The Insanity of American Involvement in Ukraine
Direct military engagement against Russia grows increasingly likely. How would the United States respond to a similar situation if the roles were reversed?
The United States has a long history of foreign intervention. We all know this to be true - from South America, to Asia, to Africa, and of course in the Middle East, the United States enjoys unparalleled military dominance and is always happy to prove it. The difference between an intervention in, say, Chile or Iraq, and NATO’s involvement in Ukraine is obvious though. Ukraine is fighting Russia, and Russia has nuclear weapons. Everyone knows this, yet the West is cheerleading its way into a direct conflict with Russia regardless.
Since the beginning of the Russia-Ukraine War that began in February, the United States has sent thousands of advanced missiles, anti-aircraft weapons, tanks, small arms, and ammunition (among a long list of other equipment) to Ukraine. Before I dive too far into the absurdity of NATO’s involvement in this crisis, I want to begin by posing an easy hypothetical.
Imagine that instead of NATO countries surrounding Russia, the CSTO were the dominant military alliance, and included member states across Central and South America. Now imagine that, for reasons similar to Vladimir Putin’s justification for the invasion of Ukraine, the United States decided to invade Mexico - a country with no military alliances. Further, Northeastern Mexico was experiencing a strong separatist movement and wanted to ally themselves with the United States and secede from Mexico. American troops began gathering in Florida as the world watched in horror, before finally invading to “liberate” the separatists.
Now imagine that Guatemala, Honduras, Venezuela, and countless other Central and South America nations were part of the CSTO, had Russian military bases across their countries, and advanced weaponry was flowing from those countries into Mexico in order for the Mexican military to kill American troops. Whether this would be just or unjust is irrelevant. Take a step back and ask yourselves what the American government would do in response. Do you think the United States would accept a scenario in which Russians actively trained, funded, and supplied lethal aid to an enemy at our border? Of course not. Those hypothetical Central and South American CSTO countries would be attacked. Regardless of right and wrong, Russian involvement at America’s border would obviously be seen as 5 steps too far - too close to home. It would be seen in a totally different light than other proxy wars fought between the United States and Russia. This isn’t Syria. When the fighting gets too close to home, major powers really remember what makes them major powers. Nukes. Talk of nuclear war has almost exclusively been reserved for fiction since the end of the Cold War, but these days, it has once again become a non-zero possibility. We should all be extremely uncomfortable with a non-zero chance of nuclear war.
It is perfectly consistent and principled to hold both of the following views:
1) that the Russian invasion of Ukraine is inhumane and unjustified, and
2) that the United States shouldn’t take steps toward conflict with a nuclear power.
It should seem obvious to everyone familiar with the concept of Mutually Assured Destruction that nuclear powers cannot fight each other. If they do, nuclear weapons will be used in those respective countries. And in a world of military pacts where “an attack on one is an attack on all” (and one of those military pacts surrounds Russia), it’s a hell of a dangerous situation when NATO starts actively helping Ukraine kill Russian troops. It doesn’t matter if Russia is doing something immoral, cruel, or downright evil. The defense of any other country at the risk of a legitimate apocalypse scenario is obviously not worth it.
Here are some uncomfortable and obvious truths:
1) The President of the United States is mentally declining, rapidly. I don’t need to source this - everyone knows it. I encourage anyone who disagrees to find a video of President Biden forming a coherent sentence since the day he declared his candidacy. Good luck.
2) American intelligence is actively helping the Ukrainian military kill Russians and sink warships, specifically the Moskva.
3) As of March, 2022, “42% [of Americans]– say the U.S. should be providing more support to Ukraine, while just 7% say it is providing too much support. About one-in-five (19%) say they are not sure.” Worse yet: “35% favor U.S. military action even if it risks nuclear conflict with Russia.”
4) On May 11th, 2022, the United States House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to give $40 billion to Ukraine. It was a 368-57 vote, and every vote against this insane aid package was cast by Republicans.
To summarize: the Commander-in-Chief of America’s armed forces is mentally unfit to serve, American intelligence is helping kill Russians and sink their ships, 35% of Americans think nuclear war with Russia is worth it to defend….Ukraine, and the only people in the House of Representatives who oppose funding Ukraine with an additional $40 billion are 57 Republicans.
If your representative is not one of those 57 Republicans (here’s the full list), they should be disqualified from your consideration in November. They don’t deserve your vote if they’re willing to let everyone you know die in a nuclear conflict just to prove to the world that the West is still in charge. These people are more dangerous than they are stupid, and they are remarkably stupid. This should worry you.
If it was unclear before, it should be incredibly clear now - neoconservatism pervades both major parties. However, it has evolved into something worse than it’s typical ugly butchery (an unfortunate development); the only thing Democrats and Republicans can compromise on is a willingness to commit nuclear suicide in order to defend Ukraine’s sovereignty. And again, imagine if China, Russia, Iran, and most of South America were funding the deaths of American troops in Mexico. How would America respond? How do you think Russia will respond if we continue down the path we’re on? I bet the answer to those two questions is the same.