If you were a teenager in 1990, and you had some political consciousness, then you are likely to have heard the tale of April Glaspie (US Ambassador to Iraq). On July 25, Glaspie was summoned to the presidential palace in Baghdad to meet with Saddam Hussein and foreign minister Tariq Aziz on the subject of Kuwaiti “aggression” against Iraq. In the course of Hussein’s litany complaint about the Kuwaitis, one of which was Kuwait selling oil too cheap, Glaspie remarked:
This is what I believe I know. It has been my home for over a decade. It is amazing to see the extraordinary effort you have made in rebuilding this country. It is obvious that you require funds. That is something we understand and believe you should be able to rebuild your country. However, we are neutral on Arab-Arab issues such as the border dispute with Kuwait.
This gave the impression that Hussein had given permission for Hussein’s invasion of Kuwait. The Americans were not concerned.*
After yesterday, I wonder if we’ve created another situation for the war in Ukraine to spread by what we’ve said or failed to say.
Ex-Warsaw Pact nations, who have grown up with Russia’s fraternal leadership, quickly responded to the Russian invasion by providing weapons and supplies to Ukraine. Some countries came up with a strategy to supply the Ukrainian Air Force 70 more fighters or attack planes: 56 MiG-29s (28 aircraft), Slovakia (12), Bulgaria (16), and 15 Su-25s (15) from Bulgaria.
Plan was to have the aircraft flown from Ukraine to Poland to be married with Ukrainian pilots. The whole thing is unclear to me. The Western MiGs and Sukhois are not off-the-assembly-line aircraft. The aircraft are equipped with Western avionics. Their powerplants were upgraded. They are different aircraft than the ones used by the Ukrainian Air Force. I haven’t read any authoritative account of how the Ukrainians plan to maintain these aircraft, and one can’t help but wonder if the plan isn’t to service them in Poland, fly them to a base in Ukraine, run a few missions there, and return to Poland. The whole thing looked to be in trouble on Wednesday. The whole story is available at Transfer of NATO Aircraft from Ukraine Dies as Zelensky Continues his Campaign for a No-Fly Zone
As it turned out, the deal didn’t break down because it was impractical; it broke down due to the behind-the-scenes machinations of the Biden junta, see Revealed: The Real Reason That Deal to Send Fighter Jets to Ukraine Fell Through. This par for the course, the single biggest stumbling block to a unified Western response to Russia’s aggression has been Joe Biden. Biden is totally dependent upon the good offices of Russia to negotiate a nuclear pact with Iran that he can’t crack down hard on Russia and is forcing our allies to pull their punches as well, see Will Biden Betray Ukraine and NATO by Lifting Sanctions to Get Putin’s Help With a New Iran Nuclear Deal?
Tony Blinken (Secretary of State) addressed the issue on Meet the Press. (The video will be queued so that you can see the quote.
CHUCK TODD
Now, I have Secretary of State Antony Blinken from Moldova joining me. Welcome back Secretary Blinken to Meet the Press
SEC. ANTONY BLINKEN
Thanks, Chuck.
CHUCK TODD
Here are some questions President Zelenskyy had for Congress this morning at our time. President Biden may have made similar inquires during his call. We’ve got a bullet points here, the no-fly zone, more planes, drones and lethal aid, a full ban on Russian oil imports, and to terminate Russia’s preferential trading status. Let’s not forget about the no-fly zones. Let’s start with planes. It seems that we’re close, this idea of essentially U.S. fighter jets to Poland, in exchange Poland sends Russian-made jets to Ukraine. How likely is that to occur? How quickly is that possible?
SEC. ANTONY BLINKEN
Well, first, let me say this, President Zelenskyy’s been a remarkable leader. He’s been the embodiment of the Ukrainian people and everything they’re doing to resist this, this Russian aggression. And President Biden’s in regular contact with him, as he was just yesterday. On this question of planes, yes, we’re talking very actively about this, looking at what we could do to backfill Poland. If it chooses to send the MiGs and the Su-planes that it has to Ukraine, how we can help by backfilling what they’re giving to the Ukrainians. So that’s in very active discussion as we speak.
CHUCK TODD
You said if, if Poland – that’s a Polish decision, not a NATO decision?
SEC. ANTONY BLINKEN
It’s a, it’s a sovereign decision by Poland. If they choose to do it, we want to make sure that we can help them and, again, backfill what they’re giving so that they don’t have any loss in their own ability —
CHUCK TODD
So we are 100% –
SEC. ANTONY BLINKEN
– to provide security –
CHUCK TODD
– going to do this. If any of these NATO nations that have these Russian-made planes donate them to the Ukraine, Ukraine, we’re going to backfill, if they’re a NATO ally.
SEC. ANTONY BLINKEN
Well, look, we got to – we’d have to work through each case on its, on its own merits. Got to make sure we’re able to do something if that’s what a country’s requesting in return for, for sharing the jets that they have.
Let’s take a moment here to consider what Putin has said. He has declared that an attack on Russian forces coming from any country outside Ukraine will result in Russia considering that as “participation in the armed conflict.” This quote is in the context of the possible NATO no-fly zone, but here is a guy who claims he wants to “denazify” a country literally headed by a Jewish guy.
In my interpretation, Blinken just told Poland, “you’re on your own, Scooter.” He said you are free to send aircraft to Ukraine, but it is not part of any NATO operation.
Imagine Putin considers an aircraft transporting passengers from Poland and Ukraine to be an imminent attack against Russian forces, so he launches at least one missile towards the airbase. Do we view that as an act of mutual defense?
Poles are also very sensitive to the topic of aircraft transfer. Witness this exchange between a Polish media outlet and the Polish prime minister’s office.
‼️FAKE NEWS‼️
Unfortunately, you spread misinformation using quotes starting at 27/02/22.Poland will not send fighter jets there. #UkraineAllow you to use the airports. We significantly help in many other areas.https://t.co/wjNOgh97JT
— Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland (@PremierRP_en) March 6, 2022
This statement is kind of unclear. It can be interpreted that Polish aircraft will not participate in combat operations in Ukraine or that Poland won’t transfer aircraft to Ukraine to be used in combat. To emphasize its point, the Chancery used a tweet to clarify that the tweet refers only to Polish Air Force operations and not ownership transfer. (Just now the Pentagon briefing created the impression that an aircraft transfer was underway.
It is not possible to transfer these aircraft in a clean and efficient manner without giving Putin an opportunity to strike at Poland.
*I acknowledge that this interpretation has been subsequently subjected to revisionism, but I’m staying with the original interpretation.
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