Beans spilled

How will Russia react?

“When the CIA denies something, it’s denied.” — George Schultz, former secretary of state

The president of the United States says this country and its allies are not fighting a proxy war against Russia. We wonder if he understands what “proxy war” means. Because if it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck . . . .

Some of us were surprised the other day when the administration said the quiet part out loud. And all but issued a press release to make it louder: The United States seeks to make Russia weaker. This country will provide Ukraine with arms and ammo, and the point is to make sure that Russia is so weakened that she can’t threaten her neighbors again for a long while.

Well.

Certainly that was the plan. But it’s not exactly from the George Schultz playbook of saying something without saying anything. How will Russia react?

It’s well known that President Biden can’t talk for too long before he gets it all over his shirt. But this wasn’t a gaffe, which Michael Kinsley once defined as when a politician accidentally tells the truth. Instead, in the last week the administration seemed determined to make it a talking point:

“We want to see Russia weakened to the degree that it can’t do the kinds of things that it has done in invading Ukraine.” — Lloyd Austin, U.S. secretary of defense.

“In terms of Russia’s war aims, Russia has already failed and Ukraine has already succeeded. We don’t know how the rest of this war will unfold, but we do know that a sovereign, independent Ukraine will be around a lot longer than Vladimir Putin is on the scene.” — Antony Blinken, current U.S. secretary of state.

“However this ends up, Russia will be in a much weaker position. Ukraine will be in a much stronger position to further deter against any renewed aggression once this is over.” — a “senior U.S. official” speaking to The Wall Street Journal.

It’s not just talk. The United States is getting an ambassador to Ukraine again — the first since 2019. And President Biden has asked Congress for $33 billion in more funding for Ukraine, including more than $20 billion in military assistance. (This isn’t a proxy war?)

“We need this bill to support Ukraine in its fight for freedom,” President Biden said. “The cost of this fight is not cheap, but caving to aggression is going to be more costly if we allow it to happen.”

He’s right about that part. And military aid is how we in the West put our money with our mouths are.

But now Vladimir Putin will tell his people, with on-the-record comments from the Americans, how the West is trying to weaken Mother Russia. And strengthen Ukraine for future conflicts. And how those precincts farther west hope to declaw the bear. With footage from the U.S. secretaries of state and defense to prove his point.

We wonder: How many allies in Europe wish the Americans would have played this differently? By taking the opportunity to stay quiet.