UPDATED: The most important front in the Ukraine war is America, not the Donbas
jamesrowles.substack.com
UPDATE: Donald Trump suggests he would give the Crimea to Vladimir Putin
Donald Trump has suggested he would have given the Crimea to Vladimir Putin if he had been President. Particularly when read in the context of his previous statements,1 his recent comments suggest this is the case.
Donald Trump indicated that he may have “made a deal” allowing Russia to take over parts of Ukraine to end the war if he were president at the time of the invasion.
Mr Trump said it would have been an “at worst” scenario, and would not have happened because Putin would not have dared invade Ukraine at all if he had been in the White House.
The former president told Sean Hannity’s radio show: “Don’t forget, under Bush they take over Georgia, under Obama they took over Crimea. And, under Biden, they’re taking over everything. It looks like they’re going to take over everything, the whole thing, they’re going to go for the whole enchilada, they’re going for everything, that’s what it looks like to me.
“And, under Trump, you know what they took over? They took nothing, Russia. First time, first president in a long time. He [Putin] understood. He would have never done it.”
Mr Trump added: “That’s without even negotiating a deal. I could have negotiated. At worst, I could have made a deal to take over something, you know, there are certain areas that are Russian speaking areas, right, like, but you could have worked a deal. And now Ukraine is just being blown to smithereens.”
…
Mr Trump has also said that he could end the current war in “no longer than one day” if he was in the White House.
Update No. 2 (March 14, 2023)
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has issued a statement read on Tucker Carlson’s FOX TV program last night stating he did not think Ukraine was a vital national security interest for the U.S.3
He wrote in his written answer to Tucker Carlson’s questionnaire regarding the war the following:
“While the U.S. has many vital national interests – securing our borders, addressing the crisis of readiness within our military, achieving energy security and independence, and checking the economic, cultural, and military power of the Chinese Communist Party – becoming further entangled in a territorial dispute between Ukraine and Russia is not one of them. The Biden administration’s virtual “blank check” funding of this conflict for “as long as it takes,” without any defined objectives or accountability, distracts from our country’s most pressing challenges.
Without question, peace should be the objective. The U.S. should not provide assistance that could require the deployment of American troops or enable Ukraine to engage in offensive operations beyond its borders. F-16s and long-range missiles should therefore be off the table. These moves would risk explicitly drawing the United States into the conflict and drawing us closer to a hot war between the world’s two largest nuclear powers. That risk is unacceptable.
A policy of “regime change” in Russia (no doubt popular among the DC foreign policy interventionists) would greatly increase the stakes of the conflict, making the use of nuclear weapons more likely. Such a policy would neither stop the death and destruction of the war, nor produce a pro-American, Madisonian constitutionalist in the Kremlin. History indicates that Putin’s successor, in this hypothetical, would likely be even more ruthless. The costs to achieve such a dubious outcome could become astronomical.
The Biden administration’s policies have driven Russia into a de facto alliance with China. Because China has not and will not abide by the embargo, Russia has increased its foreign revenues while China benefits from cheaper fuel. Coupled with his intentional depletion of the Strategic Petroleum Reserve and support for the Left’s Green New Deal, Biden has further empowered Russia’s energy-dominated economy and Putin’s war machine at Americans’ expense.
Our citizens are also entitled to know how the billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars are being utilized in Ukraine.
We cannot prioritize intervention in an escalating foreign war over the defense of our own homeland, especially as tens of thousands of Americans are dying every year from narcotics smuggled across our open border and our weapons arsenals critical for our own security are rapidly being depleted."
Clemens Wergin of Die Welt has provided a quick and cogent analysis from a European perspective.4
With this statement, DeSantis seems to have disqualified himself from being elected president in 2024. He may win the base of the GOP, but he is not likely to win the general election. But the risk is there. Donald Trump was not viewed as likely to become president in March of 2016.
In any event, DeSantis has done us all a big favor. We can all now see, beyond any doubt, that the GOP may become if it is not already is the Party of Appeasement of Putin. The PAP.
REPRISE from Trenchant Observations, July 7, 2022
Originally from The Trenchant Observer, July 5, 2022
The most important front in the Ukraine war is America, not the Donbas.
Indeed, the struggle to uphold the rule of law in the United States is intricately related to the battle to defend Ukraine, the U.N. Charter, and our civilization.
For if a friend of Putin and insurrectionist like Donald Trump or one of his acolytes were to be elected in 2024, it could mean the end of U.S. leadership of the coalition opposing Putin, a collapse or great weakening of military and other support for Ukraine, and a lifting or great relaxation of sanctions against Russia.
The fact that America is the most important front in the war in Ukraine opens up a range of possibilities for those who want to do something concrete, today, to help Ukraine.
The significance of the war extends far beond the borders of that country. For the battle is to save not only Ukraine but also the U.N. Charter and international law, and ultimately our civilization.
Individuals may help Ukraine by engaging in the struggle on the American front in the war, working to elect candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives who will support continued strong leadership by the United States of the international coalition opposed to Russian aggression and atrocities in Ukraine.
In this struggle on the American front in the Ukrainian war, there are many actions individual Americans can take, today.
This battle may be more important even than the battle now raging in the Donbas in which heroic Ukrainian soldiers are fighting and dying to defend their country, and our civilization.
