Interesting perspective on the thinking of Fiona Hill.

‘Yes, He Would’: Fiona Hill on Putin and Nukes

Putin is trying to take down the entire world order, the veteran Russia watcher said in an interview. But there are ways even ordinary Americans can fight back.

02/28/2022

For many people, watching the Russian invasion of Ukraine has felt like a series of “He can’t be doing this” moments. Russia’s Vladimir Putin has launched the largest ground war in Europe since the Second World War. It is, quite literally, mind-boggling.

That’s why I reached out to Fiona Hill, one of America’s most clear-eyed Russia experts, someone who has studied Putin for decades, worked in both Republican and Democratic administrations and has a reputation for truth-telling, earned when she testified during impeachment hearings for her former boss, President Donald Trump.

I wanted to know what she’s been thinking as she’s watched the extraordinary footage of Russian tanks rolling across international borders, what she thinks Putin has in mind and what insights she can offer into his motivations and objectives.

Hill spent many years studying history, and in our conversation, she repeatedly traced how long arcs and trends of European history are converging on Ukraine right now. We are already, she said, in the middle of a third World War, whether we’ve fully grasped it or not.

“Sadly, we are treading back through old historical patterns that we said that we would never permit to happen again,” Hill told me.

Those old historical patterns include Western businesses who fail to see how they help build a tyrant’s war chest, admirers enamored of an autocrat’s “strength” and politicians’ tendency to point fingers inward for political gain instead of working together for their nation’s security.

But at the same time, Hill says it’s not too late to turn Putin back, and it’s a job not just for the Ukrainians or for NATO — it’s a job that ordinary Westerners and companies can assist in important ways once they grasp what’s at stake.

“Ukraine has become the front line in a struggle, not just between democracies and autocracies but in a struggle for maintaining a rules-based system in which the things that countries want are not taken by force,” Hill said. “Every country in the world should be paying close attention to this.”

[Continued]

https://www.politico.com/news/magazine/2022/02/28/world-war-iii-already-there-00012340

Hunter Biden’s pal sentenced to prison for role in fraud scheme

February 28, 2022

A former business partner of Hunter Biden was sentenced Monday to more than a year in prison for his role in a scheme to defraud a Native American tribe of some $60 million in bonds.

The defendant, Devon Archer, was sentenced to one year and one day in federal prison by Manhattan Judge Ronnie Abrams, who said the crime was “too serious” to let him just walk.

“There’s no dispute about the harm caused to real people,” Abrams said, noting that the defrauded tribe, the Oglala Sioux, is one of the poorest in the nation.

Archer will also have to pay more than $15 million in forfeiture by himself and more than $43 million in restitution with his co-defendants in the case.

The convicted fraudster has maintained his innocence and intends to appeal the conviction and sentence, his attorney, Matthew Schwartz, said in court Monday.

In brief statements to Abrams just before Archer was sentenced, he and Schwartz claimed he was taken advantage of by corrupt businessmen who wanted to use him in the scheme.

“He came under the influence of a person he trusted too much and didn’t ask enough questions,” Schwartz said.

Archer, his voice quivering at times, said it was “nothing less than surreal” that he had been convicted and was facing a prison sentence Monday.

“I was doing too many things at once and not paying enough attention,” Archer said of his involvement in the fraud.

“I have deep remorse for the victims of the crime,” he said, adding that he was also distraught about the pain he had caused his friends and family.

“I’m most sorry for my family and what I’ve put them through,” he said.

Prior to his arrest, Archer served with Hunter Biden on the board of Burisma Holdings, a Ukraine-based energy company.

In a sentencing memo filed earlier this month, Schwartz argued that Archer provided “real value” to Burisma during his time on the board — but he resigned after his arrest in the case in 2016.

[Continued]

https://nypost.com/2022/02/28/devon-archer-sentenced-for-role-in-hunter-biden-fraud-scheme/

>>15748588

Christina Pushaw sounds like she is dropping crumbs for diggers.

>>15748672

>Frustrated parents took matters into their own hands when they heard the pervert was at his camp in a neighboring county. Good for them. Shame they had to do so.

'There will be Karma. Trust me.'

>>15748716

>That would mean Russia would no longer control technical aspects of Ukraine’s network such as grid frequency.

Why is grid frequency such a big deal to [them]?

>>15748743

>Due to “riskier behavior,” road deaths increased sharply during the #COVID19 pandemic, even though fewer drivers were on the nation’s highways

>>15748765

>>15748777