We are seeing the classic signs of the growing discontent within some key sectors of the military and intelligence bureaucracy over the Biden policy towards Ukraine (I will touch on those in a minute), but the Biden national security team continues to stridently insist insist it will back Ukraine to the bitter end. However, despite the tough talk, Biden continues to balk on sending some weapon systems that could transform the Special Military Operation into a full blown war with Russia.

I am posting the video of Jake Sullivan's press conference today on Biden's meeting with Zelensky to illustrate this point. It lasts about 30 minutes and is worth listening to both for what is said and what is not.

Let me start by explaining what I meant by "classic signs" that there no longer is consensus within the US national security agencies about what to do in Ukraine. Last week I wrote about the briefing DIA's Director of Analysis provided to some key media outlets. He presented the Administration line dressed up as "DIA intelligence." Today we have Sy Hersh's latest report — Zelensky's Bad Moment — that reveals there are important contrarian voices in the ranks of the CIA:

There are significant elements in the American intelligence community, relying on field reports and technical intelligence, who believe that the demoralized Ukraine army has given up on the possibility of overcoming the heavily mined three-tier Russian defense lines and taking the war to Crimea and the four oblasts seized and annexed by Russia. The reality is that Volodymyr Zelensky's battered army no longer has any chance of a victory.