In 1940 and 1941, America First isolationists argued that the United States should not help Britain resist the Nazi onslaught because it had no chance to prevail. “I have been forced to the conclusion that we cannot win this war for England, regardless of how much assistance we extend,” Charles Lindbergh said on April 23, 1941.
Today’s America Firsters are voicing a similar refrain when it comes to Ukraine. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said: “I haven’t voted for any money to go to Ukraine because I know they can’t win.” Former president Donald Trump chimed in: “You’re really up against a war machine in Russia. … They defeated Hitler, they defeated Napoleon.” (This vaunted “war machine” lost the Crimean War, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I and the Soviet-Afghan war.) Many of these isolationists make it sound as though they are doing Ukraine a favor by hastening its defeat and occupation. “It doesn’t help the Ukrainian people,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), said recently, “to prolong their suffering in this war.”
Just as the original America Firsters played into Adolf Hitler’s hands, so their ideological descendants play into Vladimir Putin’s. Dictators always want to convey a sense that their triumph is inevitable and that resistance is futile. Indeed, the MAGA Republicans sound indistinguishable from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said last year that Western aid deliveries “will not change anything” and “can only prolong the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”
Yet Ukraine has proved the naysayers wrong for more than two years and it can continue to do so as long as it receives aid from the United States. But if U.S. aid is cut off, as the MAGA Republicans demand, then their predictions of doom might become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...c_magnet-oprussiaukraine_inline_collection_20
It’s worth recalling that few analysts gave Ukraine any chance of successfully repelling the initial Russian onslaught which began on Feb. 24, 2022. The U.S. intelligence community feared that Kyiv could fall within 72 hours. Yet here we are 740 days later, as of Monday, and the Ukrainian state is, in many ways, stronger than it was before the war, with a far larger and more capable military, a more popular leader, and a far more united populace.
Ukrainian nationalism has been turbocharged by the Russian assault, and Ukrainians remain nearly unanimous in their desire to fight the invaders. In one recent poll, 89 percent of Ukrainians said they are still convinced they will win the war.
As I saw on a trip around the country last month, much of Ukraine continues to function remarkably well despite the war. In major cities, grocery store shelves are stocked, restaurants are packed and streets are full of traffic. There have been no major shortages of heat or electricity this winter despite Russian attacks. The blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast has been broken, with Russia’s Black Sea Fleet losing roughly one-third of its ships. Ukrainian grain exports from Odessa are almost back to prewar volumes.
Putin’s goal was to snuff out Ukraine’s independence. So far, he has failed miserably. So, too, his gambit of cutting off Russian natural gas to Europe failed to cow the continent. The war has actually strengthened NATO, with Sweden and Finland joining the alliance and member states boosting their defense spending.
The Russians have managed to increase the amount of Ukrainian territory they control from 7 percent to 18 percent — but at frightful cost. The U.S. intelligence community estimates that Russia has lost more than 315,000 soldiers killed and wounded, its worst casualty figures since World War II. The Estonian intelligence service calculates that the Russians have lost “over 2,600 tanks, 5,100 armored personnel carriers and 600 self-propelled artillery units.” Two-thirds of Russia’s prewar tank inventory has been destroyed.
Today’s America Firsters are voicing a similar refrain when it comes to Ukraine. Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Ala.) said: “I haven’t voted for any money to go to Ukraine because I know they can’t win.” Former president Donald Trump chimed in: “You’re really up against a war machine in Russia. … They defeated Hitler, they defeated Napoleon.” (This vaunted “war machine” lost the Crimean War, the Russo-Japanese War, World War I and the Soviet-Afghan war.) Many of these isolationists make it sound as though they are doing Ukraine a favor by hastening its defeat and occupation. “It doesn’t help the Ukrainian people,” Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), said recently, “to prolong their suffering in this war.”
Just as the original America Firsters played into Adolf Hitler’s hands, so their ideological descendants play into Vladimir Putin’s. Dictators always want to convey a sense that their triumph is inevitable and that resistance is futile. Indeed, the MAGA Republicans sound indistinguishable from Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, who said last year that Western aid deliveries “will not change anything” and “can only prolong the suffering of the Ukrainian people.”
Yet Ukraine has proved the naysayers wrong for more than two years and it can continue to do so as long as it receives aid from the United States. But if U.S. aid is cut off, as the MAGA Republicans demand, then their predictions of doom might become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...c_magnet-oprussiaukraine_inline_collection_20
It’s worth recalling that few analysts gave Ukraine any chance of successfully repelling the initial Russian onslaught which began on Feb. 24, 2022. The U.S. intelligence community feared that Kyiv could fall within 72 hours. Yet here we are 740 days later, as of Monday, and the Ukrainian state is, in many ways, stronger than it was before the war, with a far larger and more capable military, a more popular leader, and a far more united populace.
Ukrainian nationalism has been turbocharged by the Russian assault, and Ukrainians remain nearly unanimous in their desire to fight the invaders. In one recent poll, 89 percent of Ukrainians said they are still convinced they will win the war.
As I saw on a trip around the country last month, much of Ukraine continues to function remarkably well despite the war. In major cities, grocery store shelves are stocked, restaurants are packed and streets are full of traffic. There have been no major shortages of heat or electricity this winter despite Russian attacks. The blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea coast has been broken, with Russia’s Black Sea Fleet losing roughly one-third of its ships. Ukrainian grain exports from Odessa are almost back to prewar volumes.
Putin’s goal was to snuff out Ukraine’s independence. So far, he has failed miserably. So, too, his gambit of cutting off Russian natural gas to Europe failed to cow the continent. The war has actually strengthened NATO, with Sweden and Finland joining the alliance and member states boosting their defense spending.
The Russians have managed to increase the amount of Ukrainian territory they control from 7 percent to 18 percent — but at frightful cost. The U.S. intelligence community estimates that Russia has lost more than 315,000 soldiers killed and wounded, its worst casualty figures since World War II. The Estonian intelligence service calculates that the Russians have lost “over 2,600 tanks, 5,100 armored personnel carriers and 600 self-propelled artillery units.” Two-thirds of Russia’s prewar tank inventory has been destroyed.