House progressive Democrats have caused a rift within the party by issuing and then retracting a letter less than 24 hours later, urging President Joe Biden to rethink his strategy for the war in Ukraine and negotiate directly with Russia.
In the Oct. 24 letter (pdf), Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, led 29 Democrat colleagues in calling on Biden to combine military and economic aid to the United States is providing to Ukraine with a “proactive diplomatic push, redoubling efforts to seek a realistic framework for a ceasefire.”
“The alternative to diplomacy is protracted war, with both its attendant certainties and catastrophic and unknowable risks,” the letter says….