Let Europe Handle It

“I hope our wisdom will grow with our power, and teach us, that the less we use our power the greater it will be.” (Thomas Jefferson)

After watching the exchange between President Trump, President Zelenskyy and Vice-President Vance I have a few thoughts.

As an initial matter, the U.S. cannot force Zelenskyy to seek peace.  Ukraine is an independent nation and as such, if they want to continue fighting an unwinnable war, at least unwinnable without western troops, then so be it.

I also want to clarify that people are not pro-Russian merely because they oppose providing further military aid to Ukraine, and certainly not for opposing sending American troops to Ukraine.  I neither like nor support Putin, in fact I spent half my career playing tag with the Soviets in the Western Pacific and North Atlantic.  So, I have no love for Putin and would be rooting for his demise if I was sure his successor wouldn’t be even worse.  So, for any who want to engage in ad hominem attacks and call me a Russian stooge…go ahead, it just makes you look foolish.  However, for those who want to voice their disagreement with my position, and not my looks, then by all means let’s have a discussion.

The argument often put forward by Zelenskyy and the neocons that Ukraine is preventing Russia from invading Europe and the U.S. is nonsense.  Russia has spent three years trying to overrun a significantly weaker military power – and has not only failed but has also suffered tremendous casualties and material losses.  Given this fact, do you honestly believe Russia has the military ability to overrun Europe?  The only way Russia could accomplish that feat, is if the Europeans continue to refuse to adequately invest in their defense.  Granted, that’s a possibility given the Europeans have grossly neglected their militaries for the last 64 years or so. However, if they continue to do so, is that not Europe’s problem?  I mean they can hardly demand that we shed our blood because they are too cheap to invest in their defense.

Additionally, screaming Russia will overrun Europe except for Ukraine, ignores the reality that both France and the UK are nuclear powers.  I fully agree that Putin and most, if not all of those in his government, want to reestablish Russia as a world power.  However, everyone in the Russian government is a pragmatist who knows that a direct confrontation with Europe could easily escalate to a nuclear exchange, something none of them want to risk.  That’s why Russia limits its armed aggression to countries that were once part of the USSR; and to expanding, or at least attempting to expand, its influence in the Middle East and Africa.[1]  By confining its armed aggression to these areas, Russia, at most, risks a proxy war but avoids a direct conflict with nuclear powers that could escalate to a nuclear exchange.