Elbridge Colby's bleak vision could lead to Ukraine's defeat
We first witnessed this in the lead up to Trump's bold strikes against the Iran's nuclear weapons program. As reported by Semafor, Gen. Michael Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command, ran into 'resistance' from Colby, 'who has long opposed moving U.S. military assets from Asia to the Middle East.'
Colby, eerily echoing Krook — a character from Charles Dickens' classic novel 'Bleak House' who squirrels away legal documents — is yet again trying to hoard American hardware. The White House confirmed that it is withholding '155mm artillery rounds, Patriot air defense, Guided Multiple Launch Rocket System, Stinger, AIM-7 and Hellfire missiles' previously intended for Ukraine.
Colby's rationale is that they are needed for a potential future confrontation with China in the Indo-Pacific. Yet again, Colby myopically fails to see that, amid the ideological war already underway between the U.S. and China, Washington can deter Beijing's designs on Taiwan by denying the 'Axis of Evil' wins in Iran and Ukraine.
Ukraine will pay the immediate price for Colby's short-sighted policies. Russian President Vladmir Putin is intentionally targeting and killing Ukrainian civilians — and now, wittingly or not, Colby is playing into the hands of the Kremlin.
Colby's capitulation to Moscow could not come at a better time for Putin. Ukraine is taking the fight to Russia, and Putin is slowly losing whatever leverage over Ukraine he believed he once had – air attacks and mass.
Russia's economy is on the brink. Citizens in Moscow are regularly experiencing firsthand the effects of war, and Sergei Shoigu has been back to North Korea begging for more help, securing an additional 30,000 soldiers to do Russia's fighting in Ukraine.
Momentum is beginning to shift back in Ukraine's favor. You can feel Putin's growing desperation, but he keeps adding new demands. His latest is that NATO must stop training Ukrainian soldiers in the West.
Ukraine's 'Operation Spiderweb' was a wakeup call. Ukrainian special forces launched drone strikes against four strategic Russian air bases — Belaya, Olenya, Dyagilevo, and Ivanovo — reportedly destroying 34 percent of the Russian strategic bomber fleet used to launch cruise missile attacks against Ukrainian cities.
Ukraine has now demonstrated operational reach. Russian forces are vulnerable nearly everywhere to Ukrainian drones, missiles, and guided bombs.
On Tuesday, Ukraine's reach resulted in the destruction of Russia's Eighth Army headquarters in the Donetsk region. Its commander, Colonel Ruslan Goryachkin was killed in the Storm Shadow missile strike — and Moscow's strategic assaults against the strategic Ukrainian towns of Pokrovsk and Toretsk disrupted.
Against all odds, Ukraine is masterfully waging a campaign of interdiction and deep strikes. They are targeting Russian weapon systems used to attack Ukrainian civilians and critical energy infrastructure and the Kremlin's air defense systems defending them.
Ukraine is also strategically striking Putin's ballistic missile launchers and the airfields where bombers armed with cruise missiles and glide bombs are stationed. Kyiv is also targeting and destroying oil refineries, production facilities, airbases and storage facilities deeper and deeper inside the Russian interior using domestically produced long-range drones.
By mid-June, Ukraine had already conducted long-range strikes against the Kristall oil depot, Engels-2 and Dyagilevo air bases, Savasleyka airfield , Azot chemical plant, Kazan gunpowder plant, and VNIIR-Progress facility. On Tuesday, Ukrainian drones struck the Kupol Electromechanical Plant in Izhevsk, about 620 miles east of Moscow, which produced air defense systems and drones for the Russian military.
Russia and Crimea remain vulnerable to these attacks. Russian air defense networks have not been able to defeat, much less defend, their forward-deployed headquarters, defense industry facilities, air bases, seaports, and oil-gas infrastructure. Colonel-General Viktor Afzalov, chief of the Russian Aerospace Forces, is in a precarious position.
Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to hold its own in the close fight. Russia's highly anticipated summer offensive, launched in May, experienced initial success in the Donetsk region but has since flatlined. According to Ukrainian Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, Russian forces were unsuccessful in penetrating Ukrainian defenses.
Significantly, Ukrainian forces continue to make the Kremlin pay for every inch of terrain they gain. To date, Russia has surpassed 1,022,090 casualties, including 21,750 since June 12, for an average of 1,087 per day.
Yet tragically, even as the Russian army continues to falter on the battlefield, the Kremlin has increased its targeting of Ukrainian civilians in their homes, schools, churches and markets with relentless drone attacks — 5,438 in June alone.
Colby must understand that, despite Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blaming 'Kyiv and Washington for the lack of progress in peace talks,' Russian President Vladimir Putin has no desire to negotiate a ceasefire, much less a peace deal. Nor does Beijing strategically want one anytime soon.
Putin believes Ukraine is Russia, and on June 20 at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, he said just that. 'I have said many times that I consider the Russian and Ukrainian peoples to be one people,' he said. 'In this sense, all of Ukraine is ours. … We have an old rule. Wherever a Russian soldier sets foot is ours.'
Colby is dangerously close to creating a very bleak outcome for Team Trump and the White House in Ukraine. As Mark Rutte, NATO's Secretary General discussed with Brian Kilmeade Wednesday on FOX and Friends, Putin is deeply concerned by Trump's success in getting NATO member-states to increase their defense spending goal to 5 percent GDP.
