Congress approved and "Joe Biden" signed legislation to give an additional $61 billion to Ukraine to continue to fight our proxy war with Russia. That's in addition to the $75 billion already given. In more concrete terms, over $400 has been added to the debt obligations of every man, woman and child in the United States. I say debt obligations because we don't have $136 billion to give away. The Fed is creating it out of thin air so the U.S. Treasury can borrow it to hand it over to the Ukraine government. Which has banned most opposition political parties and canceled the next election in Ukraine. Because that's how we support "democracy", don't you see?
The token "conservative" Washington Post columnist, George Will called the 112 Republicans who opposed the giveaway ignobel. He analogized the Moscow/Beijing/Tehran axis to the German/Japanese axis in WWII. Kind of reminds me of the "domino theory" argument that was used by our warfare state to prod us into the Vietnam War. Or George W. Bush's Axis of Evil argument to lure us into an attack on Iraq after 9/11. Followed by war in Afghanistan. Here's a gentle reminder. Who controlled the government of Vietnam, the northern half which was being funded by the Soviet Union and Communist China, never posed an iota of threat to the United States. Who controlled any country in the Middle East, even terrorists funded by a bunch of 12th Century Muslim fundamentalists, never posed any threat to the United States. And whether the territory referred to as Ukraine is controlled by Russia, Germany, Poland, Scythia, Greece, Rome, Lithuania, the Mongol Empire, the Golden Horde, the Crimean Khanate, or other countries I may have missed, does not pose a threat to the United States.
But we had to meddle anyway. In 2013 the duly elected President of Ukraine, Viktor Yanukovich discontinued discussions to join the European Union and instead sought closer ties with Russia. The Obama administration Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland along with the CIA instigated the Euromaidan protests and Revolution of Dignity which led to the impeachment of Yanukovich. Russia responded by annexing the largely Russian speaking Crimea. When Ukraine started talking about joining NATO, Russia invaded Ukraine.
Without U.S. military aid and another $50 billion euros in aid from Europe, the Putin annexation of Ukraine would probably already be a done deal. Instead of the non-democratic government now ruling Ukraine, the country would be ruled by the faux democratic Russia. Would that present a threat to the United States? Not in the least. It would, however, present a possibly existential threat to other countries in Europe, particularly those countries which used to be part of the Soviet Union. And Putin is enough of a megalomaniac to attempt to try to annex more territory once Ukraine is vanquished. And the odds are it will be vanquished.
So there is very good reason for Europe to come to the aid of Ukraine. I'm in Norway as I speak. Scandinavia is taking the threat of a resurgent Russian Empire seriously. Finland and Sweden ended years of neutrality and joined NATO.
To prevail against Russia, Ukraine will need all the help it can get. American Abrams and German Leopard tanks are being destroyed by Russian drones. Russian arms production is in high gear. Over the long arc of history, Ukraine has been ruled by a multitude of other countries and empires, most of them authoritarian. Right now, whether Ukraine is controlled by homegrown authoritarian leaders or the authoritarian who rules Russia has no effect on the security of the United States. It does have an effect on the security of neighboring non-authoritarian European countries. They should step up to the plate.
But it is their fight, not America's fight. This is Richard Fields with Report From the Fields. See you again next week.