Former U.S. Ambassador to Russia Michael McFaul hasn’t exactly been a source of valuable takes on Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, but in theory that just means that there’s always room for improvement, right?
Well, if he’d like to get started on that improvement soon, that’d be pretty good. Because we’re just not seeing it yet:
Those of us standing on the sidelines need to stop pretending we know better than @ZelenskyyUa what he needs. Maybe he knows best? Who are we to tell him differently? So arrogant.
— Michael McFaul (@McFaul) March 16, 2022
Volodymyr Zelenskyy was quite successful in his emotional appeal to the United States for help. But that doesn’t mean for a second that the United States’ response should be purely emotionally driven. Even Zelenskyy himself understands that.
So why is this such a difficult concept for Michael McFaul?
Weird response https://t.co/q5gFb653i3
— Matthew Yglesias (@mattyglesias) March 16, 2022
Weird, to say the least.
For reasons beyond my comprehension, many on the left seem unable or unwilling to recognize that 1) Ukraine is a country with national interests 2) the US is a country with national interests and 3) sometimes those interests diverge. https://t.co/1OAi2QlJSq
— Drew Holden (@DrewHolden360) March 16, 2022
McFaul is the absolute worst "expert" on this topic. Zelensky might know what he needs better than us, but that only applies to what he does. He doesn't know better than us what WE SHOULD DO. pic.twitter.com/go6WfNw8ip
— Noam Blum (@neontaster) March 16, 2022
We’re not ambassadors or anything, but we still understand this. Like, this is pretty basic stuff.
This is completely bananas. How is it arrogant for the U.S. to decide our own level of involvement based on our own national security interests rather than deferring to the leader of another country? https://t.co/lCaqEpxqcC
— Philip Klein (@philipaklein) March 16, 2022
Yeah, it's a bit strange to frame the question narrowly as only being about whether we will or will not give Zelensky what he needs, as if there are no potential external consequences that would flow from how we make that decision.
— Greg Sargent (@ThePlumLineGS) March 16, 2022
Yep. Zelensky is the president of Ukraine, not of the United States. His responsibility is to act and advocate in Ukraine’s interest. The responsibility of U.S. political leaders is to act in our interest. There’s overlap between the two but not a complete identity https://t.co/l32Gd2fXnE
— Rich Lowry (@RichLowry) March 16, 2022
This isn't about "knowing better" than Zelensky. It's about Ukraine and the US having different national interests. It's in Ukraine's interest for the West to intervene militarily against Putin. But it's not in the West's interest, given the potentially cataclysmic consequences. https://t.co/fjRUsEmJ0P
— Yair Rosenberg (@Yair_Rosenberg) March 16, 2022
What, exactly, did Michael McFaul do while he was our Ambassador to Russia? Hopefully he wasn’t allowed to talk.
"As a former ambassador, I know America's policy should be to give allies whatever they way, regardless of how that impacts American security or interests…"https://t.co/GXCQOSdoaf
— XLProfessor (@XLProfessor) March 16, 2022
Yikes, man. Yikes.
GP Of course the left believes we should allow a foreign president during time of war to control the actions of the US military and our foreign policy.
Thank God you're out of the State Department and your ambassadorship. https://t.co/ZoAoa0wi0V
— The Gormogons (@Gormogons) March 16, 2022
Amen to that.
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