Robert Gates: “It is to reverse the momentum of the Taliban. It is to deny them control of territory in Afghanistan.”

I think appearances do matter.

I think it doesn't make strategic sense.

I think the president is — based on what I read — is getting the sense that, as he put it, that Putin is 'tapping' him along.

He's going to insist on occupying all four of the eastern provinces of the Donbas.