The fact that the party of Barry Goldwater intends to let Vladimir Putin concur Ukraine over “Chump Change”utterly appalls me — and I hope you too. Why has Ukraine cost so much? Why hasn’t Ukraine won by now? Joe Biden! But that will have to await another post. The current post is about isolationist Republicans.
Ukraine is showing the world how things might have gone had Czechoslovakia told Neville Chamberlain where to stuff his appeasement policy, embodied in the notorious Munich Agreement. Had the Czechs put up the fight that the Ukrainians have since 2022, Hitler’s government might have fallen. Alternately, Hitler might have postponed his invasion of Poland. Briefly, invading Czechoslovakia would have cost Hitler many more losses than he expected. His attack would have gone through fortified, and apparently rugged, mountains not through the relatively open tank-country of Western Poland—now Eastern Poland. Of course, the Czechs would have probably fought alone; just as Ukraine fought alone from 2014 through much of the spring of 2022.
Isolationism
Pearl Harbor utterly discredited isolationism. During the 1930s isolationist Republicans ignored the “Gathering Storms” in Europe and Asia. They opposed enlarging the Navy and the armed forces generally. “America has 3,000 miles of ocean between us and Europe. We have 6,000 miles of ocean between us and Japan. We don’t need to waste money on ships, planes, and soldiers.” On December 7 1941, they learned just how little those oceans protected us!
From Pearl Harbor until last year, Isolationism was safely tucked away on the Ash Heap of History. Over the last year or two, Republican “Budget Hawks” have resurrected Isolationism, saying that the United States cannot afford to assist Ukraine. That stance is incredibly short-sighted. To quote a European analyst heard on Youtube, “It is much cheaper to deter a war than to win a war. (And we haven’t even started count’n the bodies yet!—DJ)
Appeasement
Putin initially justified invading Ukraine to rescue ethnic Russians whom he claimed Ukraine was mistreating. Hitler used exactly the same reason—about German speakers—when demanding that Czechoslovakia cede the Sudetenland to Germany. Putin rapidly added “de-De-Nazification” and then NATO to his ever-growing list of justifications as each argument failed to convince other nations. The Munich agreement was among the last times Britain and France backed down from a provocation by Hitler. Each time that the allies caved-in, Hitler’s appetite for conquest grew! When Hitler invaded Poland, the world learned the futility of appeasement—at least until now; or so it would seem. The same holds today. Selling out Ukraine will lead to more than Putin threatening other nations. It will encourage Communist China to follow through on its threats to invade Taiwan.
Chump Change?
Total aid to Ukraine through October 31, 2023, was a nominal $75.4 Billion: or roughly $2.3 Billion per month. The Fiscal Year 2023 Federal Budget was roughly 6,350 billion dollars; or 512 billion per month! I do not believe the Fiscal Year 2022 budget was materially less. For now, let’s assume the total Federal Budget for the two years was a mere 12,300 billion dollars. Given the total Federal Budget, the paltry the $75.4 billion, $2.3 billion per month, of Ukraine aid, truly is “Chump Change”.
Keep in mind that a huge proportion of the “funds” sent to Ukraine were nominal dollars consisting of the book values of retired equipment the United States military no longer uses. Weapons and vehicles the Federal Government pays to store as a reserve, for military sales to allies, and for aid to nations such as Ukraine.
Surely, the “Munich Republicans” can find $2.3 billion out of $512 billion we spend each month to help Ukraine. During the week beginning March 10, 2024, the news reported something like 6,000 earmarks in the upcoming Federal Budget! More importantly President Biden pumped out an extra 3.5 Trillion dollars in pork his first year in office. I’m sure some of that spending has gotten “carved in stone” as a permanent part of the Federal Budget. The Munich Republicans should look for for budget cuts among things such as pork and needless programs. Military assistance to Ukraine is cheaper than fighting a war when Putin eventually invades Poland or Rumania.
What about Border Spending?
When the Munich Republicans got little support for their “Chump Change” argument, they switched to the Border as an excuse for their short-sighted campaign against Ukraine aid. They know, or should know, that Biden will break any border agreement he makes. While critically important, Border control is unachievable under any President who wants an open border. Remember DACA, or Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. President Obama defied the law and setup a bureaucracy to administer a program that violated immigration law. Republican George Walker Bush defied the law requiring him to build a 2,000 mile wall to allow a free flow of illegal immigrants across the border. The Bush Administration slowly built at best about five hundred miles of the 2000-mile wall the law mandated.
The new interest in Border Security by the Munich Republicans is simply a smokescreen to cover their rush to embrace the Isolationism that led to Pearl Harbor.
What are nominal dollars?
A huge chunk of weapons the United States sent to Ukraine were obsolescent, obsolete, or otherwise retired. Consider M-109 Paladin Self-propelled howitzers and M1A1 Tanks. Our armed forces use newer versions of the M1 tank and the Paladins sent to Ukraine. The United States Army has just over 2000 M1 tanks deployed and roughly 2900 in storage. The 31 M1 tanks we sent to Ukraine were long since retired M1A1s.
Enabling Ukraine to visit a humiliating defeat on Russia is the best way to deter further adventurism in Europe and Asia,
Munich Republicans need to learn the lesson that the Second World War taught their 1930s predecessors before Europe and Asia boil over.
