Republican Wisconsin Rep. Mike Gallagher pressed U.S. Gen. Tod Wolters, who admitted that he could not argue with the conclusion that President Joe Biden’s administration failed to “dissuade” Russia from invading Ukraine.
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Wolters was testifying before the House Armed Services Committee on Wednesday when Gallagher began his line of questioning. Without mentioning Biden’s name, Gallagher pressed Wolters on U.S. deterrence attempts prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“You as a combatant commander felt you were part of an inter-agency effort intended to deter Vladimir Putin from invading Ukraine,” Gallagher said.
“That’s correct,” Wolters replied. “To deter and dissuade.”
“Deter and dissuade,” Gallagher said, repeating Wolters’s remark. “And then on February 24, Vladimir Putin of course invaded Ukraine. Correct?”
“Correct,” Wolters responded.
Gallagher continued, noting that one could “argue that” Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea and “infiltrated the Donbas.” Gallagher asked Wolters “in light of that fact” if it “would be fair to say deterrence failed in Ukraine?”
“Number 1, I would say that NATO’s solidarity remained and NATO’s ability to effectively deter remained, and I can’t argue with your conclusion,” Wolters said. (RELATED: Biden Says ‘Sanctions Never Deter’ Despite Insistence From His Own Administration To The Contrary)
“The deterrence failed in Ukraine,” Gallagher responded. “Specifically, integrated deterrence failed in Ukraine. And I don’t bring that up to score a partisan point, I just think it’s worth understanding why that happened. Particularly as we now have anonymous senior Pentagon officials bragging to the Washington Post about the success of integrated deterrence in Ukraine.”
Gallagher went on to note that it was a “good thing” that Russia had not invaded NATO territory, but called it “a low bar for success.” Gallagher concluded by stating that “integrated deterrence as conceptualized by the Pentagon and as implemented in the specific case of Ukraine, as a matter of fact, failed.”