Sometimes we should throw niceties out of the window and tell our friends what we are thinking, especially if we perceive disaster ahead. So, if you’ll forgive me, I’m going to say what I’m thinking right now. For those easily offended, bear in mind that this article has the word “opinion” in capital letters right before the title.
The wording of this opinion might invoke the sensation: “Who does this person think he is?” For the record, I’m a concerned European expressing a personal view. My country allows that, and Ukraine is fighting for that. It is a most fundamental type of freedom. That’s why Britain is standing with Ukraine without hesitation. Which brings me at once to my point.
My blunt opinion. The United States Congress is currently in the grip of cowardice.
Telling a nation that it should not, in self-defense, attack infrastructure that is providing the raw materials to sustain an unprovoked war of aggression that is slaughtering thousands of men, women and children. This is cowardice.
Not finding time in your diary to meet the foreign secretary of a NATO ally who has come on urgent business to discuss how to provision a nation fighting for its freedom, fighting for its very existence. This is cowardice.
Giving press conferences to announce that you stand “shoulder-to-shoulder” with a nation running out of ammunition and whose cities are being systematically destroyed when you have the capacity to protect that country with a mere decision. This is cowardice.
A Senior Republican Speaks About the GOP and Ukraine
Disparaging the Transatlantic alliance at the very moment that the cause of freedom has faced its gravest threat since 1939. This is cowardice.
Telling a nation that it should not attack refineries providing the oil to lubricate a war of annihilation because it might make oil prices unstable. This is abject cowardice.
Constantly worrying that standing alongside a nation will cause escalation, a nation that has not even asked you to send a single soldier, yet which fights to hold back the advance of autocracy which threatens to engulf the world in war. This is cowardice.
Turning your back on a nation that in recent years came to your aid when the chips were down, and you faced grave danger. This is cowardice. Imploring a nation to cede its territory in exchange for peace. This is cowardice.
It is cowardice for the US to criticize Ukraine for acting in desperate self-defense when its actions are largely the consequence the Western world drip-feeding inadequate support over two years.
The US Congress is proving itself unequal to the demands of freedom. And this is no mere admonition. It’s easy for all of us to make gestures, wave our hands around and dream up nice sound bites. What really reveals the true personality of a country, as with individuals, is when crisis strikes.
Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, we are in such a time right now. In fact, we are in a predicament of such magnitude that no one with the slightest power of observation can fail to grasp viscerally and with utter clarity the implications of this war for millions of Ukrainians and ultimately the rest of the world. We are finding out what our friends are made of.
As has been said repeatedly for the last two years by countless commentators, journalists, politicians, historians, and lay people, the price of inaction grows each passing day. Ukraine has taken to attacking oil refineries and airfields because it has not been given the material requirements to defend itself. It has no choice but to go after the source of destruction.
It is cowardice for the US to criticize Ukraine for acting in desperate self-defense when its actions are largely the consequence the Western world drip-feeding inadequate support over two years. This lethargy has resulted in Ukraine having to grab every lever available to prevent its own destruction.
And what about Avdiivka and Kharkiv? Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, a city of just under two million people. Every day, the city is shelled and bombed. The Russians are doing to Kharkiv what they did in Avdiivka, what they did in Mariupol.
Yet the US and its allies cannot, for whatever reason, find the means to defend Kharkiv. Patriots could be shipped overnight. Ukraine could be given the material to defend itself. If Kharkiv is made unlivable it will be the graveyard of Western credibility, but also a monument to our cowardice. We have had two years to help Ukraine to defend itself, not least its major cities.
Oh, for a Kennedy, an Eisenhower or a Reagan. Someone who would stir the US to action. A person who would do justice to what America can be. An individual with the moral compass and motor to explain in simple and straightforward terms not just what is on the table, but the fundamentally black and white options for the world and its future.
A leader who would energize that limitless gritty gutsiness that Americans display in the face of adversity when they are led by good people. Some presidents, in their mere charisma and energy, sweep aside all the flotsam of doubt, nay-sayers and those with a penchant for autocrats.
The US has the most powerful military, and it lays claim to be a nation that believes in the defense of democracy and the value of liberty. So, let’s see it.
