I can't beat Noah Rothman's lede: "Sometimes a concession is so belated that later is not markedly better than never."
In this case, it's the Obama State Commissariat's partial, maniacally grudging, kicking-and-screaming admission that Vladimir Putin, might, after all, kinda-sorta have something tangentially to do with any hypothetical connection to his slow-motion overrunning of Ukraine that has been unfolding for over a year:
The United States is changing its language to reflect the depth of Russian involvement in the conflict in eastern Ukraine.
The Associated Press reported on April 30th that U.S. officials briefed on intelligence from the region say Russia has significantly deepened its command and control of separatist forces in recent months.
That has led the United States to quietly introduce a new term "combined Russian-separatist forces."
The State Department used the expression three times in a single statement last week, lambasting Moscow and the "rebels" for a series of cease-fire violations.
AP says U.S. intelligence agencies signed off on the new language last week, after what officials described as increasing evidence of the Russians and separatists working together, training together, and operating under a joint command structure that ultimately answers to Russia.
Which is exactly what one would expect of a Russian invasion. But forgive the digression.
"Combined Russian-separatist forces" is still a half-truth, as there is not the slightest distinction between the two. But from a bunch that still insists that "the Islamic State isn't Islamic," this does constitute nomenclature progress of a sort. Although it does still beg the question of what Barack Obama will be calling Russian forces when they accept his unconditional surrender on the White House lawn. "Liberators," I suppose.
Meanwhile, NATO Supreme Allied Commander and Air Force General Philip Breedlove seems hellbent on committing career suicide:
NATO Supreme Allied Commander General Philip Breedlove is taking his tough talk about the situation in Ukraine to Congress. This week, the Air Force general warned that the renewed violence in that former Soviet Republic signaled the start of a new offensive by Russian....forces, and the United States must respond to the threat posed by Russia by increasing its deterrent capabilities in the region.
“We also know [Vladimir] Putin only responds to strength and seeks opportunities in weakness,” the NATO commander said. “We must strengthen our deterrence in order to manage his opportunistic confidence.”
Breedlove observed that post-Cold War cuts to American defense posture in Europe have likely emboldened Russia’s leader and enabled his ambitious European adventurism. “The forces in Europe over the last twenty years have been sized for a situation where we were looking at Russia as a partner,” he remarked. “What we see now is that Russia has demonstrated it is not a partner.”
That is what is known as "leaving the reservation". Or "freelancing". Or "going into business for yourself". Or "committing professional hari-kari". Expect there to be a new NATO Supreme Allied Commander in the very near future, one that will not take his job seriously and will parrot the pro-Russian, pro-Putin Obamunist party line. Because the one thing that O will never, ever do is the one thing - several things, actually - that should obviously be done: arm the Ukrainians, thus complicating and ratcheting up the price of Putin's conquest there; begin (belated) exports of liquified natural gas to the Euros to kneecap their distended energy dependency upon Moscow and therefore, Czar Vlad's leverage over NATO member states; and, if you're a fan of sanctions, get serious with them by targeting and shutting down Russia's energy and financial sectors - in essence, their entire economy. And most of all, be ready, willing, and able, to go to war with Putin if necessary, which, at this late stage, is the only thing that will deter him from delivering his planned NATO-destroying coup de grace.
But then there's that niggling matter of all those "post-Cold War cuts to American defense posture" that The One put on maximum overdrive over six years ago. Which means even if he was willing to militarily confront Vlad, we are neither ready nor able, a condition of harrowing prostration and impotence that will long outlive the Obamidency, even if President Precious leaves office when he's constitutionally supposed to. And he wears his unwillingness bedazzled on his mom jeans.
Which makes this half-hearted concession of monikerred reality cruelly ironic. Because after we've been conquered - whether by the Russians or the ChiComms or the Global Caliphate or some combination of the above - it won't matter what their accurate description will be, because we'll be forced to call them whatever they command us to call them.
Exit question: What do you think they'll do with Barry? I hope we're allowed to live long enough to find out.
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