (not that he calls it that), in order to “get back to trying to open up the world again”.  As Ms. Masters says, “[p]rofit not purpose is his priority”.

Ukraine: What Is the US Doing; Is It Enough; How Do We Know?

I try to follow what is going on in Ukraine, including what the United States is doing to help Ukraine and whether we need to do more.  I read articles.  I listen to panel discussions and podcasts.  And I get confused.

Consider whether the US is providing enough military aid to Ukraine and whether we are providing the right military aid.  In a panel discussion Friday morning sponsored by the Atlantic Council, Gen. Philip Breedlove (ret.), former Supreme Allied Commander Europe, said this about what we are providing (these are my words, not direct quotes):

Gaffes, Red Lines, and Credibility

[This is a follow up and elaboration on my post of March 26, 2022.¹ ]

In the 2020 presidential election, I didn’t vote for Joe Biden even though I wanted Donald Trump to lose.  I couldn’t bring myself to vote for President Biden because, as Robert Gates said in 2014, “I think he's been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.”^2,3  Fortunately, I live in Illinois, so my vote was not necessary for President Biden to win Illinois’s electoral votes. 

Which brings me to President Biden’s recent “gaffe tour” of Europe.  Michel Kinsley famously defined a gaffe as “when a politician tells the truth – some obvious truth he isn't supposed to say."  President Biden gave us two great examples of this on his trip.  First, he said, apparently unscripted, that Vladimir Putin was a “war criminal.”  That is probably true, but how is it helpful?  We need to get the war in Ukraine over.  How does making Vladimir Putin think he might be prosecuted as a war criminal help do that?⁴

In 2013, John Kerry Said Assad “Has to Go.” In 2022, Joe Biden Said Putin “Cannot Remain in Power.”

On February 25, 2013, then-Secretary of State John Kerry said that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad ‘has to go.”  Nine years later, John Kerry is gone, but President Assad is still in power.  Today, President Biden said, “For God’s sake, this man [i.e., Vladimir Putin] cannot remain in power.” 

Since President Biden said President Putin “cannot remain in power,” I hope he means it, and I hope he knows how he is going to get it done.  Because this is not something you say, unless you both mean it and know how you are going to accomplish it.

Covid-19. Ukraine. Do We Ever Learn Anything?

When Covid-19, then known as the coronavirus, hit in early 2020, we weren’t ready.  We didn’t have enough personal protective equipment, our medical systems were inadequate, the plans we had for pandemics didn’t work, etc.  Things were a mess.  On April 26, 2020, I wrote a long post entitled “Preparing for the ‘Next’ Coronavirus – Whatever It Is. But Will We?”  But the post was not talking about just the next virus.  It was asking about the next emergency, the next disaster, the next big problem, whatever it was.  In the conclusion of my post, I said this:

“Robustness.  Resiliency.  Nimbleness.  These are what we need if we are to be ready for the emergencies and disasters that will happen, though we don’t know which ones or when.  Most of all, however, we need leaders who understand the importance of these qualities and who can provide the leadership to help us secure them and maintain them.”

“I Need Ammunition, Not a Ride.” And Other Comments on America and Ukraine

If there is a contest for quote of the year, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has already won it with his response to America’s offer to fly him out of the country (or maybe to Lviv, in far western Ukraine, I’m not sure) after the Russian invasion started.  Maybe we thought he would want to leave, like Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani did when we abandoned Afghanistan.  But President Zelensky didn’t.  Which leads to my first comment:

1. Just like in Afghanistan, our intelligence in Ukraine was really bad.  In Afghanistan, we thought the government could last for months after we left.  Instead, it collapsed before we were even gone.  It was a total intelligence failure.

     It was much the same in Ukraine, except in the opposite direction.  While we got it right that Russia was going to invade, we were totally wrong about how well the Russian army would do and we were totally wrong about how well the Ukrainian army would defend its country.  We saw the Russian army as experienced and well-equipped, and we thought they would roll over the Ukrainians.  We saw the Ukrainian army as weak and unprepared, and we thought they wouldn’t be able to stand up to the Russians.  Both of these were wrong, and that was important because those intelligence failures may have affected our policy choices.

Russia Invading Ukraine in 2014 versus Russia Invading Ukraine in 2022

I was thinking about the way Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 versus the way they are doing it now.  In 2014, Russia’s invasion of Crimea was by “little green men”; i.e., soldiers not wearing Russian uniforms and with no insignias.  Their vehicles had no markings.  When Russia went into the Donbas in 2014, it was much the same.  The Russians said it was just local people.  When Russian soldiers were sighted in the Donbas, the response was that they were just on vacation. 

But this year, the Russians haven’t tried to hide anything.  It’s Russian soldiers, Russian tanks, Russian planes.  It’s clear and obvious. 

What We Need in Ukraine Is a Policy Backed by Strength and Credibility

Several thoughts on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.  Actually, I should say Russia’s “renewed” invasion of Ukraine, since Russia invaded Crimea in 2014 and Russian troops were involved in the supposed rebel outbreaks in the Donbas, etc.¹

First, before the renewed invasion, I listened to podcasts with diplomats, reporters, etc., talking about the situation in Ukraine.  Since the invasion, I have found those discussions less useful.  The best people to listen to now are military people.  I have learned a lot from the comments of Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges (ret.) in this program at the Atlantic Council and of former National Security Adviser Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster (ret.) in the “Goodfellows” programs at the Hoover Institution.  This is, after all, a war.  To understand what is happening and what our options are, among the best people to listen to are the generals.  If you don’t know the military situation and the military options, you can’t make good decisions.  The military doesn’t make the decisions, but they give some of the most important information to those who do.

A Great Way to #StandWithUkraine: @SpiritAmerica

There are lots of wonderful groups helping refugees fleeing the fighting in Ukraine.  And that’s important because the victims of Vladimir Putin’s continued invasion of Ukraine need assistance.  But, in addition to helping the victims of the fighting, let me suggest a way to help the people fighting Vladimir Putin

Spirit of America is different than most groups helping in Ukraine.  It’s not non-partisan.  It takes a side.  It takes Ukraine’s side.  Spirit of America is providing things like body armor, helmets, first aid kits, secure communication gear, etc., to members of the Ukraine armed forces and the new Ukrainian territorial forces. 

Biden Is Looking for Oil Everywhere – Except Texas

The Biden administration energy policy reminds me a lot of Johnny Lee’s 1980 hit country song “Looking for Love (In All the Wrong Places)”, except it should be changed to “Looking for Oil in All the Wrong Places.”  With, first, inflation surging and, now, Russia invading Ukraine, the Biden administration is looking for oil.  Except it is looking in the wrong places.

Late last year, with gas prices up, the Administration asked Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states to increase oil production.  They wouldn’t.  According to some reports, one of the reasons the Administration is pushing to reinstate the Iran nuclear agreement is to get Iranian oil back on the world market.  The New York Times has reported that Administration officials are talking with Venezuela on ways to end on sanctions on their oil, to get supplies up and gas prices down.