(Note. After Russia's invasion of Ukraine three years ago, in February, 2022, I did a 4 part post simply titled "Ukraine." The first 2 parts were "My Take," Part III was "A Reply To Some Of The Comments I Received," and Part IV was "Some Comments By The Media." It was not the first time Russia invaded Ukraine - recall their invasion of the Crimea and eastern Ukraine in 2014. Now, we have a war of words between President Trump and President Zelenskyy that I'm trying to understand. Plus, my concern about some of the things Trump is saying.)
Douglas Murray had an interesting Op-Ed in the 2/20/25 New York Post, the conservative New York paper. Murray is a Senior Fellow at the conservative Manhattan Institute. His article discusses "10 Ukraine-Russia war truths we ignore at our peril." Lets take a look.
Trump: "You've (Ukraine/Zelenskyy) been there for three years, you should have ended it three years - you should have never started it, you could have made a deal." No, Russia - unprovoked - invaded Ukraine in February, 2022. Ukraine did not start this war. No deal could be made with Russia. Russia has one goal in mind - Putin has even said so - the return of the USSR. When the former Soviet Republics gained independence, Putin called it the worst catastrophe of the 20th century. Ukraine also has one goal - it's survival as a free and independent country.
Trump referred to Zelenskyy as "a dictator without elections, Zelenskyy better move fast or he is not going to have a country left." Zelenskyy is not a dictator. Yes, elections were due to be held again last year, but with the country at war, and under martial law, the Ukrainian constitution allows for postponing elections. As the WSJ pointed out, Churchill also postponed elections when England was fighting for its survival against Germany.
Trump: "...I hate to say it, but he's (Zelenskyy) down at 4% approval rating." No, he's not. The poll results I've seen have Zelenskyy's approval rating at either 52% or 57%. And let's not forget one very important fact. Ukraine is a friend of the United States. Russia is a sworn enemy, making pacts with other enemies of the US, such as China and Iran. Whatever Putin says or swears to cannot ever be trusted. He lies. He has had political opponents killed, or exiled to Siberia.
Putin says he will not agree to any peace deal unless there are new elections in Ukraine. Why does he care about that? Putin has held office as either President or Prime Minister since 1999. So, let's not pretend that Putin has some interest in democracy. No, I believe Putin sees a way to get a "puppet" of his elected, just as has done with Belarus. And credit to the Ukrainian people for holding off the Russian military for 3 years now. During that time, the Russian military has been degraded, which is a benefit to the USA and the Western world.
Trump claims the US "has spent $200 billion dollars more than Europe, and Europe's money is guaranteed, while the United States will get nothing back." According to Murray, the US has spent $183 billion in aid to Ukraine. But $58 billion of that is money spent here in the USA in American industry. It is akin to the many Congressional authorizations of money for Israel, often requiring Israel to spend that money here in the US by purchasing US manufactured planes and armaments.
In their 2/18/25 editorial, the New York Post said that Trump wants Ukraine to sign over half of that country's revenue from natural resources, ports and infrastructure indefinitely. As a payback to the US. But that would be billions of dollars more than the US has spent. Said the Post: "it's a demand that a victor might make of a country that started and lost a war, to teach a lesson."
So, what gives with all these comments from Trump? That's Part VI.
No comments:
Post a Comment