The Risks of Arming Ukraine's Azov Battalion

Nevertheless, all indications are that the United States will be pursuing an insurgency strategy against Russia. The Army Times reported Feb. 28 that the United States is sending Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, and it was revealed in January that the CIA has been training Ukrainian paramilitaries since 2015 to prepare for the exact scenario of a Russian invasion.

MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. Why the hesitation to to use the Azov? After all the Russians are killing civilians and taking over the country. I see this Battalion as a Special forces Group, and if the situation calls for them to get involved, there should be no concern to have them in the fight. After all, if the Russians take control of the country life would not be a bed of roses!

Thank you my friend MAJ Dale E. Wilson, Ph.D. for posting the perspective from theepochtimes.com author Ken Silva.
The Obama administration provided military assistance to the Azov Battalion in 2014.


The USA government has provided military assistance to the Azov Battalion, known as a bastion of neo-Nazism within the Ukrainian armed forces. Obama-Biden Admin EXPOSED Funding & Arming Neo-Nazi Groups in Ukraine since 2014
https://rumble.com/vw0xdf-obama-admin-exposed-usa-gov-funding-and-arming-ukraine-neo-nazi-groups-sinc.html

Background from {[theepochtimes.com/the-risks-of-arming-ukraines-azov-battalion_4311731]}
In the West’s zeal to support Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invaders, some observers worry that Ukrainian neo-Nazi paramilitaries will benefit from U.S. support—a situation that would heighten security risks at home.

On her Feb. 28 appearance on the Rachel Maddow Show, Hillary Clinton joined the growing number of those calling for the U.S. government to support a Ukrainian insurgency.

It wouldn’t the first time the U.S. government backed an armed insurgency to counter Russia, as Clinton noted.

“The Russians invaded Afghanistan back in 1980. [Afghanistan] had a lot of countries supplying arms and advice, and even some advisers, to those who were recruited to fight Russia. It didn’t end well for the Russians,” she said.

“There were other unintended consequences, as we know. But the fact is that a very motivated, and then funded and armed, insurgency drove the Russians out of Afghanistan.”

Clinton didn’t describe those “unintended consequences” of supporting the mujahideen: An empowered Taliban replaced the Russian-backed Afghan government, turning the country into a terrorist hotbed that led to 9/11 and an ensuing 20-year war for America.

Nevertheless, all indications are that the United States will be pursuing an insurgency strategy against Russia. The Army Times reported Feb. 28 that the United States is sending Stinger anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine, and it was revealed in January that the CIA has been training Ukrainian paramilitaries since 2015 to prepare for the exact scenario of a Russian invasion.

Former CIA officer Douglas London suggested last week that a CIA-backed insurgency effort could already be underway.

“U.S. and Ukrainian officials have long planned for this day. In all likelihood, a covert program to help organize the resistance to Russia already has communications infrastructure, intelligence collection capabilities, and operational plans in place,” London, who worked in the CIA’s clandestine service, wrote in Foreign Affairs.

“Supporting an insurgency is in the CIA’s DNA … The CIA’s recent experience in supporting and fighting insurgencies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria prepares it well for opposing Russia’s modern, conventional forces.”

Some analysts predict that the coming insurgency could last a decade, or longer. Citing an unnamed U.S. official, CBS reported March 1 that U.S. lawmakers were briefed on the matter that day.

“The U.K. foreign secretary estimated it would be a 10-year war. Lawmakers at the Capitol were told [Feb. 28] it is likely to last 10, 15 or 20 years—and that ultimately, Russia will lose,” CBS said.

If the analysts’ projections hold true, one of the main insurgent groups in Ukraine would be the Azov Battalion, which has been battling Russian forces since helping overthrow Ukraine’s pro-Russian government in 2014.

The Azov Battalion’s allegiance to the neo-Nazi ideology is well-documented, with its former commander once calling for Ukraine to “lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade for their survival.” More recently, Azov fighters were seen on a viral tweet from Ukraine’s national guard greasing their bullets with lard against the “Kadyrov orcs”—to be used against the Muslim Chechens fighting for Russia.

Arming Azov was once a cause for concern among U.S. lawmakers. In 2018, Congress inserted a provision in its defense spending bill that banned U.S. arms from going to Azov, which had already received U.S. training and weapons the year prior.

But with Ukraine in desperate need of its best fighters to repel a Russian invasion, empowering the country’s far-right elements hasn’t been an expressed concern for U.S. policymakers, said Bellarmine University professor Abigail Hall, a researcher on extremism and militarism. Indeed, Facebook has reportedly loosened its policies to allow for posts praising the neo-Nazi Azov fighters, while numerous other outlets have uncritically reported Azov propaganda, according to the media watchdog Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR).

“When policymakers are talking about this, they’re brushing off these concerns—saying, ‘Yeah, well there’s an emergency right now.’ And that’s understandable in some ways, but there are risks,” Hall told The Epoch Times.

The Pentagon did not respond to queries about what, if anything, it’s doing to ensure that Azov doesn’t receive U.S. weaponry. History suggests that governments have little control over their arms once delivered to a war zone, according to Hall, co-author of “Tyranny Comes Home: The Domestic Fate of U.S. Militarism.”

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