Points for consistency
If it feels odd advocating for U.S. aid to Ukraine to fight Vladimir Putin’s Russian invaders, join the club. Those of us who opposed Cold War proxy battles and geopolitical gamesmanship in remote corners of the planet half a century ago now find ourselves living in a more connected world. When a ship stuck in the Suez Canal can disrupt our lives here, what happens on NATO’s doorstep is equally of concern. Just as much as what happens between Israel, Gaza, and Iran.
What’s confounding (or not) is how the formerly hawkish Republican Party that once feared commies in woodpiles have truned into Putin’s lapdogs. Perhaps it’s not surprising. Their positions have always been more performance than principle.
Two stories from the New York Times concerning the fate of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s top military commander has issued a bleak assessment of the army’s positions on the eastern front, saying they have “worsened significantly in recent days.”
Russian forces were pushing hard to exploit their growing advantage in manpower and ammunition to break through Ukrainian lines, the commander, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, said in a statement over the weekend.
“Despite significant losses, the enemy is increasing his efforts by using new units on armored vehicles, thanks to which he periodically achieves tactical gains,” the general said.
At the same time, Ukraine’s energy ministry told millions of civilians to charge their power banks, get their generators out of storage and “be ready for any scenario” as Ukrainian power plants are damaged or destroyed in devastating Russian airstrikes.
“The Russians fire five times as many artillery shells at the Ukrainians than the Ukrainians are able to fire back,” US European Command head Gen. Christopher Cavoli told a recent House Armed Services Committee meeting.
And this one:
Speaker Mike Johnson on Monday said he planned this week to advance a long-stalled national security spending package to aid Israel, Ukraine and other American allies, along with a separate bill aimed at mollifying conservatives who have been vehemently opposed to backing Kyiv.
Mr. Johnson’s announcement, coming after he has agonized for weeks over whether and how to advance an infusion of critical aid to Ukraine amid stiff Republican resistance, was the first concrete indication that he had settled on a path forward. It came days after Iran launched a large aerial attack on Israel, amplifying calls for Congress to move quickly to approve the pending aid bill.
Yeah, well, good luck, Mike. Donald Trump admires Vladimir Putin and given the chance would follow him around like a puppy. If Putin wants Ukraine, that’s fine by The Donald.
Anne Applebaum relfects on how swiftly the U.S. came to Israel’s aid over the weekend while Republicans leave Ukraine’s democracy and perhaps its people to another slow death. People there still recall the Holodomor.
Applebaum writes:
Why the difference in reaction? Why did American and European jets scramble to help Israel, but not Ukraine? Why doesn’t Ukraine have enough matériel to defend itself? One difference is the balance of nuclear power. Russia has nuclear weapons, and its propagandists periodically threaten to use them. That has made the U.S. and Europe reluctant to enter the skies over Ukraine. Israel also has nuclear weapons, but that affects the calculus in a different way: It means that the U.S., Europe, and even some Arab states are eager to make sure that Israel is never provoked enough to use them, or indeed to use any serious conventional weapons, against Iran.
A second difference between the two conflicts is that the Republican Party remains staunchly resistant to propaganda coming from the Islamic Republic of Iran. Leading Republicans do not sympathize with the mullahs, do not repeat their talking points, and do not seek to appease them when they make outrageous claims about other countries. That enables the Biden administration to rush to the aid of Israel, because no serious opposition will follow.
But?
By contrast, a part of the Republican Party, including its presidential candidate, does sympathize with the Russian dictatorship, does repeat its talking points, and does seek to appease Russia when it invades and occupies other countries. The absence of bipartisan solidarity around Ukraine means that the Republican congressional leadership has prevented the Biden administration from sending even defensive weapons and ammunition to Ukraine. The Biden administration appears to feel constrained and unable to provide Ukraine with the spontaneous assistance that it just provided to Israel.
Open sympathy for the war aims of the Russian state is rarely stated out loud. Instead, some leading Republicans have begun, in the past few months, to argue that Ukraine should “shift to a defensive war,” to give up any hope of retaining its occupied territory, or else stop fighting altogether. Senator J. D. Vance of Ohio, in a New York Times essay written in what can only be described as extraordinary bad faith, made exactly this argument just last week. So too, for example, did Republican Representative Eli Crane of Arizona, who has said that military aid for Ukraine “should be totally off the table and replaced with a push for peace talks.”
But Ukraine is fighting a defensive war. Clearly. Once quick to invoke Neville Chamberlain while rattling sabers about foreign tyrants, MAGA Republicans eagerly hope to elect one themselves. Finding common cause with Putin is them being consistent, at least in their fecklessness.
Applebaum notes one of the conclusions the rest of the world will draw:
A part of the Republican Party—one large enough to matter—can be co-opted, lobbied, or purchased outright. Not only can you get it to repeat your propaganda; you can get it to act directly in your interests. This probably doesn’t cost even a fraction of the price of tanks and artillery, and it can be far more effective.
If only we could harness their bad faith as an energy source.
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