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* Con Coughlin: Putin "Begins Gas Blackmail of Europe": The US Must Give Ukraine Warplanes to Defeat Russia
* Alan M. Dershowitz: The Hypocrisy in Condemning Musk's Purchase of Twitter


** Putin "Begins Gas Blackmail of Europe": The US Must Give Ukraine Warplanes to Defeat Russia ([link removed])
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by Con Coughlin • May 2, 2022 at 5:00 am
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* Now, following Russia's dramatic decision this week to cut gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, the West and its allies must give serious consideration to upgrading the level of military support they provide to Ukraine.
* The real reason, though, [that Russia cut gas supplies] is that Russia is trying to blackmail Poland and Bulgaria, which have become high profile supporters of the Ukrainian war effort, to end their support for Kyiv.
* "Russia is also proving that energy resources are a weapon. That is why the EU needs to be united and impose an embargo on energy resources, depriving the Russians of their energy weapons." — Andriy Yermak, chief of staff to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky, The Guardian, April 26, 2022.
* It is also an excellent time for the European Union finally to green-light the EastMed gas pipeline, in the works for years, but also scuppered by the Biden administration in capitulation to Turkey. The EastMed, however, remains an ideal solution to diversify the supply of gas to Europe and only awaits the European Union's approval.
* The best way for the West to respond, therefore, is not to concede to the Russian demands to scale down its support for Kyiv.
* It is to do the opposite, and provide Ukraine with the weapons it needs not just to defend itself against Russian aggression, but to go on the offensive and win the war. Putin is desperate and needs to understand that if he goes for the nuclear option, Russia will cease to exist.
* With the conflict now entering its third month, and Mr Putin showing no inclination to stop his barbaric assault on the people of Ukraine, it is clear this policy of appeasement has failed.
* Consequently, the West should now concentrate its efforts on providing Ukraine's forces with the military equipment they require not only to defend their country from Russian aggression, but to defeat the Russians and liberate their country from Mr Putin's tyranny.
* As a top priority, the Biden administration must therefore reverse its decision to block the transfer of 70 MiG fighters to Ukraine. Supplying Ukraine with extra warplanes, together with tanks and other military hardware, is essential if Kyiv is to have any chance of inflicting a serious defeat against Russia.
* Such a change in policy is certainly in the West's long-term interests. If the Ukrainian forces can achieve victory over their Russian invaders, it will act as a strong deterrent to Mr Putin not to launch any more unprovoked attacks on European soil, as well as to other potential aggressors waiting in the wings.

Following Russia's dramatic decision last week to cut gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, the West and its allies must give serious consideration to upgrading the level of military support they provide to Ukraine. Pictured: The compressor gas station, in Wloclawek, Poland, of the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline, which carries gas from Russia's Yamal Peninsula field, supplying 40% of Europe's gas. (Photo by Omar Marques/Getty Images)

The best way for the West to respond to Russia's blatant attempt to blackmail Europe into dropping its support for Ukraine is to provide the Ukrainian forces with the military hardware they need to win the war.

To date, most of the military support provided by Nato countries has consisted mainly of defensive weapons, such as anti-tank, anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles.

The only serious attempt to provide Ukraine with sophisticated weaponry came from Poland in the early stages of the conflict, when Warsaw proposed providing Kyiv with 70 Soviet-era Mig-29 Russian warplanes which were still in service in Poland, Bulgaria and Slovakia.

The deal was said to be so well-advanced that Ukrainian pilots had even travelled to Poland to wrap up the deal and bring the planes back over the border.

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** The Hypocrisy in Condemning Musk's Purchase of Twitter ([link removed])
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by Alan M. Dershowitz • May 2, 2022 at 4:00 am
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* Imagine if George Soros had bought Twitter? [Former Secretary of Labor Robert] Reich would be jumping up and down with joy, as would Musk's other critics. I don't recall the outcry when Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post, the most influential newspaper in our nation's capital. To the contrary, Bezos was applauded for bringing a more liberal perspective to that newspaper.
* The real reason, of course, is the fear by the hard left of losing their control over social media.... Indeed the greatest fear expressed by these pretextual defenders of free speech is that -- God forbid -- Donald Trump would be allowed back on Twitter so that the public might be able to read and evaluate his tweets. I don't like a great many of Trump's views.... Yet I don't want some anonymous platonic guardians deciding whether or not I can read tweets of Trump or others with whom I may disagree.
* What Robert Reich and his ilk are really afraid of is actual freedom of speech.... But Democracy and free speech require that all views be available in the marketplace of ideas. The answer to bad speech is not censorship by social media, but rather open platforms that permit responses. Donald Trump should be answered, not suppressed.
* Elon Musk is a private citizen who is not bound by the First Amendment.... He can apply to Twitter what Chief Justice Rehnquist once said about our Constitution: "Under the First Amendment there is no such thing as a false idea."
* This would not mean no censorship at all: even the First Amendment allows censorship of narrow categories of expression, such as, direct incitement to violence, child pornography and malicious defamation. But that is not what the hard left fears. What people like Reich and Jackson are afraid of are ideas they don't like, information that differs from their narrative, and hate speech, as defined by them alone?
* I welcome Musk's purchase of Twitter and fervently hope that he runs it in the spirit of our great experiment in liberty, namely the First Amendment.

The hard left is going absolutely crazy over Elon Musk's decision to buy Twitter, because this threatens the left-wing bias of the current social media. But Democracy and free speech require that all views be available in the marketplace of ideas. Pictured: Elon Musk and his son on December 13, 2021 in New York City. (Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for TIME)

The hard left is going absolutely crazy over Elon Musk's decision to buy Twitter. One of their arguments, made loudly by former Secretary of Labor Robert Reich, is that no one person should own and control such an important media platform. But that argument, repeated by others, is totally phony and hypocritical. Imagine if George Soros had bought Twitter? Reich would be jumping up and down with joy, as would Musk's other critics. I don't recall the outcry when Jeff Bezos bought the Washington Post, the most influential newspaper in our nation's capital. To the contrary, Bezos was applauded for bringing a more liberal perspective to that newspaper.

Many of the most important media in the country have long been owned and controlled by individuals or close-knit families. So don't believe what Reich and others say about why they are opposed to Musk's purchase.

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