Former CIA Moscow station chief calls out Biden for failing to explain Ukraine strategy

Longtime CIA officer and former Moscow station chief Dan Hoffman called out President Joe Biden for not being transparent about the role of the United States in the war in Ukraine. 

"The president needs to take a page out of President Reagan's book or FDR's book or JFK — somebody — and explain to us what's going on and why it matters to us," Hoffman said on the John Solomon Reports podcast. 

The U.S. announced this week that it would be sending three dozen tanks to the Ukrainians ahead of an expected Russian offensive. The 31 M1A1 Abrams tanks will equal roughly an entire Ukrainian battalion of vehicles, according to a recent report.

Other international allies that have been supporting Ukraine financially include the EU, the United Kingdom and Germany. German Chancellor Olaf Schulz is prepping to announce that Berlin will send a group of Leopard 2 tanks to the country. 

Concerned that Americans don't seem to really understand their role in the Ukraine war and how it benefits the United States, Hoffman is calling for President Biden to spell it out.

"He's got to explain to the American people why this is in the U.S. national interest to help Ukraine defend themselves from a nuclear-armed state mounting an imperial land grab," he said. "That's what this is all about."

The upcoming State of the Union address would be a good occasion for Biden to clear things up, according to the CIA officer.

"President Biden does need to speak to the American people, and there's no better day than maybe on February 7 — the State of the Union address," he suggested. "That would be a good time to do it."

Russia has been coming down hard on Ukraine with multiple attacks on neighborhoods and facilities, which has resulted in many Ukrainians fleeing and taking refuge in other countries. 

"Russians are raining down hell on Ukrainian civilians," Hoffman explained. "They've bombed maternity wards. They've destroyed Ukraine's infrastructure. They've deliberately bombed neighborhoods and hospitals and schools. Millions of Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes. Millions of refugees now live overseas. Ukraine kind of wants peace in their country back. And so they want to end this as fast as possible. And the longer it delays the end, the worse it is for them. 

"That's why there's been some criticism of the Biden administration for what a lot of people call escalation paralysis. It's this concern that we shouldn't give Ukraine what they need, long range artillery — before it was air defense and tanks — out of some concern that it would escalate. Well, Russia has escalated the war, and the only way to end it is to take the fight to the Russian enemy."