Like the fictional Krook in 'Bleak House,' Colby, in part, holds Trump's key to winning the global war that Russia, China, Iran and North Korea are waging against the West. Colby must not be allowed to hoard America's military might in the Pacific when the path to victory is now alongside our allies in Ukraine. Kurilla won that battle against Colby in Iran. Now, the newly appointed commander of U.S. European Command and NATO Supreme Allied Commander, Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, must do so for Ukraine.
As we argued last month, for Team Trump, World War III begins in Iran and ends in Ukraine.
Col. (Ret.) Jonathan Sweet served 30 years as an Army intelligence officer. Mark Toth writes on national security and foreign policy.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
San Francisco Chronicle
2 hours ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
Photos of protests and celebrations mark a different Fourth of July for many Americans
The Fourth of July is a celebration of all things American with parades, backyard barbecues and the night sky lit up with fireworks. This Independence Day may feel different for many Americans. Around the country, there are protests planned against Trump's polices, and in places like Southern California, where immigration raids have rattled communities, some July Fourth celebrations were canceled. But beyond the festivities and protests lies a moment in history: On July 4, 1776, the Second Continental Congress unanimously adopted the Declaration of Independence, declaring the colonies' break from British rule. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
Politico
2 hours ago
- Politico
Trump signs his tax and spending cut bill at the White House July 4 picnic
'America's winning, winning, winning like never before,' Trump said, noting last month's bombing campaign against Iran's nuclear program, which he said the flyover was meant to honor. 'Promises made, promises kept and we've kept them.' The White House was hung with red, white and blue bunting for the regular Fourth of July festivities. The United States Marine Band played patriotic marches — and, in a typical Trumpian touch, tunes by 1980s pop icons Chaka Khan and Huey Lewis. The two separate flyovers bookended Trump's appearance and the band playing the national anthem. Democrats assailed the package as a giveaway to the rich that will rob millions more lower-income people of their health insurance, food assistance and financial stability. 'I never thought that I'd be on the House floor saying that this is a crime scene,' Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries of New York said during a record-breaking speech that delayed the bill's passage by eight-plus hours. 'It's a crime scene, going after the health, and the safety, and the well-being of the American people.' The legislation extends Trump's 2017 multitrillion-dollar tax cuts and cuts Medicaid and food stamps by $1.2 trillion. It provides for a massive increase in immigration enforcement. Congress' nonpartisan scorekeeper projects that nearly 12 million more people will lose health insurance under the law. The legislation passed the House on a largely party-line vote Thursday, culminating a monthslong push by the GOP to cram most of its legislative priorities into a single budget bill that could be enacted without Senate Democrats being able to block it indefinitely by filibustering. It passed by a single vote in the Senate, where North Carolina Republican Thom Tillis announced he would not run for reelection after incurring Trump's wrath in opposing it. Vice President JD Vance had to cast the tie-breaking vote. In the House, where two Republicans voted against it, one, conservative maverick Tom Massie of Kentucky, has also become a target of Trump's well-funded political operation. The legislation amounts to a repudiation of the agendas of the past two Democratic presidents, Barack Obama and Joe Biden, in rolling back Obama's Medicaid expansion under his signature health law and Biden's tax credits for renewable energy. The Congressional Budget Office estimates the package will add $3.3 trillion to the deficit over the decade and 11.8 million more people will go without health coverage.
Axios
2 hours ago
- Axios
Trump signs "big, beautiful bill" in July 4 victory lap
President Trump on Friday signed his signature tax and spending legislation, the "big beautiful bill," into law, meeting a July 4 deadline that at times appeared out of reach. Why it matters: It's a huge achievement for Trump and congressional Republicans that will reshape federal fiscal policy for years to come. The megabill cuts funding for social safety measures, extends tax cuts —primarily for the wealthy — and finances Trump's immigration agenda. Driving the news: Trump signed the measure as part of a highly staged White House Independence Day celebration featuring a bomber jet flyover and the annual fireworks on the National Mall. What they're saying: Trump called the bill "the greatest victory yet" while addressing a crowd at the White House in a speech saying his administration has kept its promises. "This is the single most popular bill ever signed," he said despite polls showing it's deeply unpopular. He also praised the Iran mission and "unmatched" military, which he talked about rebuilding and modernizing. Catch up quick: The House narrowly cleared the bill for Trump's signature Thursday after it passed the Senate two days earlier. Both moderate and conservative House Republicans called for adjustments to the bill after the Senate made changes, but none were made before the final vote. State of play: The legislation slashes food and health benefits for the poorest Americans, which could lead to overcrowded emergency rooms, an increase in chronic health care issues, more medical debt and ballooning hunger. Meanwhile, it boosts funding for immigration enforcement, allowing the administration to approximately double immigrant detention capacity and hire significantly more enforcement personnel. Behind the scenes: Polling from throughout June showed that Americans largely disapprove of the megabill. Ahead of midterm elections, Republicans plan to message their legislative victory by branding Democrats' opposition as voting to raise taxes on small businesses and American families. Democrats have their own campaign planned based around their opposition to the bill, which they're planning to make a centerpiece of their strategy for taking back the House in 2026.
