I have been opposed to US involvement in Ukraine from the beginning for one very simple reason: it’s not our fight, and that’s where I will start today. It seems pretty clear that Joe Biden and the warmongers are willing to do anything to make it our fight.
Remember the peace dividend and the promise of cuts in defense spending and freedom for all? Remember the promise of a new world order? Not the utopia of a Marxist one-world government but the reality of life in the aftermath of the Cold War.
The rhetoric does not describe our reality regarding our promises to Russia or our forecasts about Russia’s actions.
Not that Joe Biden cares, because he continues to do his best to make the worst possible outcome in Ukraine a reality: a full-blown hot war with Russia and maybe even China.
Not for nothing has he been wrong on nearly every major foreign policy and national security issue over the past four decades.
So says Robert Gates, former Director of the CIA and Secretary of Defense under Presidents H.W. Bush and Barack Obama, respectively.
Gates speaks from experience, based on his assessment of Biden’s inexperience on issues of war and peace. He knows what Biden refuses to understand: that we are wrong to antagonize and isolate Russia, yet we continue to do so; that expanding NATO eastward is more provocative than Russia expanding westward because Russia has legitimate claims in Ukraine. What reasons do we have to move west?
None is the answer—but the voices demanding that we fund the war and prepare to fight are focused on making it happen.
We do not have to look Putin in the eye to get a sense of his soul.
We do not have to be like George W. Bush and say Putin is “straightforward and trustworthy” to know it is wrong to insult the president of Russia publicly.
But we do not have a duty to defend Ukraine by going to war against Russia, either!
We do, however, have a duty to oppose US involvement in Ukraine.
As conservatives, the preservation of our peace and liberty is our top priority.
Putting America first does not mean permanent withdrawal or perpetual isolation. We retain the right to fight with the might necessary to win on the battlefield and the skill necessary to triumph at the negotiating table.
And yet Biden’s actions toward Russia belie our words to Russia.
He should read before he speaks so as not to plagiarize or misquote a former president of his own party.
It’s too bad he does not remember the words of President Kennedy’s inaugural address, which admonished us to never fear negotiating.
Too bad Biden does not do as Kennedy said.
Too bad for us that Biden does not care to negotiate with Russia.
What good does it do for Biden to call Putin a “murderous dictator”?
What good does Biden hope to achieve by calling Putin a “crazy SOB”?
What good can we achieve with Biden in office, as he violates every rule of diplomacy and every principle of common sense?
Too bad Biden does not practice what Teddy Roosevelt preached, speaking softly and pursuing justice in peace.
Not for nothing does TR have a better reputation than Biden and a better record than most presidents.
By ending the Russo-Japanese War, TR showed us what a president can do for his country and what America can do to stay out of foreign wars.
TR showed us what we should prize most by winning the Nobel Peace Prize.
By doing as he wants without regard for our interests, Biden disregards the lessons of history and the legacy of President Roosevelt and others.
Does Biden act justly toward Russia?
Does Biden intend to strike Russia?
Does Biden believe his intentions are clear, that he never bluffs and only strikes when he can strike hard?
No doubt Biden knows little or nothing about Russia.
But Biden’s ignorance must not be our misfortune, especially when he demonizes Putin and prevents him from saving face.
Which brings me to my next question, in the form of a statement.
Tell me how this ends.
Tell me how US involvement in Ukraine ends because nobody who is voting to send billions of dollars in treasure and machines of war to Ukraine seems able or willing to explain what happens next.
Tell me the cost in blood and treasure because Russia has the world’s largest nuclear arsenal.
Tell me how we leave Ukraine without losing our honor, based on our failures in Afghanistan and Iraq—and yes, Vietnam, too.
Tell me, please, how war is the answer to our troubles with Russia.
That we have no interest in Ukraine is clear. That Russia has no interest in fighting us is also clear. That Biden has no interest in avoiding war with Russia is, unfortunately, deadly obvious.
According to historian Jay Winik, how wars end is as important as why they began and how they were waged.
A question for the interventionists: Tell me why Ukraine matters more to us than she does to Russia.
Do not tell me Volodymyr Zelensky is a democrat (small-d) who deserves our help.
Do not compare him to Winston Churchill, alone and indomitable, when he has none of the great man’s vision or statesmanship.
Do not tell me we need to fight Russia to save Europe from the fate of Ukraine because any such assertion is a lie.
Also, tell me which countries will pay for us to keep Zelensky in power.
If we were unable to get NATO members to spend more on collective defense during the Cold War, what makes us believe they will spend more now?
Why do we insist on expanding NATO when we know where Russia stands on this alliance?
Did not the dissolution of the Soviet Union on Christmas Day 1991 end a chapter of world history?
The Warsaw Pact is dead.
The Berlin Wall came down.
The Cold War is over.
And yet NATO endures.
Ukraine wants to be in NATO.
What happens if Russia invades the Baltics to counter our involvement in Ukraine?
Does Biden intend to enforce Article 5 of NATO, which states that an armed attack against one member shall be considered an attack against them all?
If Russia attacks Latvia or Lithuania, does that mean Biden will counterattack with our armed forces?
Do not tell me the issue polls well or that a majority of respondents support US involvement in Ukraine.
The polling is as worthless as the reporting.
If the reporting were accurate, Ukraine would have won the war two years ago.
Remember, too, that polls are not a mandate to wage war.
Joe Biden has no mandate to start a war with Russia.
If we go to war with Russia, we will gain nothing.
Having lost Russia once already, we must not lose her again.
We must stop the march of madness before we find ourselves unable and unwilling to extricate ourselves from another forever war.
It is time to negotiate peace in the East.
Say nyet to war, and yes to peace.