It’s difficult to make these observations without giving the impression of an arrogant European expectation that the US should come to the rescue. This would be the wrong interpretation. Europe has also been uncoordinated. The Baltic states have been unambiguous in their attempts to wake up and rally European powers. They know what is at stake.
The point is rather that the US has the most powerful military, and it lays claim to be a nation that believes in the defense of democracy and the value of liberty. So, let’s see it.
Calls for support and aid have been going on for months. But now Ukraine’s energy infrastructure is systematically being eradicated, the front is stressed to breaking, Ukraine stands on the brink of calamity. All this is the cause of Western diffidence. But center stage in this debacle is the US’s position in the last half year.
Time is up. The margin for delay has gone. Stoltenberg says Ukraine “simply cannot wait.” That’s always been true. But now it is a truth as hard as steel, a deadline as ominous as the word itself.
One day, this will all be over. And it will be over. And Ukraine will be free. Then we will look back and with that clarity of historical distance, against the skyline, we will see which nations stood solidly against that diorama, like church spires against the sky, unmoved and unmoving. And which countries ran around in a confused blur, not knowing whether they were coming or going.
It’s always been a choice for every country to decide how it will be depicted in that eventual landscape, but we have arrived at the time when the outlines and frame of that panorama are to be fixed for posterity.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.
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Comments (20)
Once again sick man Europe drops the ball and blames the US. The EU has enough military supplies and money to give Ukraine what it needs to stop Russia - why isn't it?
The Republicans in Congress are more than willing to pass a military aid package for Ukraine, they simply want it tied to US border security, which the Democrats are unwilling to do.
Also for the loons with #TDS here's a break down of history for you.
2014 - Obama/Biden - Putin invades Ukraine. Biden is 'point man' for Ukraine. The Obama administration's inaction is shocking.
2017-2021 Trump - Putin does not invade Ukraine. Trump directly orders the US military to kill 100s of Russian soldiers in Syria.
2022 Briben - Putin invades Ukraine after Biden halts a military aid package, clears Ukraine of all US military and government personnel and says - if it's a minor incursion the US will not react.
Welcome to reality.
Good honest article!
Americans have abandoned Ukraine to let Russia kill and destroy the country. Ukraine was sucker by the Americans with the Budapest Memorandum giving up their nuclear weapons was a huge error. This agreement turned out to be a useless piece of paper.
Nations must build their own nuclear weapons as no one will truly assist. Ukraine will never be accepted into NATO, false hope. Hungary nor will the USA will ever agree.
Obama told Ukraine in 2014 not to fight as Russia invaded Crimea. Then Donbass, Ukrainians woke up to the stupid views of the US which if followed ensures Ukraine will be subjugated to Russia.
US has experienced a COUP, an unelected person controls the American government, nothing will be done unless this person agrees. This person is fully aligned with Putin as is the whole GOP. The Putin Party controls a huge part of US governance now.
Putin knew Americans were weak, they love money above all else.
The world is watching the failings of America, the end of 2024 a new insurrection will occur. Civil war is waiting in the wings.
The US refusal to aid Ukraine will go down as 1 of their major disasters in history. With Ukraine part of Russia, Putin will turn to more nations, WW3 is coming, likely already started.
China, Iran, North Korean, Russia the axis of evil is set… will Democracy win? The 1st battle is Ukraine the 2nd battle is US governance – both are on the verge of a complete breakdown!
Cowardice is the correct word!
Definitely some USA cowardice on the Democrat side as illustrated by its hesitancy to send planes and ATACMS in their prior aid packages. Also lethargy or incompetence in getting around putinrumps MRGA's 6 months of stalling of additional US aid to Ukraine.
However it would be so much worse had putinrumps Jan 6 2021 insurrection succeeded. Even as criminal civilian, putinrump still commands his MRGA minions in the GOP to plot treachery for Ukraine. Putinrump wants to stall and even withdraw Ukraine aid and instead have it surrender to putin. He'd like to do the same with NATO members as well.
Equally foul is he aspires to lead the USA to russian level corruption. He constantly lavishes praise on puts and defaces USA democracy. He has zero respect for US electoral process or its legal institutes (given his 4091 lawsuits). He feels like putin he should be held accountable for any crime...even murder. He states he would use any future "dictator" powers Americans might stupidly grant him to seeking revenge on those who feel he should not be above the law.
