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McCain: 'Astounded' By Report U.S. Not Sharing Intel With Ukraine

Sen. John McCain (R., Ariz) said he was "astounded" by a report today that the United States is not sharing intelligence with Ukraine Wednesday on Fox News:

BRET BAIER: You had a heated exchange with Secretary of State John Kerry about foreign policy, he's your friend but that back and forth was extraordinary.

JOHN MCCAIN: There's 150,000 people dead in Syria. The Russians have now taken Crimea and they are on the border of Ukraine and we won't even give weapons to the Ukrainians, nor according, I was astounded today, you know I think I’m never going to be more surprised. I was astounded, we won't share intelligence with the Ukrainian government about what Putin is doing on their own border? What kind of message does that send to people in Ukraine and to the world by the way? This was what we used to call Neville Chamberlain diplomacy. It's appeasement.

The report out of The Daily Beast by Eli Lake alleges Russian supply lines with mobile medical units are massing near the Ukrainian border, suggesting an invasion is near.

However, U.S. sources say America is abiding by a longstanding policy of not sharing intelligence with Ukraine for fear it could be compromised by Russia, leaving the Ukrainian military blind:

"I am not confident we are sharing any of that kind of information," said Rep. Michael Turner, the Republican chairman of the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee that oversees NATO and U.S. tactical air and land forces. "It’s clear we are not giving them critical military advice about the Russian capability on their border and the best utilization of the Ukrainian military to counter that."

Instead, the U.S. intelligence community’s detailed analysis of a potential Russian invasion has been shared only with the Congress, American policy makers, and members of the Obama administration. The analysis includes details such as the geographic location of specific Russian units and predictions for how those units would be used in combination for a potential invasion.

That’s the sort of information that would be invaluable for any military preparing for a possible incursion. But it would be particularly useful to the fledgling government in Ukraine that lacks the satellites, sensors and intercept technology to learn the details of the military force that looks like it is about to invade its territory. Ukraine's military is severely outmatched by Russia's, but detailed intelligence on the location and composition of Russia's invading force could advantage the Ukrainians in defending its eastern cities nonetheless.