Afghanistan 2.0? WH Weighing Plan to Get Americans out of Ukraine – Opinion

Russia has 100,000 troops perched on Ukraine’s border and has been threatening further war against them for months.

Bloomberg

Russia continues its military buildup by sending soldiers and armor within the border of Belarus to Ukraine for joint military drills, which begin Feb. 10. Two divisions of S-400 air-defense systems are also being dispatched to Belarus, Russia’s Defense Ministry said Friday, according to the Interfax news service.

It is clear now that one of the main concentration points for Russian troops arriving in Belarus is the Rechitsa-Kalinkovichi-Mozyr-Yelsk triangle in the southeast near the Ukrainian border, despite the fact that the drills are to take place elsewhere – in the west and northwest. pic.twitter.com/KFatIBtbMu

— Tadeusz Giczan (@TadeuszGiczan) January 20, 2022

Joe Biden seemed to put that threat into even sharper focus with a huge blunder suggesting that he wouldn’t have a big reaction if the Russians just did a “minor incursion.” Even the White House “clean-up” effort downplayed how they would react to paramilitary involvement, suggesting that might not precipitate a military response from the NATO nations. Paramilitary forces were a large part of Russian actions against Ukraine in 2014.

When White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked on Thursday if Biden had spoken with the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky after Biden’s troubling comments, Psaki said he had not, which shows with what little respect he deals with people.

Bloomberg reports that there is talk of the White House considering a strategy to expel diplomats’ families from Ukraine.

The plan would allow family members to be returned home, while employees who are not essential would have the option to leave at their own discretion. People who did not want to be named said that an announcement might come in a matter of days. [….]

According to the U.S. Embassy website, there are approximately 180 American citizens employed at their embassy in Kyiv and 560 Ukrainians. That doesn’t include family members, so the number of U.S. citizens living in embassy housing is probably much higher.

I hope they’re doing more than “weighing” a plan. They were “weighing” plans in Afghanistan for months and did next to nothing to get people out before the country collapsed. Their inability to judge what was happening in Afghanistan makes me doubt their intelligence and reaction if the situation suddenly gets worse.

Today, reporters questioned Psaki about whether there are plans for other Americans in Ukraine. Fox’s Jacqui Heinrich asked if there was an evacuation plan if needed.

Psaki’s response sounded like a “deja vu all over again” of Afghanistan.

.@PressSecConcerning a plan to expel Americans from Ukraine, “We have already issued a level 4 travel advisory regarding Ukraine for COVID. We advised citizens that they should be aware that Russia has plans for significant military action against Ukraine.” pic.twitter.com/FhP2SlxGnL

— CSPAN (@cspan) January 21, 2022

“I will say that one, we are already at a level-four travel advisory for Ukraine for COVID-19 and … have been advising that U.S. citizens should be aware of reports that Russia is planning for significant military action against Ukraine,” Psaki said.

“We do conduct rigorous contingency planning, as we always do in the event of the security — any security situation deteriorates in any country around the world. This assessment is done by the State Department. I would point you to them for any predictions or previews of any steps they may take.”

When asked if they were keeping track of Americans who might have to get out, she gave the same answer that she gave on Afghanistan, that they don’t microchip people.

“It’s an open question around the world. We don’t put a chip on Americans when they go to countries around the world and track their movements,” Psaki said. “People can register at the State Department. That’s something they do.”

“Or they may choose not to register or there might be people in any country around the world who are dual citizens who haven’t lived in or have never lived in the United States. But the State Department would certainly have the number in terms of Americans who have registered with the State Department.”

So, let’s translate that: once again, they have no idea how many people there are in Ukraine. Let’s hope that the Americans who are there now learned a lesson from Afghanistan because you can bet that if Russia suddenly invaded, they would be stuck just like Biden left Americans in Afghanistan. Can we expect that they next will be saying that they will be getting out everyone who “wants to leave” — to cover the people that they are about to leave behind?