The Two-Sided War in Ukraine

There is a curious article by Adam Entous [Ukraine's U.S. Backers Use Cold-War Playbook]  in today's Wall Street Journal.  The article recounts the background to what was known as "Charlie Wilson's War" in Afghanistan.  Wilson and some of his contemporaries noticed that the Reagan Administration had more rhetoric than punch in how it gave weapons to the Afghans to fight against the Russian invasion. Since they no longer teach this kind of thing in school, there are a good many people who only know it by the movie's portrayal of events.  

What Entous points out is the similarities and differences in the way that war was funded and the way the current Administration is funding operations in the Ukraine, or not funding them as it turns out.  Politicians seem to always be concerned, whether they do anything or not.  We can't blame them for that;  it is what we hire then to do.  When I worked on the Hill, any issue was something to be concerned about, but that didn't translate into action because there are people on both sides of the issue.  I wonder who is on the side of not doing anything to help the Ukranians who faced a load of Russians coming across the border with heavy weapons and beating up on Ukraine's Army.  They even took Crimea and nobody in Europe or the U.S. even made a peep.  

Some of the players who made Charlie Wilson's War are coming back to support a similar operation in Ukraine.  In December, Ukrainian military members came to find out how they could get weapons.  The meeting recounted by Entous was held in a public area in the Pentagon City Mall outside Starbucks, a perfect place for a military meeting not 400 yards from the Pentagon itself.  They had to sign forms for weapons, which the President later authorized, but Congress has not funded.  Then, when agreements actually came on what weapons were needed, especially the Javelin anti-tank missile, the President declined to authorize them.  We seem to be two-faced about the Ukraine, and the only ones winning are the Russians.