Ben Wolfgang
Articles by Ben Wolfgang
Biden faces growing pressure over nuclear talks, rumored plan to pull Iran’s IRGC from terror list
The Biden administration is playing with fire as it considers lifting the formal terrorism designation on Iran's elite military force, former U.S. officials and national security scholars said Friday, warning that American lives will be at greater risk if Washington makes such a concession in a bid to revive the 2015 Iran nuclear deal. Published March 25, 2022
Blocked Zelenskyy drops demand for NATO no-fly zone over Ukraine
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's impassioned video plea to Thursday's gathering of NATO leaders in Brussels for emergency military aid effectively dropped what had been Kyiv's No. 1 ask in the unequal fight to hold off invading Russian forces -- a no-fly zone to block Russian fighter jets from the skies over its smaller neighbor. Published March 24, 2022
Ukraine rejects Moscow’s surrender demand amid exodus of refugees, growing death toll
Defiant Ukrainians rejected Russia's surrender demands Monday and vowed to keep fighting in the face of indiscriminate shelling and a growing death toll, while relations between Moscow and the West sunk to a post-Cold War low amid outrage over "massive war crimes" committed by Russian President Vladimir Putin and his troops. Published March 21, 2022
Inside U.S. troops’ fight against the Pentagon’s ‘unjust’ COVID-19 vaccine mandate
They didn't make the decision lightly, as they were fully aware it would likely cost them their military careers. But for U.S. troops who refused the federally mandated COVID-19 vaccine, it was a sacrifice worth making. Published March 20, 2022
Tanking? Russia’s struggles raise new questions over armored advantage
The classic armored tank's future as an effective battlefield weapon is once again in question amid a less-than-stellar showing so far in Russia's nearly three-week military campaign in Ukraine, which has seen the iconic ground combat vehicles routinely reduced to rubble by anti-tank weapons, drones and other countermeasures. Published March 16, 2022
U.S., allies push China to rein in Russia as civilian suffering rises in Ukraine
The U.S. and its NATO allies on Monday put heavy public pressure on China to intervene and help stop Russia's war in Ukraine, which has killed thousands and sparked a massive humanitarian crisis in the city of Mariupol that aid organizations describe as a "life-and-death nightmare." Published March 14, 2022
Top White House, Chinese officials meet in Rome; U.S. warns Beijing against aid to Russia
White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan met with a top Chinese diplomat in Rome Monday as the Biden administration warned that any effort by China to aid Russia's invasion of Ukraine or to help the Kremlin skirt global economic sanctions will be met with serious repercussions. Published March 14, 2022
Top diplomat admits it’s ‘hard to understand’ why U.S. negotiating new nuclear deal with Iran
A top Biden administration diplomat admitted Sunday that it is "hard to understand" why the U.S. and other world powers are negotiating with Iran. Published March 13, 2022
U.S. journalist/filmmaker Brent Renaud shot dead by Russian troops in Ukraine
American journalist and filmmaker Brent Renaud was shot and killed by Russian troops in Ukraine on Sunday, according to media reports. Published March 13, 2022
Western Ukraine, once a safe haven, now a Russian target
KRAKOW, Poland -- Lviv residents awoke Sunday to find war at their doorstep, with a major Russian assault pounding a key Ukrainian military facility. Published March 13, 2022
Russia hits Ukrainian military installation near Polish border, 35 dead as conflict escalates
KRAKOW, Poland -- Russia attacked a key military base just outside the once-safe city of Lviv in western Ukraine on Sunday, killing at least 35 and wounding more than 100 others as the Biden administration faced mounting pressure at home to intervene more forcefully on behalf of the embattled Ukrainians. Published March 13, 2022
North Korea tested a new intercontinental ballistic missile system, Pentagon says
North Korea over the past several weeks carried out two tests of a new intercontinental ballistic missile system, Pentagon officials said Thursday, and Pyongyang could be preparing to carry out more tests disguised as space launches. Published March 10, 2022
Nuclear weapons a looming threat as war against Ukraine enters third week
Russia's economy is smaller than Italy's, and its military has yet to impress two weeks into its invasion of Ukraine. Still, the West is treating the crisis as a potential precursor to World War III for one simple reason: Moscow's massive stockpile of nuclear warheads and the growing fear that Russian President Vladimir Putin may resort to using the world's most devastating weapons. Published March 10, 2022
From Europe to Asia to South America, U.S. security guarantees stretch around the world
President Biden has repeatedly made it clear that he won't send U.S. troops to defend Ukraine from invading Russian forces, and the White House is reluctant to implement more limited measures such as a no-fly zone out of fear of sparking a catastrophic world war. Published March 9, 2022
What does Putin want? Lack of clear endgame hovers over fierce Ukraine fighting
ANALYSIS: The world spent months wondering whether Russian President Vladimir Putin would invade Ukraine. With tanks bearing down on Kyiv and Russian troops now in control of key cities, an equally knotty question has emerged: What does victory look like for Russia's enigmatic leader? Published March 3, 2022
Russia, Ukraine agree to set ‘humanitarian corridor’ to evacuate civilians from war zone
Russian and Ukrainian officials agreed Thursday to establish a humanitarian corridor inside Ukraine to evacuate civilians from combat zones. Published March 3, 2022
Russia bombards major Ukrainian cities as U.N. condemns Kremlin
Russia and Ukraine on Wednesday agreed to a second round of peace talks even as Russian troops stepped up their assault of the key cities of Kharkiv and Kherson and neared the capital of Kyiv, while a defiant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy declared his country will never surrender as a brutal war that has drawn global condemnation enters its second week. Published March 2, 2022
‘Badly miscalculated’: Biden says Putin, Russia will pay price of invasion for years
Russian President Vladimir Putin "badly miscalculated" by invading Ukraine and now faces unprecedented global isolation and Western unity, President Biden said Tuesday night, vowing that Moscow will suffer for years to come. Published March 1, 2022
Kremlin warns West: ‘In human history, economic wars quite often turned into real ones’
A top Russian official on Tuesday offered a grim warning to the West, firing back at U.S. and European economic sanctions on Moscow and saying such moves could spark a full-scale war. Published March 1, 2022
Putin’s disinformation machine falters as pro-Ukrainian, anti-Russian narratives take hold
The narrative of a plucky Ukraine holding off a blundering Russian army has taken hold around the world, and specialists say the Kremlin's utter failure to sell its spin on events is beginning to have a tangible impact on the actual war being fought on the ground. Published February 28, 2022