U.S. restrictions on weapons and their use, and German refusal to supply tanks to Ukraine, are costing Ukrainian lives every day

See the following article on the advantages of reading authors on Substack as opposed to social media and other platforms:

Hamish McKenzie, “Time to Read: Or how to reclaim your attention,” Substack Read, September 14, 2022.

U.S. restrictions on weapons and their use, and German refusal to supply tanks to Ukraine, are costing Ukrainian lives every day

Adapted from The Trenchant Observer, September 14, 2022

Dispatches

1) Thorsten Jungholt, “Putin hat nicht begriffen, dass er einen ‚Volkskrieg‘ gegen Russland ausgelöst hat,” Interview mit Sicherheitsexperte Joachim Krause, Die Welt, den 14 September 2022 (15:41 Uhr).

Joachim Krause, 71, is Professor Emeritus of International Politics at Kiel University

2) Thorsten Jungholt, “Putin did not understand that he triggered a ‘people’s war’ against Russia:” Interview with security expert Joachim Krause, Die Welt, September 14, 2022 (15:41).

Joachim Krause, 71, is Professor Emeritus of International Politics at Kiel University

The article in English can be found by clicking “Translate into English” on the right side of the browser’s address bar.

3) Klaus Geiger, Gregor Schwung, und Daniel Friedrich Sturm, “Die USA zweifeln immer mehr an der Verlässlichkeit von Olaf Scholz, Die Welt, den 14. September 2022

4) Klaus Geiger, Gregor Schwung, and Daniel Friedrich Sturm, “The USA is increasingly doubting the reliability of Olaf Scholz,” Fie Wely, September 14, 2022l;

5) “Scholz sees no insight into the Kremlin leader after a telephone call with Putin,” Die Welt, September 14, 2022;

Analysis

Joaqim Krause, in an interview with Thorsten Jungholt in Die Welt, explained that Western restrictions on weapons deliveries to Ukraine have cost Ukrainian lives:

Revised Google translation

WELT: Is it too easy to say: Without the restrictions imposed by the West on the supply of weapons, could Ukraine really win the war?

Krause: Ukraine would probably have achieved much greater success if it had had more weapon systems at its disposal which support large-scale offensives. The restrictions of the West mainly concern fighter aircraft and armored vehicles. Both are means by which it would be possible to expel the Russians from the territories they occupy.

They don’t necessarily have to be battle tanks, armored personnel carriers are also important to transport infantrymen. Thanks to the restrained German arms supply policy, Ukraine is paying a high blood toll these days, especially in the south near Kherson.

But as Geiger, Schwung, and Sturm point out, the foot-dragging approach of Olaf Scholz to weapons deiveries is not entirely due to restrictions imposed by the Americans.

They unmask the perfidious nature of Scholz’s arguments. Scholz is always hiding behind the argument that Germany will not undertake steps on its own. “Kein Alleingang” is the mantra.

Now the new U.S. ambassador and Washington officials have made it explicitly clear that it is up to each country to decide which weapons to supply to Ukraine.

Scholz’s mendacious justifications for delay are now laid bare. The slowness of the German response is basically the result of the cowardice of the German leaders, who still today refuse to say that their goal in the Ukraine war is “victory”.

If they think they are going to end the war soon through a negotiated settlement, they should think again.¹

Moreover, Scholz’s “Kein Alleingang” mantra sounds particularly ironic in view of his own Alleingang telephone calls to Putin, the latest on Tuesday.²

We need to always bear in mind that the SPD has many pro-Russian members among its ranks, that is, many “friends of Putin” or “Putin Versteher”. Foremost among them is ex-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, a big friend of Putin who after leaving office went to work for Russian energy companies.

There is now a dawning awareness that today the most powerful “Putin Versteher” may be Olaf Scholz himself.

How else are we to understand his “Alleingang” or solo telephone calls to Putin, and his dilatory approach to providing Ukraine with the weapons it needs?³

German failures to deliver needed weapons and U.S. and NATO restrictions on the types of weapons supplied and their use not only handicap Ukrainian forces, but also perpetuate a situation where Russia is left free to fire missiles at Ukrainian cities from Russian territory, with no fear of a military response from Ukraine in self-defense.

For the Russians, it's like shooting fish in a barrel.⁴

1. See “6Ukraine War, September 11, 2021: Negotiations with Russia--Acceptable ceasefire terms,” The Trenchant Observer, September 11, 2022.

2. See “Ukraine War, September 13, 2022: Olaf Scholz' telephone call today to Putin; Putin and the use of a tactical nuclear weapon,” The Trenchant Observer, September 13, 2022.

3. See “Russian debacle in Kharkiv; U.S. delivery of weapons capable of hitting Russia,” Trenchant Observations, September 13, 2022.

4. See “Like shooting fish in a barrel; Russia's continuing attacks on Ukrainian towns and cities,” Trenchant Observations, July 16, 2022.