'Of course, Ukraine needs more anti-air ammunition to keep this up. Reports are circulating that stocks of anti-air missiles for Patriots (which seem to be doing most of the damage) are perilously low. Once again, it shows that Ukraine can win the war if armed properly—and just how devastating it is that Putin has such influence in the Republican Party.''..Over the last month, Haley, who is also from South Carolina, has emerged as the only legitimate contender to Donald Trump in the Republican primaries. As she has done so, she has decided to attack Trump with great effect on both Trump’s declining mental state (which is very worrying) and on Ukraine. She has gone after Trump for his close relationship with Putin, his undermining of NATO and his opposition to aiding Ukraine. Indeed, in the last two weeks, she seemed to significantly increase her attacks on
Trump being a Putin-slave.
..
How does a clear Trump victory help Ukraine? Well, what this shows is that within the Republican Party there remains a sizable faction that is opposed to Trump and his foreign policies including Ukraine. As Haley attacked Trump more and more on these issues, she did better—even outperforming most polls on the day. Look, Trump is going to be the Republican nominee. However, the existence of stronger opposition to him, even in the Republican Party, helps Ukraine. In the short term
all that matters is that the bill with Ukraine aid gets through the House of Representatives. If Trump is showing any weakness (or anti-Trump Republicans are showing strength) that helps.
This is particularly the case in state’s outside of the Republican heartland. If Trump can lose support in South Carolina, he can do worse in more competitive states. Again, if you are a Republican in New York state, for instance, you are going to see these results and have a little hesitation about simply doing everything Trump tells you. It will only take a handful of Republicans to get the bill through the House, this result might help that.
Finally, Haley’s results in South Carolina were good enough that she has announced that she is staying the race against Trump. Having seen the polls narrow after attacking him for his obedience to Russia, we can only imagine that she will increase such attacks. Its all for the good.
..
Ukraine is Slowly Deconstructing Russian Air PowerAnother week, another series of Russian losses in the air. Most notably, the Ukrainians claimed, and there is pretty strong photographic evidence to support, that they have downed another Russian A-50 aircraft. This comes on the heels of the Russians losing another A-50 in January.
..
..Russian aircraft losses overall seem to be accelerating. This week the Ukrainians have made regular claims of shooting down some of Russia’s best aircraft, including one SU-34 shot down on 21 February, and one SU-34
and one SU-35 on 19 February.
Its a sign of Ukraine making advances in the war of fixed wing-aircraft in much the same way that they have made advances in the war at sea. They are regularly causing major losses in important Russian capabilities, that will lead to increasing Russian losses going forward as the underlying elements of Russian air power are deconstructed.
Of course, Ukraine needs more anti-air ammunition to keep this up. Reports are circulating that stocks of anti-air missiles for Patriots (which seem to be doing most of the damage) are perilously low. Once again, it shows that Ukraine can win the war if armed properly—and just how devastating it is that Putin has such influence in the Republican Party.
What the Ukrainians are able to do on the field of battle, Putin/Trump is thwarting in the halls of Congress. Its been the story of the war over the last few months.'
- Prof. Phillips P. O’Brien,
Weekend Update #69. Ukraine Does Better in South Carolina than Expected, February 25, 2024
Context'..Europe can recapitalize its armed forces and help Ukraine win with relatively modest expenditures..''..arm Ukraine properly.'