Russia is ranked in 141st place for for corruption. Ukraine has moved 37 spots up the list since leaving Russia's clutches. The USA is is 113 spots higher then russia. Putin rump aspires to Make America More Russian.
In November Americans get to pick which direction they wish to head on the corruption scale.....putinrump represents the hell bound choice.
The Professor should stick to astrology, numerology, ufos, etc.
I share Professor Cockell's frustration at the lack of action and commitment of the west. It all went wrong at the beginning of the 2022 invasion, when Zelensky asked to join NATO and for western air cover. He was denied, mainly through fear. If the west had provided both then, it would have been a very different story.
Excellent article. The mostly tripe comments FOLLOWING r just that.....
US GOV IS RUN & OWNED BY THE ULTRA WEALTHY.. THE CROWD OF C SUCKERS OBCESSED W "TAX" BREAKS AKA HANDOUNTS TO THE MANSION TRASH. US IN RAPID DECLINE..
VERY RAPID... AND ACCELERATING EFXPOTENIONALLY.
FUCK THE USA AND KICK AMERICAN SCUM OUT OF UKRAINE. INADEQUATE DEBIL COWARDS.
This is about accountability. The West sends in money and weapons and a good percentage is stolen and sold in black markets. If Republicans had not opposed sending more aid unless thieves and traitors were removed from high-ranking positions, all the thievery would have continued to the benefit of old and in-the-making oligarchs. Ukraine is always compared to ruthless Haiti, the European Haiti it is called. Clean your act and stop stealing the aid you are sent and you might see a change in your favor. By the way, keep talking s**t about Trump-o and you might find yourselves totally alone and forgotten. In any case, there is only one conflict that matters to the world and it is the one south of Lebanon. There is no conflict anywhere else, at least one that matters. It is sad, but you need to learn your actual place and importance in the real world.
Governments around the world think the US can no longer be relied upon or trusted to help a friend in need, even after they promised they would.
The end result is every nation will want its own nukes for protection and future arguments between nations will be much more dangerous, any small dispute could lead to the end of the world.
This is a historic leap backwards for civilisation.
I would go a step further. They're the cowardly tool of Putin. They've swallowed whole the Ruzzian narratives and can't see anything else.
2/2
For the long-term aid needed, Ukraine's biggest domestic impediment in America, the pro-Trump, anti-Ukraine members of the House, have one thing in common - their most ardent supporters in votes and financial support are rural farmers, ranchers, and agri-business. 85% of these folks, by far the highest ratio of all American demographics, support Trump and MAGA.
As suggested before, these people's livelihoods and family birthrights are heavily dependent on U.S. government subsidies, as well as trade overseas. President Biden can tie a five-year plan for Ukraine aid to the 2024 U.S. Farm bill, which is also budgeted for five years. Biden should demand that both bills must be on his desk for signature - can't have one without the other.
Ukraine's allies around the world can also send a powerful message to these farmers and ranchers. If no Ukraine aid is forthcoming, we will buy our beef from Argentina, our fruits and vegetables from Mexico, our grain from Canada and Ukraine. If we do buy American agricultural products, it will only be from blue states like California, Washington and New York.
American traits we have all assumed, like generosity, empathy, and love of freedom, seems to be in short supply one one side of their political spectrum. Since moral persuasion is not working on these folks, let the world instead coerce them to do the right thing out of self-interest and financial survival for themselves and their families.
Ukraine supporters on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean need to stop using metaphorical pick-axes to free up the logjam in the U.S. House and instead use (again metaphoric) explosives to free up the flow of military aid for Ukraine. Simple, straightforward solutions are readily available for both immediate needs and the long term.
For immediate relief there are two options. First, Sunday morning's massive drone strike on Israel by Iran is a slap-in-the-face wake up call for U.S. representatives. Israel and Ukraine now are in need of the same lifeline to prevent an existential threat from outside. Tighten the knot of the aid packages for Ukraine and Israel to apply enormous pressure to force passage. If that still doesn't cause Speaker Johnson to call for a vote this week, President Biden must finally give up on bipartisanship and declare Ukrainian and Israel military aid as 'surplus' and unilaterally provide it without Congressional approval.
