A Short "Dialog"

About a week ago, Sec'y of Defense, Pete Kegbreath - sorry - Hegseth pretended to do a Q & A with the European press, and as you might have suspected, he had nothing but fog and doublespeak to dispense.

And to their credit, the Euro-Poodles held up pretty well.

REPORTER:

You focused on what Ukraine has to give up. What concessions will be demanded of Putin?

HEGSETH:

Hmm. I would start by saying that the arguments that have been made that somehow sitting down at the table right now is making concessions to Vladimir Putin, I just reject that outright.

REPORTER:

Yes, but every “peace talk” so far has been about what Ukraine has to give up -  territory, NATO aspirations, sovereignty. So what exactly is Putin putting on the table?

HEGSETH:

Well, I don’t think it’s fair to say that we’re just giving concessions to Putin.

REPORTER:

Okay, is he pulling out the Russian troops? Paying reparations? Admitting war crimes? Or is his big “compromise” that he’s just taking less from Ukraine than he originally wanted?

HEGSETH:

Look, negotiations require both sides to make sacrifices.

REPORTER:

Yes, but only one side has launched a full-scale invasion. If a guy steals your house and offers to give you back half of your living room, that's not a "compromise" - that's a hostage deal.

HEGSETH:

I just think it's time for diplomacy.

REPORTER:

Diplomacy is great when both sides want peace. But when one side just wants a "pause" to recharge, that's not diplomacy - that's setting up for the next invasion.

HEGSETH:

So you're saying no negotiations, just endless war?

REPORTER:

No, I'm saying that a peace agreement where only one side makes sacrifices is not peace - that's a different way of saying "surrender".