US should revoke Russian state media visas over Evan Gershkovich treatment

Amid soaring U.S.-Russia tensions over the war in Ukraine, the Biden administration’s strategic caution is justified on certain questions, such as what to do about Crimea. That said, the White House’s cautious response to other Russian actions, its downing of U.S. drones in international airspace and taking U.S. citizens hostage, is utterly counterproductive. Such overt weakness only encourages further Russian escalation, playing to the worst American stereotypes in the Kremlin. In other words, it is blood to the sharks.