JRL NEWSWATCH: “As Ukraine war bogs down, U.S. assessments face scrutiny” – Washington Post
“The growing conjecture is fueled by U.S. assessments of other wars, notably Afghanistan, where officials habitually sidestepped questions of whether success was sustainable.”
“The shifting … war in Ukraine has prompted a split among analysts and U.S. lawmakers, … some questioning whether American officials have portrayed the crisis in overly rosy terms while others say … [Ukraine] can win with more [Western] help …. [F]our months after Russia’s invasion and its failure to seize [Kyiv] … Putin has … narrowed [Russian] objectives, focusing on … [the] industrial Donbas region … launching thousands of artillery rounds per day at outgunned Ukrainian forces. … U.S. officials acknowledge that … Russian forces … have gradually seized territory in the east. … [but] have downplayed the gains, calling them halting and incremental, while highlighting the significant number of Russian military fatalities …. But the Ukrainians have sustained heavy casualties, too. Independent estimates indicate … tens of thousands of soldiers killed and wounded [on each side] ….”