One year ago, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addressed a joint session of Congress. Lawmakers hailed him as a hero defender of democracy against an aggressive Russia, whose leader threatened Europe and the United States.
This month, GOP legislators — displaying no shame and offering no apologies — humiliated Zelenskyy. He had traveled to Washington to urge Republicans to pass a vital military aid package for his country. They stiffed him.
The same Republicans who cheered Zelenskyy last December are now fast walking the U.S. toward the greatest (self-inflicted) military debacle of the post-World War II era. They are ready to hand Vladimir Putin a victory. They are also ready to abandon brave Ukrainians in the middle of battle as they fight to prevent Putin from swallowing them into a new Russian empire.
Goodbye, U.S. global leadership. Onward, more military and political challenges to democracies — including ours. Every dictator — from Moscow to Tehran to Pyongyang to Beijing — gets it, even though the GOP doesn’t, or just does not care.
Half the U.S. public, fed fake facts by Republicans, also seems confused about why we must keep supporting Ukraine, and why the aid must not be tied to whether Congress resolves the border issue, as the GOP demands.
It’s past time for President Joe Biden to lay out clearly why Ukraine can still win, and why that matters to Americans. Here are five points that urgently need to be clarified.
Not defeated
The U.S. must ignore defeatist claims that Ukraine has already lost the war because its counteroffensive has stalled. They are simply untrue.
As retired Gen. Ben Hodges, former U.S. commander Europe told me, “The first three years of World War II were disaster after disaster until 1942.
“Thank goodness Churchill and FDR didn’t decide to negotiate with Hitler. Instead, Roosevelt explained to Americans what was at stake, dictatorship or democracy. And the U.S. expanded its industrial base.”
In other words, when the endgame is critical, you don’t abandon support for your allies in the middle of the fight.
Say no to negotiations
Americans must also ignore the ignorant calls from the likes of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (and others) for Ukraine to negotiate now. They disregard reality and feed Putin’s dreams of victory. Russians have already started to celebrate their potential triumph when U.S. aid stops. Putin has made clear he wants the total subjugation of Ukraine.
Listen to Putin
If you want to hear what Putin and state-controlled media are saying, now that they think the GOP and a future Donald Trump presidency will finalize their victory, follow Julia Davis on X (formerly Twitter). The Daily Beast columnist collects video of Russia’s leading talk show hosts.
Currently, they are gloating about how the GOP’s aid cut is undermining the faith of America’s allies in U.S. leadership and how Trump’s actions have helped Russia. They also talk about how de-Nazification means forcing Ukrainians to recognize they are (inferior) Russians or be killed.
An economic bargain
Contrary to GOP claims, U.S. aid to Ukraine is not a money pit. The cost of that aid is slightly more than 3 percent of the Pentagon budget, yet Ukrainians have gutted much of the current Russian army and its weapons supplies.
A victory for America
Biden must tell the public why a victory for Ukraine is a victory for the United States, while a win for Putin is a debacle. If Putin triumphs, it will convince allies and enemies that America has abandoned any pretense of global leadership. It would undercut any pretense that we support fellow democracies.
Ukrainians are shedding their blood for the values America used to hold dear before one of our major parties chose to embrace dictators. Shame on us and shame on our country if we abandon them now.
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