Free Republic

Intelligence chiefs have warned ministers they fear Britain and other key Ukrainian allies are being targeted by Russian saboteurs following a series of suspicious incidents in recent months. These include a wave of fires at arms factories and military-related industrial sites in the West that are supplying Ukraine. There have also been attacks on computer systems, train derailments and even jamming of satellite signals for civil air flights. Last night, a senior British security source said Western intelligence agencies feared a spate of industrial fires were connected to Moscow, saying 'the b******s' were trying to set Europe alight. 'Lots of...

Spare some pity for Mike Johnson, the stuck speaker of the House of Representatives. A relatively obscure congressman thrust into leadership six months ago when the ungovernable Republican majority threw out the former speaker, Kevin McCarthy, Mr Johnson may be defenestrated too if he does something that he seems to think that he must: provide additional military aid to Ukraine, over the objections of the isolationist wing of his party. While the European Union and its member countries have contributed considerably to Ukraine’s budget and humanitarian needs, America has been Ukraine’s largest provider of military aid, amounting to $44bn since...

WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Mike Johnson said Sunday he will try to advance wartime aid for Israel this week as he attempts the difficult task of winning House approval for a national security package that also includes funding for Ukraine and allies in Asia. Johnson, R-La., is already under immense political pressure from his fellow GOP lawmakers as he tries to stretch between the Republican Party’s divided support for helping Kyiv defend itself from Moscow’s invasion. The Republican speaker has sat for two months on a $95 billion supplemental package that would send support to the U.S. allies, as...

This week, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin all but confirmed a blockbuster report in the Financial Times from late March indicating that the Biden administration was prepared to sacrifice Ukraine’s battlefield objectives if they imperiled his own reelection prospects. In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Austin scolded Ukraine for executing long-range attacks on Russian oil refineries. “Ukraine is better served in going after tactical and operational targets that can directly influence the current fight,” the Pentagon chief said. But Austin gave away the game when he fretted that Ukrainian drone attacks on Russian infrastructure “could have a knock-on effect.

One of Beijing's enduring hobbies is accusing Washington of violating or abusing international law. This selective outrage is justifiably ignored, given China’s unwillingness to abide by international law and disregard for U.N. arbitration concerning demarcation in the South China Sea. “International law with Chinese characteristics” was easily mocked and ignored when American deterrence and international safeguards stymied Beijing’s ambitions. Unfortunately, that security architecture is unraveling. In 2009, China began to make expansive claims vis-à-vis the South China Sea when it unveiled its infamous nine-dash line, which claimed vast swathes of maritime territory. In 2016, the U.N.-backed Permanent Court of Arbitration...

"Ukraine has not lost and there is no reason for Ukraine to lose. Russians are adapting for a long war effort in Ukraine, but they are not the Red Army hordes wrapped in the triumphant banners of World War II victories that Putin and his propagandists pretend them to be," the think tank said. The ISW said the number of Russian fatalities likely exceeds those killed in the Soviet-Afghan war. Russia has often used costly "human wave" tactics to achieve its military objectives in Ukraine. More Russian soldiers are likely to have died seizing the Ukrainian town of Avdiivka than...