Zelensky seeking more aid
A year ago this month, President Volodymyr Zelensky came to Washington. He was seeking additional US aid to help Ukraine fend off Russia’s genocidal aggression.
He addressed a Joint Session of Congress, where members hailed him as a hero. They viewed him as a beacon of democratic resilience. I duly commented on the Churchillian praise they lavished on him.
Yet today, more than half of those members are hailing Zelensky as a zero. This week, he returned to request additional aid. But, far from addressing a Joint Session of Congress, Republicans – who now control Congress – relegated him to a closed-door briefing.
Zelensky’s earnest plea for more aid is colliding with Republican political grandstanding. But nothing betrays how much his beacon has dimmed quite like Republican members making a show of walking out of his briefing. And they were only following the lead of their congressional leader, Speaker Mike Johnson, who refused even to be seen with Zelensky.
President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine hit a brick wall of resistance from congressional Republicans on Tuesday as he made an urgent plea for quick approval of more aid for his country’s war against Russian invaders, an inauspicious start to a day of meetings on Capitol Hill and at the White House. …
They reiterated their stance that they would not agree to any new aid for Ukraine unless President Biden and Democrats bowed to their demands to clamp down on migration at the southern border of the United States.
(The New York Times, December 12, 2023)
The Hypocrisy of Republican holding aid hostage
For Republicans, hypocrisy is a virtue, not a vice. That’s the defining feature of their politics under former President Donald Trump’s leadership.
After all, Republicans denounced their fellow senator, Tommy Tuberville, for using abortion policy to hold up critical military promotions for nearly a year. They decried that Tuberville was jeopardizing national security and making a mockery of the US military.
Yet, these same Republicans are now using border policy to hold up critical aid for Ukraine (and Israel). They are trying to corner Biden into substituting his pro-immigrant policies for former Trump’s anti-immigrant policies.
Sure enough, Biden is so concerned about the battle between autocracies and democracies playing out in Ukraine that he’s bending over backwards to forge a compromise. But he’s finding out what it’s like to negotiate with political terrorists.
These Republican terrorists are willfully undermining peace in Europe and making a mockery of US alliances. Not to mention that, in this case, they are risking Ukrainian lives in their political game of partisan brinkmanship.
Granted, like Tuberville, Republicans will eventually do the right thing, that is, vote to send more aid to Ukraine. Except that the damage done will be immeasurable and generational.
Republicans are executing Russia’s war strategy
The dangerous irony is that Republicans are now singing from Russia’s hymnal. They oppose sending any more aid to Ukraine. Instead, they’re urging Ukraine to cut losses, cede territory, and negotiate a peace deal with Russia.
Of course, this plays right into Russian President Vladimir Putin’s hand. Because he has been betting all along that the US will abandon Ukraine the way it abandoned Afghanistan. But Republicans couldn’t care less about the geopolitical ramifications.
It is also notable that China rallied more support against a UN resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine than the US did against one condemning Israel’s retaliation in Gaza.
Both Russia and Israel have shown nothing but contempt for those resolutions respectively. In short, dysfunction in the US Congress is surpassed only by dysfunction in the UN General.
Trumpism: Only what benefits Trump matters
Republicans are clearly reflecting the fascination their “Dear Leader,” Donald J. Trump, holds for Putin. And, lest we forget, Trump still resents that Zelensky refused his request to dig up dirt on Joe Biden. After all, that refusal formed the factual basis for Trump’s first impeachment.
But Republicans have reduced themselves to a partisan cult that would even see America destroyed just to blame Democrats for the failure. It’s unpatriotic. Sick. But that’s the essence of Trump’s Republican Party: the fate of Ukraine, the strength of the NATO alliance, and even peace in Europe be damned.
Zelensky’s visit to Washington lays bare the intricate and often hypocritical web of international politics. It’s a stark reminder that, despite his best efforts, Biden is still reckoning with Trump’s brand of amoral, transactional politics.
And so the world watches as the future of Ukraine, and indeed international diplomacy, hangs in the balance.