JRL NEWSWATCH: “Help Ukraine Hold the Line” – New York Times
“… [R]ecalcitrance in Congress is not Ukraine’s only problem. Europe has been slow to step in … and … Zelensky[] may have taken too long to lower the recruitment age to 25 …. American weapons and artillery are essential to Ukraine’s ability to hold the line and[] eventually … negotiate for an end to hostilities from a position of strength. No country has the stockpiles or … production capabilities to match the United States … producing and providing … 155-millimeter artillery shells, HIMARS … or air defense systems … require[d] to hold the Russians at bay. Russia … has successfully ramped up military production and is receiving supplies from North Korea and Iran … Putin has used the recent [concert hall] terror attack … to ramp up recruitment. Ukraine is already suffering the consequences of America’s faltering support. … Putin gambled from the outset that the United States would not go the distance … and … must be reveling in the goings-on in Congress. Allowing Russia to impose its will … would … risk encouraging [Putin] to test waters further afield, whether in the Baltic[s] … western Europe or to the south, and would signal … that China, too, can throw its weight around. …”