The Perils Of An "As Long As It Takes" War

tippinsights Editorial Board -
  • President Zelenskyy is urgently seeking $61 billion in U.S. aid to strengthen Ukraine's position in the conflict
  • There is growing doubt about the impact of past aid efforts and the effectiveness of the "As long as it takes" war strategy
  • The conflict lacks clear objectives and a defined path to victory
  • Ukraine is grappling with mounting costs, including a massive refugee crisis that is straining resources in Europe
  • Mobilizing Ukrainian soldiers has become challenging as support wanes, and there is a shortage of volunteers wanting to join the fight

Just when you thought Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy would send his officials east to Moscow to begin peace talks with Russia, the star international politician is headed west to the White House and Congress. The goal is to persuade reluctant GOP legislators to approve Ukraine's $61 billion aid package - a measure that failed last week in the Senate - to fight more war.  

White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who has had to change positions numerous times about why the United States should fund Ukraine, tried a new tactic:

As Russia ramps up its missile and drone strikes against Ukraine, the leaders will discuss Ukraine's urgent needs and the vital importance of the United States' continued support at this critical moment. 

If you thought that the over $100 billion in arms sent to Ukraine would have crushed Russia's ability to fire missiles, you would be wrong again. 

After 22 months of non-stop direct support for the beleaguered nation and the Biden administration firing on all cylinders – the CIA, the Pentagon, and the State Department - to unite Europe to provide more help, Washington NeoCons and Zelenskyy want even more. The Treasury is enforcing an elaborate and comprehensive regime on Russia that includes over 2,500 sanctions, the most against any one country in the history of the United States. 

The stark truth is that Biden's "As long as it takes" war plan has failed miserably. Let's review President Biden's actions and justifications since the disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan.

On November 10, 2021, the U.S. and Ukraine did what Russian President Putin had been lobbying against since 2008. Egged on by Secretary of State Antony Blinken and National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, Biden entered into a strategic agreement with an entire section devoted to countering Russian aggression that had not yet happened. It outlined how the U.S. would step up weapons delivery to Ukraine. It specified how Ukraine's integration into "Euro-Atlantic institutions are concurrent priorities." The deal was a radical departure from former President Obama's reluctance to engage with Ukraine. 

Within two months, Russia had amassed 150,000 troops on Ukraine's border. Blinken did not pull out all the stops to prevent war, insisting that Ukraine had the sovereign right to align itself with whatever nation it wished. After Russia attacked on February 24, 2022, America threw all of its support behind Ukraine. 

Speaking at the U.N. Security Council, Secretary Antony Blinken said:

We cannot – we will not – allow President Putin to get away with it. Defending Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity is about much more than standing up for one nation's right to choose its own path, fundamental as that right is. It's also about protecting an international order where no nation can redraw the borders of another by force.

Blinken's assertions would have had significant weight but for the fact that  America had been meddling in Ukraine since 2008, including openly advocating and engineering a coup during the Maidan revolution in Kyiv in 2014. 

When Ukraine began fighting back and retaking territory last December, the administration aggressively used the term "Victory" in its communications. But no one defined what victory meant. Ousting Russia from territory it has acquired since February 24, 2022? Regime change in Russia? Testing out American weapons on the battlefield in preparation for a future war with China? Building up the American Military Industrial Complex? Creating well-paying jobs in American states?    

Before Nancy Pelosi handed over the Speaker's gavel to the GOP, she helped push through a $44 billion package to Ukraine, which Biden promptly signed. We were told "victory" was even closer when Ukraine would begin its counteroffensive in June 2023. The term had expanded its definition. It now meant crippling Russia's access to Crimea by dissecting the land bridge, with Ukraine's troops advancing all the way to the Sea of Azov. Reclaiming every square inch of Ukraine's land going back to 2014 became the new goal.  

But the counteroffensive was far from triumphant. The needle barely budged, and the war entered a stalemate as winter approached. Russia still controls more Ukrainian territory than it did before February 2022. 

Meanwhile, the costs to Ukraine have continued to mount and include more than just the loss of life and limb. According to the United Nations High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR), six million refugees from Ukraine have resettled, mainly in Europe, the largest migration since World War II. Many refugees have reported a severe drop in living standards as their inability to speak the language of their destination country, high inflation, and worsening economic conditions (Germany is in a recession) make it impossible to assimilate. 

Frustrated, several were planning their return to Ukraine, but men aged 18 to 60 decided to hold back. The Washington Post reported that men in Ukraine are devising ingenious means to avoid being drafted to fight, so why would Ukrainian men who have already fled return to combat?

To drive home our point and consistent criticism of America's failed policy in Ukraine, we cataloged over 50 tippinsights opinion pieces on these pages, highlighting the perils of an "As long as it takes" war. 

But Zelenskyy and the Washington NeoCons are unmoved. On his third trip to Washington since the war began, President Zelenskyy  will try again to get the $61 billion and continue the fight, even when it is becoming clear that Ukraine's fighting forces are dramatically shrinking in number and not many able-bodied Ukrainians want to join the army. Unbelievable!

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