Pundits pundit, nothing more to it.
However, the problem is that while Kristol understands war (as I do), nearly all democrats and many republicans/Conservatives do not.
I don’t view the current conflict much differently than what transpired in the years prior to make it inevitable. As such, the ignorance over ‘war’ results in the segue of our own battle here in the states, which has brought about the striking divide between pro-Ukraine Conservatives and others such as myself...the latter continuously pointing out the hypocrisy of the prior.
You mentioned ‘war’; my gut feels there needs to be elaboration of two aspects here. 1. The US government has been at war with Americans since October 2001 under the traitorous GW & the 107th Congress (a much greater horror than what’s happening in Ukraine, imho), 2. To grasp the reality of what reads like the need for elaboration, realize that policy - and politics - are war by other means, and vice versa. Like politics, although the results of both war and politics have a plan, the results are entirely unpredictable. Trump’s election is evidence, as are the results on the ground in Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan & Syria (to name a few, including the fall of the Iron Curtain). The only ‘war’ for over a century which brought about a significant transition to peaceful, productive policy was the 2nd World War, but even that is inaccurate: The parties merely switched their means, and no peace agreement was ever drafted between the West and Russia. The West just operated in a different reality than the East (irony: Now we have an Asian problem resulting from defective peacetime ‘policies’). The utter ignorance of those who believe there has been peace since the fall of the Iron Curtain belies the reality of continuous conflict on the ground through 2021. Ukraine is merely an inevitable chapter of said conflict, ultimately brought about by policies of the West.
From my chair, the transition from ‘cold’ to ‘hot’ doesn’t qualify aligning with the left & globalists and such an alignment ought be a wake-up call for others as to aforementioned ignorance. As well, it should certainly warrant a pause in consideration of the extreme danger of escalation: If the media was honestly reporting, it would be clear to the ignorant public that tensions are nearly as high as in October 1962.
To truly grasp where Kristol stands, load the video and jump to 24:14 where ‘Trumpism’ is introduced as Charlie Sykes relates it to ‘pro-Putinism’, and listen through 28:44 where Kristol relates:
“...what Trump did here at home is dangerous and terrible, just not as visible as what Putin is doing.”
Yeah. Kristol requires some ‘politics by other means’, imho. Those who agree with him merit the same treatment.
This will somewhat elaborate on ‘war’ vs. ‘policy’: https://oll.libertyfund.org/page/clausewitz-war-as-politics-by-other-means
As I said I've never been to war. And the word for that most egregious and most horrifying experience humans engage in is ''war''. There's no other word for it. Well, now to check out Bill Kristol. (Sooner clean my cat box)