in Democrats, Liberals, Russia, Trump Foreign Policy, Ukraine
On CNN this morning, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy, who might be the dumbest man in government today, decried the Trump administration’s position on the Russia/Ukraine war. You can read much more at the link, but I am going to focus on just a couple of points. First, the question asked by CNN’s Dana Bash:
Host Dana Bash said, “Do you think there’s hope of salvaging this relationship with Ukraine?”
This is mind-numbingly stupid. The proper question, as even Zelensky realizes, is whether Ukraine has hope of salvaging its relationship with the United States. So in this interview, you know from the beginning that you are in a fog of unknowing.
Murphy’s response–you can read much more at the link–included this:
So it is absolutely shameful what is happening right now. The White House has become an arm of the Kremlin.
Of course, if the White House were really an arm of the Kremlin, it would be suppressing domestic oil and gas production and pursuing “green” energy fantasies. That, much more than anything else, is how an American administration either helps Russia (Obama) or hurts Russia (Trump). Which is why for decades, as official intelligence reports have documented, Russia has provided covert support to American environmentalist groups.
But of course, Murphy isn’t talking about that. He is talking about the fact that Russia apparently is willing to agree to an immediate ceasefire and a permanent resolution of the conflict, while Ukraine, under Zelensky, wants to fight on. At our expense, of course. President Trump thinks that after three years, the war has gone on long enough, and the pressing need is to bring it to an end.
I agree. Estimates vary, but there have been something like a million casualties in this conflict. And the war has ground to a halt: it now resembles World War I trench warfare. Russia holds a slice of Ukrainian territory, where most residents speak Russian and probably are pro-Russia, but there has been little movement for months. So the outlines of a settlement are obvious.
Why, exactly, are people like Chris Murphy determined to fight on? What is the point? What is the goal? I am generally a hawk in military matters, not reluctant to use military force. But to what end? To recover a few square miles of Russian-speaking territory, historically a part of Russia, for Ukraine? What vital American interest is at stake here?
Isn’t the most important goal to stop the killing? I have friends, more well-versed in the history of this area than I am, who say that Russia’s position on the border dispute is stronger than Ukraine’s. They may be right, but honestly, I don’t care. I think the only clear imperative is to stop the slaughter.
It is deeply ironic that liberal Democrats, who were pro-Russia and anti-America through decades of the Cold War when Russia was by far our most important enemy, have suddenly become anti-Russia, now that Russia is a relatively minor player on the world stage, and our only peer rival, as Pete Hegseth put it in his memorable speech to the Europeans in Munich, is China. Russia has been a godforsaken place for a very long time. I would like to see it get better, and toward that end I would just as soon see the Putin regime overthrown. But any hope that something better will follow is based on faith, not experience.
The idea that the Trump administration is an “arm of the Kremlin” because it is unwilling to give Ukraine’s government a blank check to fight on indefinitely, at our expense, and regardless of the cost in human life, is despicable. Do Democrats recall the words of their presidential candidate John Kerry, who memorably said, “How do you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?” Kerry was wrong as his question related to Vietnam, but at least at that time, Democrats had a bias in favor of peace. Those days are gone. Who will be the last man (or woman, or child) to die in Ukraine? I don’t know. But far too many have died already–I feel like Peter, Paul and Mary here!–and President Trump is right to be seeking peace, not an endless perpetuation of the conflict.
https://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2025/03/an-arm-of-the-kremlin.php
No comments:
Post a Comment