GOP Is Creating Afghanistan Deja Vu In Ukraine

These things happened. They were glorious and they changed the world… and then we f***ed up the end game. (former Congressman Charlie Wilson)

I wrote something of a rant here on Politizoom last night, mostly directed at House Speaker Johnson but more broadly the GOP. The bulk of the problem is in the House but the Senate also is showing an increasing reluctance to continue support for Ukraine. Some Republicans are cynically using aid for Ukraine (and Israel) as leverage to obtain harsher, crueler immigration policy but still support military aid to allies. However, some (too many) are just idiot isolationists (or where Ukraine is concerned flat-out Putin supporters) who don’t  understand that foreign aid DOES benefit us here at home. Let me lay it out for you.

Yes, Ukraine has been fighting to prevent Putin/Russia from taking over their country again. However they have also been fighting a PROXY war on behalf of Europe, the United States and the free world. Russia has long been a threat and only a fool doesn’t realize Putin, who said the fall of the old USSR is the greatest tragedy in world history wants to recreate that old USSR. Taking over Ukraine has been the linchpin of doing so. The idea was to give him even more influence over the flow of energy (oil and natural gas) to Europe. What gets overlooked is Ukraine’s role as a food producer. It’s one of the largest exporters of grains. Russia is way up there too and the combination would give Russia a significant economic weapon.

Because of this it was vital that Russia not be allowed to take over Ukraine.

From the start Ukraine has never asked for foreign troops. Only weapons, ammo, supplies/logistical assistance and training from us and other countries. We’ll do the fighting for you they said, telling the free world they only asked for the means to do so in the form of those things like weapons I just mentioned. And help for those displaced by the war. Humanitarian assistance and the need has been great given the ongoing war crimes being committed by Russia. (Just last night Russia rained down another missile attack on Kyiv after their state TV crowed “Thank you Republicans”)

Support from Republicans for Ukraine has been softening for a while. I’d suggest checking out this link to some stuff CNN published months ago. It’s bad enough this has spread on Capitol Hill but as GOPers express their “we’ve done enough” crap the sentiment has crept into the minds of an increasing number of our citizens. That’s bad in ways it’s hard to describe but I’ll try.

I’m old enough to remember the time when we were just starting to ramp up things in Vietnam. A classmate of mine had an older brother, a Marine who landed at Da Nang in 1965 and wound up KIA. Back then the increase in troops was justified as “freeing up the Vietnamese to go fight the enemy.” Our troops would protect major installations and cities to the ARVN could go out into the bush and fight the North Vietnam invaders. As we know it didn’t work out that way.

Flash forward to the late 1970s and though Vietnam was over the Cold War wasn’t. The USSR invaded Afghanistan. Worldwide condemnation followed but it’s not like the U.S. or any other country was going to send troops there to fight. However, an unlikely figure in Congress became acquainted with a CIA officer and a strategy was crafted to have Afghans fight the Russian war machine for us. A Proxy War. But it had to be covert! Over time we funneled the right weapons and provided the right training for Afghans to fight a counter-insurgency that drove the USSR out of that country.  It was widely said at the time that Afghanistan was Russia’s/the USSR’s Vietnam. Their military however was still massive and a threat. And that’s why I began with the quote by Charlie Wilson.

Our help was covert. The weapons, ammo and supplies we provided had to be things that plausibly could have been taken from Soviet forces killed or bases overrun. Few Afghans knew where it was all actually coming from. For damned sure the boys who had been sent out of the country, and who would get the only education they’d ever receive in madrassas created and funded by Saudi Arabia didn’t know. So Wilson started pestering people on Capitol Hill for a couple million a year to open medical clinics and schools. That would have gone a LONG way there back then. And Afghans would have learned who it was that actually helped drive out the hated Soviets. And therein lies so much of the tragedy.

Republicans in particular balked, expressing a “we won and everyone knows it, let’s move on” attitude. Almost everyone knew it was US who made it possible but one key group of people didn’t. The people of Afghanistan! We had a truly inexpensive chance to make a huge ally in a part of the world where we needed one truly grateful to us and we BLEW it. Worse, as I’ve noted the Russia/USSR ability to make war was still formidable, same as after WWII. Patton is said to have pushed to fight Russia back then since we already had the troops and equipment there to do so. A sort of “we’re going to have to do it sooner or later so it might as well be now” philosophy. Turns out he was right.

We had the Cold War which flared up in various places and ways for decades. It cost us enormous treasure and in some places, particularly Korea lives. But in Afghanistan we had people willing to fight the Russian/Soviet army for us – IF they had the means to do so.

THAT is exactly what’s going on in Ukraine only this time there’s nothing covert about it. The United States has, with President Biden led the way in providing Ukraine with what it needs to not just stop Russia cold but drive them back into Russia, including regaining parts of Ukraine Russia illegally gained control of ten years ago. Putin CANNOT be allowed to threaten other countries and lead that country towards re-creating the USSR. It’s that simple. Even if Putin were to die tomorrow there’s no guarantee the war would be over or that that country wouldn’t try to rebuild the capability to be a major threat. And they already have nukes. No, they need to be decisively beaten and badly enough they need western help to rebuild.

Russia refused getting help via the Marshall Plan after WWII because Stalin knew it would mean losing his iron grip on power. IF we keep up assistance to Ukraine Russia will be bled so dry they will have little choice but to allow help from the outside and in less than a generation will no longer be a threat. AND they can build a country others can respect and want to do business with.

But as I said the GOP seems determine to as Yankee catcher Yogi Berra said give us “Deja Vu all over again.” They can legitimately say Russia’s military has been badly degraded. But Russia itself has not. Don’t kid yourself. The leadership of the old USSR was never beloved by the people but they were under ruthless rule. More than the military and Putin/his inner circle need to be broken to both end this war and forge a peace that will lead to something better for everyone. Well, everyone but authoritarian regimes.

That’s why I keep thinking about Charlie Wilson, and what he’s say about what’s going on up on Capitol Hill right now. Ukraine has been a proxy in our fight to control Putin and his spreading influence. And like with Afghanistan, and as some thing the U.S. and U.K. after WWII leaving a job undone where Russia is concerned. That’s bad enough but if we stop or severely cut back on aid to Ukraine so will other countries. Not only that, keep in mind that because of Trump allies began (with good reason) to doubt whether the United State’s word was good. That we’d fulfill promises and commitments. President Biden restored much of our credibility. Now Republican antics have other countries openly questioning whether they can count on the United States.

All because GOPers figure either we’ve done enough and Russia has been cut down enough in size that they won’t be a threat for a while, or because screwing with military (AND humanitarian too) aid to allies can be a bargaining chip for some MAGA hobby-horse or a combination of the two. The cost of the this Republican trend will take years, if not decades to fully grasp butt it’s boing to be a hell of a bill. Even a (military) “butcher’s bill.”