Tuesday, August 02, 2022

Well, That Seems Like a Silly Distinction to Me

Per The Guardian:

The role of American intelligence in the war in Ukraine has been put under scrutiny after Russia accused the White House of supplying targeting information used by Kyiv to conduct long-range missile strikes. Russia’s defence ministry claimed Washington was "directly involved" in the war ... The Kremlin’s comments came after an interview given to the Telegraph on Monday by Vadym Skibitsky, Ukraine’s acting deputy head of military intelligence. Skibitsky said the US-made long-range Himars artillery systems had been extremely effective in wiping out Russian fuel and ammunition dumps. He said excellent satellite imagery and real-time information had helped. He denied US officials were providing direct targeting information. But he acknowledged there was consultation between US and Ukrainian intelligence officials before strikes, so Washington could vet and if necessary veto intended targets.

So if I give you a gun, for the express purpose of you using that gun against Person X, I'm not "directly involved" in your use of it?

However, if I look at a map (whether I gave you that map or not) and tell you "don't use the gun I gave you to use against Person X against Person X at any of these places," now I am directly involved in your use of the gun?

The US has been "directly involved" in this war from the moment it started.

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