It's Lockheed v. MAGA!

CIA Boss Warned Zelensky

            A year in, the Ukraine war is taking on ever more dimensions. It is now clearly becoming a non-proxy war between the U.S. - along with its Nato client base - and Russia, as evidenced by the role of U.S. and allied intelligence in directing Ukraine artillery and missile strikes (see below.) In the U.S., it has ignited an internal war for the soul, of the Republican party. Donald Trump, who fondly recalls the boost his denunciations of “forever wars” brought him in 2016, is now running on an explicitly antiwar platform, denouncing Ukrainian “dominance” of U.S. policy and calling for an end to aid.  Now Ron DeSantis, Trump’s most dangerous rival for the GOP 2024 nomination, appears to be shifting from his traditionally martial stance  to denounce the “blank check” bestowed on Ukraine, telling Fox News  “I don’t think it’s in our interest to be getting into a proxy war ... over things like the borderlands or over Crimea.” (“Borderlands” is the literal meaning, in Russian, of “Ukraine.”). DeSantis’ statement swiftly garnered him a finger wagging from the militarist wing of his party, as represented by the Wall Street Journal editorial page, and congressional Republicans, who are well cushioned against such dangerous sentiments by fat campaign checks from weapons industry profiteers such as Lockheed. But DeSantis, who normally never sees a corporate donation he doesn’t like, clearly understands that the base recoils from foreign wars, and will vote accordingly. One might almost call this particular dispute “Lockheed versus MAGA.”

            This threat to support for the war has clearly been very much on the minds of the Biden Administration. CIA Director William Burns’ widely reported warning to Zelensky in January that Ukraine has six months to make significant gains before U.S. largesse begins to whither.  Less publicized has been his alleged  further forceful admonition to Zelensky that the U.S, is well aware of Ukrainian officials’