Patrick Allen, ”Donald Trump:’ I’d have let Putin annex part of Ukraine to end the war,’; Former US president says Russia ‘would have never’ invaded if he were still in power, but also claims he may have ‘made a deal’ if necessary,” The Telegraph, March 9, 2023 (7:42 pm);
See also,
(1) Jeremy Cliffe, “Nato’s “comeback” pivots on America’s troubled politics; Ambitious agreements made at the Madrid summit belie the danger of a second Trump term,” The New Statesman, July 2, 2022; and
2) “Ukraine War, May 10, 2022 (I): Reflections on the Biden Paradox–Fighting Russian fascism in Ukraine, but not fighting American fascism in the United States,” The Trenchant Observer, May 10, 2022;
***
Support the Author
There are two ways to support the author, so that he can continue to publish articles and books dealing with the war in Ukraine and other pressing international issues, including articles published here in the Trenchant Observations Newsletter and in The Trenchant Observer blog.
First, you may make a contribution to his Go Fund Me appeal by clicking on the last button and link below.
Second, you may order a paid subscription or upgrade to a Founding Member subscription to Trenchant Observations, by clicking on the “Subscribe” button below. (Substack takes 10% of the subscription amount.)
Finally, to help build the audience for Trenchant Observations, you can share aricles you like with your friends and colleagues, by clicking on the “Share” button.
See also “Why I care about the war in Ukraine,” Trenchant Observations, June 26, 2023,
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UPDATED: The most important front in the Ukraine war is America, not the Donbas
UPDATED: The most important front in the Ukraine war is America, not the Donbas
UPDATED: The most important front in the Ukraine war is America, not the Donbas
UPDATE: Donald Trump suggests he would give the Crimea to Vladimir Putin
Donald Trump has suggested he would have given the Crimea to Vladimir Putin if he had been President. Particularly when read in the context of his previous statements,1 his recent comments suggest this is the case.
Patrick Allen of the Telegraph reports:2
Update No. 2 (March 14, 2023)
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has issued a statement read on Tucker Carlson’s FOX TV program last night stating he did not think Ukraine was a vital national security interest for the U.S.3
He wrote in his written answer to Tucker Carlson’s questionnaire regarding the war the following:
Clemens Wergin of Die Welt has provided a quick and cogent analysis from a European perspective.4
With this statement, DeSantis seems to have disqualified himself from being elected president in 2024. He may win the base of the GOP, but he is not likely to win the general election. But the risk is there. Donald Trump was not viewed as likely to become president in March of 2016.
In any event, DeSantis has done us all a big favor. We can all now see, beyond any doubt, that the GOP may become if it is not already is the Party of Appeasement of Putin. The PAP.
REPRISE from Trenchant Observations, July 7, 2022
Originally from The Trenchant Observer, July 5, 2022
The most important front in the Ukraine war is America, not the Donbas.
Indeed, the struggle to uphold the rule of law in the United States is intricately related to the battle to defend Ukraine, the U.N. Charter, and our civilization.
For if a friend of Putin and insurrectionist like Donald Trump or one of his acolytes were to be elected in 2024, it could mean the end of U.S. leadership of the coalition opposing Putin, a collapse or great weakening of military and other support for Ukraine, and a lifting or great relaxation of sanctions against Russia.
The fact that America is the most important front in the war in Ukraine opens up a range of possibilities for those who want to do something concrete, today, to help Ukraine.
The significance of the war extends far beond the borders of that country. For the battle is to save not only Ukraine but also the U.N. Charter and international law, and ultimately our civilization.
Individuals may help Ukraine by engaging in the struggle on the American front in the war, working to elect candidates for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives who will support continued strong leadership by the United States of the international coalition opposed to Russian aggression and atrocities in Ukraine.
In this struggle on the American front in the Ukrainian war, there are many actions individual Americans can take, today.
This battle may be more important even than the battle now raging in the Donbas in which heroic Ukrainian soldiers are fighting and dying to defend their country, and our civilization.
See, e.g., Ewan Palmer, “Trump Says Ukraine Should Have Done Deal With Putin,” Newsweek, August 1, 2022 (4:30 a.m. EDT),
See,
Patrick Allen, ”Donald Trump:’ I’d have let Putin annex part of Ukraine to end the war,’; Former US president says Russia ‘would have never’ invaded if he were still in power, but also claims he may have ‘made a deal’ if necessary,” The Telegraph, March 9, 2023 (7:42 pm);
See also,
(1) Jeremy Cliffe, “Nato’s “comeback” pivots on America’s troubled politics; Ambitious agreements made at the Madrid summit belie the danger of a second Trump term,” The New Statesman, July 2, 2022; and
2) “Ukraine War, May 10, 2022 (I): Reflections on the Biden Paradox–Fighting Russian fascism in Ukraine, but not fighting American fascism in the United States,” The Trenchant Observer, May 10, 2022;
***
Support the Author
There are two ways to support the author, so that he can continue to publish articles and books dealing with the war in Ukraine and other pressing international issues, including articles published here in the Trenchant Observations Newsletter and in The Trenchant Observer blog.
First, you may make a contribution to his Go Fund Me appeal by clicking on the last button and link below.
Second, you may order a paid subscription or upgrade to a Founding Member subscription to Trenchant Observations, by clicking on the “Subscribe” button below. (Substack takes 10% of the subscription amount.)
Finally, to help build the audience for Trenchant Observations, you can share aricles you like with your friends and colleagues, by clicking on the “Share” button.
Trenchant Observations is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Thank you for reading Trenchant Observations. This post is public so feel free to share it.
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1) Clemens Wergin, “‘Gehört nicht dazu’ – Der Mann, der die Ukraine schockt,” Die Welt, den 14. März 2023 (16:45 Uhr).