Back to Ukraine

I say back not only to represent that I am going “back” there in terms of subject, but also to reflect the overall return of the US to Ukraine following the successful House and Senate votes last month.

It is crucial to reinforce some messages that are flying around and debunk others.  The 60 billion plus USD that have been released by Congress is primarily being spent in the US to pay for DOD to replace existing weapons that it will ship over to Ukraine.  Some of the more buffoonish reflexive naysayers about Ukraine (Moscow Marjorie Taylor Green and others) harp on about Ukrainian corruption.  But money is not being sent.  It would be really awesome if they would put down the “Russia Times Talking Points List” on this issue.

Another point straight from Moscow that I hear bandied about is something about Ukraine not respecting religion, and particularly in criticizing Kyiv for “Oppressing Christianity.”  Another contextless set of lies, underpinned by total ignorance of a set of churches (Ukrainian and Russian Orthodox), what their tenets are, how they operate, and the perennial failure of projecting your own concepts of Church and State on others.  Bottom line, no faith or religion has been banned in Ukraine.  Check their laws for confirmation.  On the other hand, simple research will show numerous statements by leaders of the Russian/Moscow Church openly supporting all of Russia’s murderous actions in Ukraine.  Russia does not have US style separation of Church and State, but Ukraine does. 

So what has happened in Ukraine, especially in the last six months, since Hamas, backed by Russia and Iran, played one of the biggest strategic deception operations in recent memory through their genocidal, and distracting, attack on Israel? 

US failure to lead the alliance led to some increase in support to Ukraine from friends in Europe. But the fact that even more support was pledged after we got our proverbial heads out of our butts just underpins the fundamental truth that we are the alliance leader, and we need to act like it.

With the diminution of support, Ukraine was forced onto the defensive along the line, and Russia was allowed the opportunity to reconstitute its forces. Let us not be deceived on this point… Russian reconstituted forces are equipped and trained as mere shadows of their 2022 selves. Nevertheless, numbers matter, and they have forced the Ukrainian Army back in several key areas.  Meanwhile, the viciousness of Russian attacks on Ukrainian civilians continues unabated.

Back in 2022, in their joint visit to Ukraine, Secretaries Blinken and Austin laid out the US objective for success in Ukraine.  The readout can be found here:  Secretary Blinken and Secretary Austin’s Travel to Ukraine - United States Department of State. Summarized, it was to “see Russia’s military capabilities weakened.” Austin says US wants to see Russia’s military capabilities weakened | CNN Politics.  There has been no update to that guidance, and so it must be seen even today as a key war objective, one that is only partially met at this time, since it is clear that a Russian victory in Ukraine will be followed up by aggression against other neighbors, including NATO members.

Clearly I STRONGLY advocate for increased support to Ukraine, and here is why:

We live in a world that was built by the United States after 1945 in order to meet its economic and geopolitical needs.  The world has changed since then, especially since 1945, as old powers (Western Europe) have recovered from the war, new powers (The PRC and the BRICs) have risen, and defeated powers (Russia) seek revenge, one thing has not changed. That is that the US and every American citizen (whether they think so are not) benefits from the economic world that America has made.  If we want to keep the benefits, we also need to be willing to take action to keep them.  Funding Ukraine is, quite simply, defeating chaos and disruption, and vital to maintain the US system, which is the greatest and has helped the most people in human history.

That is the bottom line, and I am happy to discuss in the comments and future posts.

DrJCal