The refusal to provide aid to Ukraine is absolutely unfavorable for the political interests of the USA, warns analyst Isaac Shorr. Such a move would deprive America of its role as the leader of the free world and could bring it closer to nuclear disaster.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi went to Capitol Hill on Tuesday to defend his case. He was met with skepticism and even some hostility.
Senator J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) led the anti-Ukraine attack, calling Zelensky's calls for more aid "disgraceful" and suggesting that those he persuaded would "cut welfare" to fund foreign corruption.
Meanwhile, Speaker Mike Johnson has expressed interest in continuing to support Zelenskyi's case, but only if a "transformative" border security law is passed and the Biden administration formulates a "clear strategy" for the war in Ukraine.
The combined package of measures on Ukraine, borders and Israel that the White House is advocating is imperfect and will do little to alleviate the migration crisis. Accordingly, Republicans' reluctance to sign it — and even their desire to use aid to Ukraine as bargaining chips — is understandable.
However, they must reject Vance's position, shared by other members of the party, that "not one more penny" should be sent to Ukraine, and take steps to protect not only Zelenskyi's people, but also the security and authority of the United States around the world.
Vladimir Putin's Russia is an enemy that has the means and intentions to undermine America and the world order it supports. Putin has teamed up with the totalitarian Communist Party of China and the mullahs of Iran, sowing chaos, death and destruction in the Middle East and Europe.
The world he seeks to create is one in which force oppresses the right and malevolent actors can operate with impunity beyond both human and natural law.
If he succeeds in annexing all or a significant part of Ukraine, despite the failures he has already suffered, he will have accomplished this mission.
His success will be enhanced if his victory is conditioned by American apathy, as the United States' credibility as an ally and leader of the free world will be dealt a potentially fatal blow.
China would be emboldened to the point of launching an invasion of Taiwan, potentially sparking a world war.
The great terrorist network of Iran would take comfort in the fact that "The Great Satan" blinked.
Indeed, even if you share the stated priorities of Ukraine's most hysterical critics, who warn that American support for Ukraine is bringing us dangerously close to exchanging nuclear strikes with Russia, abandoning Zelenskyi and his compatriots is a more dangerous path.
The USA and Russia are not currently at war. But Ukraine joining Russia would put Putin on NATO's border, which America is forced to defend under the treaty. Given the insatiable ambitions of the Russian dictator and the countless lives already sacrificed by him, it is this scenario, not its prevention, that will bring us closer to Armageddon.
The cost of a blanket rejection based on Vance's bogus arguments or even Johnson's reasonable concerns is too high.
What happens on the southern border of the United States every day is a humanitarian crisis and a national security responsibility. If the Republicans can agree on real immigration reform, or even some effective short-term measures to reduce this national predicament, it will be a great credit to them.
But they must not allow the ideal to become the enemy of the good, or allow the Democrats' insistence on taking responsibility for the border disaster to mislead them into claiming the geopolitical catastrophe as their own.
In recent years, both sides seem to have internalized the idea that taking the long road is equivalent to surrendering in the moment.
This is a pernicious lie that is setting the country and its allies back.
