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Eric Schmitt
For Eric Schmitt's latest contributions to The Japan Times, see below:
Japan Times
WORLD
Apr 17, 2022
Putin’s Ukraine gamble pivots to a very different battlefield
Battles over the past seven weeks raged in populated areas near Kyiv, but the war is moving into wide-open flatland, which will drastically change combat strategy.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 24, 2022
U.S. makes contingency plans in case Russia uses its most powerful weapons
The immediate concern is what Putin may do next — driven by a desire to rescue a failing military effort or reestablish his credentials as a force to be feared.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 14, 2022
Finding a way out of the war in Ukraine proves elusive
Just as the past two weeks revealed that Russia's vaunted military faltered in its invasion plan, the next two or three may reveal whether Ukraine can survive as a state.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 12, 2022
Over Ukraine, lumbering Turkish-made drones are an ominous sign for Russia
More than two weeks into the conflict, Ukraine's drones — Turkish-made Bayraktar TB2 models that buzz along at about half the speed of a Cessna — are still flying.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 7, 2022
Arming Ukraine: 17,000 anti-tank weapons in six days and a clandestine cybercorps
American and European officials describe a desperate race against time as they aim to get arms delivered to Ukrainian forces while their supply routes are still open.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 4, 2022
How Ukraine’s military has resisted Russia so far
Ukrainian troops are mounting a stiffer-than-expected resistance to Russian forces, fighting with a resourcefulness that could trip up Russian troops for weeks or months to come.
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 4, 2022
Washington’s newest worry: The dangers of cornering Putin
Putin's reaction to the initial wave of sanctions has provoked a range of concerns that one senior official called the 'Cornered Putin Problem.”
Japan Times
WORLD
Mar 2, 2022
Russian troop deaths expose a potential weakness of Putin’s strategy
Neither side's claims have been independently verified, but one American official put the Russian losses as of Monday at 2,000, an estimate with which two European officials concurred.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 22, 2022
U.S. troops in Poland brace for possible Ukrainian evacuees
U.S. commanders in Poland have been reassuring allies while working with them to prepare several Polish military facilities and put up tents.
Japan Times
WORLD
Feb 16, 2022
U.S. arms sent to Ukraine would blunt but not stop a Russian invasion
Since 2014, the United States has committed more than $2.7 billion in security assistance to Ukraine, according to the Pentagon, including a $200 million package in December.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 24, 2022
Biden weighs deploying thousands of troops to Eastern Europe and Baltics
The move would signal a major pivot for the Biden administration, which up until recently was taking a restrained stance on Ukraine, out of fear of provoking Russia into invading.
Japan Times
WORLD
Jan 9, 2022
U.S. details costs of a Russian invasion of Ukraine
The Biden administration and its allies are developing new possible sanctions ahead of a series of meetings to defuse the crisis with Moscow.
Japan Times
WORLD
Sep 11, 2021
In U.S. drone strike, evidence suggests no Islamic State bomb
U.S. officials said a Reaper drone followed a car for hours and then fired based on evidence it was carrying explosives. But an in-depth analysis and interviews cast doubt on that account.
Japan Times
WORLD
Aug 28, 2021
As U.S. troops searched Afghans, a bomber in the crowd moved in
Officials are still piecing together the chain of events in the attack that killed scores of people, including 13 U.S. service members, outside the Kabul airport.
Japan Times
WORLD / Politics
Jan 9, 2021
Pelosi pressed Pentagon on checks to prevent Trump from starting conflict
But short of the cabinet invoking the 25th Amendment or impeaching and convicting the president, it would be unconstitutional to defy legal orders from the commander in chief, experts note.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 28, 2020
Gunmen assassinate Iran’s top nuclear scientist in ambush, provoking new crisis
For two decades, the scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was the driving force behind what U.S. and Israeli officials describe as Iran's secretive nuclear weapons program.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 17, 2020
Trump sought options for attacking Iran to stop its growing nuclear program
The president was dissuaded from moving ahead with a strike by advisers who warned that it could escalate into a broader conflict in his last weeks in office.
Japan Times
WORLD
Nov 14, 2020
Al-Qaida’s No. 2, accused in U.S. Embassy attacks, is secretly killed in Iran
Israeli agents shot Abu Muhammad al-Masri on the streets of Tehran at the behest of the U.S., intelligence officials have confirmed.

Longform

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