1/2
As a US citizen I have had the same feeling as you since the beginning when Bumbling Biden said US does not have weapons to spare. If that were true it means US was not prepared for war with either Russia or China and certainly not prepared for war with both. So he was saying he was asleep at the wheel. That was a lie. He does not have weapons for Ukraine but does have weapons for Israel which has been carrying out genocide of Palestinians for over 60 years. (if you think it is not genocide, read the definition).
My entire youth I have observed American hysteria over Russia, but now that this long anticipated danger has become a reality, we have to beg the US to help us out. After 20 years of standing by the US in Afghanistan and Iraq, that is deeply disappointing.
For Europe, the only remedy is to make more weapons ourselves. Not only to give more to Ukraine and to create larger stockpiles, but also to use these weapons without being restricted by the US.
It will come at a cost for US arms producers, but just as Europe needs to liberate itself from being over dependent on Chinese imports, we need to liberate ourselves from being over dependent on US military aid.
@Mouse, As a US citizen I agree 100%, US only fights weak countries.
I'm sensing the author's shared frustration with the fear, hesitancy, inertia, lethargy and lack of creativity of some Ukraine allied leadership. These weak leaders deserve to be called out and embarrassed.
However we must not loose sight of the cause of the war and the intent of those aligned with putin that delay allied nations aid. This war is putins fault. End of story.
The delay in past EU aid package stalling had been Orban's MRGA governements stalling. Fortunately they found a workaround. Some individual EU nations still are subject to their own morally weak leadership dithering though. These should be embarrased or replaced with stronger leadersship as has the Czech Republic done.
The current delay in USA aid is putinrumps MRGA party's stalling in USA House. End of story. However the Biden administration's inability to get around this remains a blemish on its otherwise moral stand to support Ukraine. Putinrump's strong evil leadership deserves a stronger countering good leader....and Biden's response to MRGA stalling is lacking. He says he wants to help, but is not creative / strong enough to make it happen. He should be embarassed. He should cede his party's leadership to someone more capable.
Well said, Mr. Cockell! The US needs to get going, and fast. They are allowing Putin’s MAGA puppets to directly aid Russia.
The House MAGA sabatuers of democracy are the cowards who follow the Mango Mussolini his hero Baron Von Putrid, they are ignorant fools who will soon reside in Hell 😈🔥 seriously I want NATO to destroy Russia completely and render the whole country a graveyard with nothing left but zombies crying in the dark night...
I am so glad I never have to look someone in the eye and ask for help whatsoever. The Lord always provides, the reason Ukraine is where it is today is because we stopped praying for them.
Let's get on our knees and start doing our duty, the Bible tells us we should never rely on another human being, rightly so in this case.
Politics are just the screen these people are hiding behind. Their biggest problem is the love for all things shining.
Eventually that will be taken away from them in any case.
So, as we not the ones in power, let's use the power that the Lord provides to us that believe in Him.
I believe we should not only pray for Ukrainians, but also for the Russians, as they also loosing a lot because of this war, many of them also die because of, in my opinion, not such a noble cause, Let's also pray for all the people who are in the right places, not out of their own achievements, but because God put them there, to at least do their bit to resolve this war once and for all.
May God help us all...
@GML, Gross and disgusting...
@GML, Trol!!
This is a good article by Charles Cockell
bad choice in asking for a Reagan -considering his dealings with Iran and his chaotic withdrawal from Lebanon.. And then there's Eisenhower and the 1956 war in which he stabbed Britain in the back.. Replace both with Truman and maybe George Bush senior. As for your attack on Biden - blame the Republican party not him.. Do you want Trump - Putin's lapdog? Because that's your alternative. In fact, the Republican party has always been the stab-in-the-back party - look back to Nixon and South ~Vietnam - or, as a matter of fact, his dealings in 1968 that prolonged the war. Superficially, your argument makes sense - your veiled attack on the EU and on Biden does not. By the way, you left out Poland in the demand that assistance be given (the same Poland that gives, yet also give in to a Russian influenced minority that is blocking the border)... and yes, the situation is disgusting and Ukraine should be given all that is needed to win this war.