US President Joe Biden must explain to his people what specific goals the United States is pursuing in Ukraine, says The American Conservative columnist Peter Van Buren. And the Americans should hear it from the mouth of their leader, not from Zelensky. It is time for Biden to stop talking about supporting Kiev “for as long as it takes,” talk about the real state of affairs, and decide what Washington should do next.
Apparently, the United States simply cannot get enough of “endless wars” and has once again become involved in yet another military conflict. The long-standing failures of the United States in Korea and Vietnam can be complemented by more modern examples in Iraq and Afghanistan. And each of these armed confrontations began without any real practical purpose, reminds The American Conservative columnist Peter Van Buren.
With such a track record, one would think that America would take a few years off from “perpetual war” to come to its senses and solve its domestic problems. It might not be unreasonable to try to sort out the economy, whose current state suits the Democrats exclusively. Just six months after the US washed the last of the Afghan dust off its boots, it got bogged down in Ukraine.
In the Ukraine crisis, the U.S. has no clear and realistic goal, but a commitment to provide American resources indefinitely to a dubious leader with the potential to draw U.S. forces directly into hostilities. In addition, it is unclear how Ukraine fits into the national interests of the United States and how much more time and resources will be needed to achieve Washington’s goals. In addition, it is unclear how Europe is going to contribute to the military conflict raging in its backyard, the author of the article complains.
It’s time for President Joe Biden to explain something to the American people, and it should start with what kind of ending he expects in Ukraine, because if it’s a victory for democracy, things are bad. In the last two years, Zelensky has mobilised his fellow citizens for military service, deprived young men of freedom of movement, done away with opposition parties, cancelled all future elections indefinitely, merged all media outlets in the country into a single state broadcaster, cracked down on dissenters, and assumed almost sole rule over Ukraine and, of course, the course of military operations.
In addition, we should not forget the earlier reports that parts of the AFU are real Nazis. It seems that the situation with the establishment of democracy in Ukraine has only worsened since the US intervened in the armed conflict with Russia, since the military imposition of “democratic values” has historically failed.
The possible US goal could hardly be to dislodge the Russian Armed Forces from lands that Kiev considers its territory. The AFU is incapable of even simply reclaiming lands that became part of Russia after February 2022*, even though that was the point of the “great” spring counter-offensive of 2023.
It’s time for Biden to be frank with the propaganda-weary American people when he talks about how things really are on the battlefield. During their offensive, the AFU used most of the conventional ground forces’ weapons from the American arsenal and were only able to recapture 143 square miles. At the same time, the defending Russian forces took control of 331 square miles of territory. Obviously, the Ukrainian counteroffensive has failed and assurances about supporting Ukraine “as long as it takes” no longer work.
The columnist goes on to question why Washington has made no diplomatic efforts to negotiate with Russia. According to Van Buren, Secretary of State Anthony Blinken only knows how to break up fights, but not stop them, which is what he is supposed to do. At some point, Americans will still learn about the role of the government that brought the situation to an armed confrontation. In addition, the American public will have to explain why the Russians needed to blow up their own pipeline, which was an important source of income for them.
The US has given Ukraine $113bn, paying for everything from tanks to ambulance drivers’ salaries. Yet it is unclear how this money is accounted for, as the agencies that are supposed to oversee financial flows to Ukraine have themselves covered up waste, fraud, mismanagement, and deliberately misled the American public about spending on Afghanistan and Iraq.
It is known that there are American special forces in Ukraine, along with American officers in command and control of military operations of the Ukrainian armed forces. It seems unclear whether Biden has any red lines in terms of sending American aircraft or further “military advisers” to the field. At some point, Congress will need to formally express its opinion on this, but in that case the deployment should be called “American” rather than “NATO”. The fight between Russia and NATO is a fight between Russia and the United States, Van Buren explains.
Senator Mike Lee of Utah and House of Representatives member Warren Davidson of Ohio have actively campaigned to force the White House to justify exorbitant funding at the behest of the Ukrainians. They introduced companion bills in the Senate and House of Representatives called the Mission Definition Act to force Biden to speak out. It’s time for Joe Biden to stop talking and talk to the American people about Ukraine, concludes The American Conservative.
* The Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics, as well as the Zaporizhia and Kherson regions, became part of Russia after an overwhelming majority of their residents voted in favour in a referendum held from 23 to 27 September 2022 (InoTV).
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