Championing The Principles of Liberty

We’re thrilled to share some fantastic news! We have secured $10,000 in matching funds, offering a unique opportunity for our supporters to double their impact. Donate Today!

$14,344 of $60,000 raised

Sen. Cruz, Gen. Milley, Zelensky Say Ukraine Is Vital to National Security

by | May 23, 2022

Sen. Cruz, Gen. Milley, Zelensky Say Ukraine Is Vital to National Security

by | May 23, 2022

cruzzelmilley

As the costs of supporting Ukraine’s war effort soar well beyond $50 billion, high-level officials are seeking to sell Americans on even more military spending, with senators, generals and the Ukrainian president himself each insisting aid to Kiev is vital to American interests, amid rampant inflation, mounting shortages and monumental public debt in the US. 

In a statement justifying a recent vote to send another $40 billion in assistance to Ukraine, Republican Senator Ted Cruz argued the move was essential not only for the security of the US, but to ward off a Chinese attack on Taiwan as well. 

“If Putin wins in Ukraine, it will confirm for Xi that he can confidently invade Taiwan,” he said, referring to the Russian and Chinese heads of state. 

“The reason we should support our Ukrainian allies is because it protects American national security, it keeps America safer, and it prevents our enemies from getting stronger, from threatening the safety and security of Americans, and from driving up the cost, the economic damage, to Americans,” Cruz added.

Following repeated appeals for additional Western arms, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is now warning that American troops may have to face down the Russians if they are not stopped in Ukraine, adopting a version of the ‘fight them over there…’ slogan popular during the US War on Terror. 

“If we fall, if we don’t hold the line, Russia will proceed, attacking the Baltic states – Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia…The US military will have to go to Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, according to the fifth article, and they will have to fight there and die there,” he said in an interview with Axios on Monday, citing NATO’s Article 5 collective defense provision. 

During his West Point commencement speech over the weekend, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley echoed similar sentiments regarding Ukraine, all while predicting that future wars would be fought against ‘great powers’ like Russia and China. 

In a further callback to the Cold War, the top US military officer asserted that such powers would only be encouraged if acts of “aggression” are not met with a serious response. 

“Yet again in Ukraine, we are learning the lesson that aggression left unanswered only emboldens the aggressor,” he said.

The three statements somewhat resemble the Cold War-era ‘domino theory,’ which contended that the presence of Communism in one country would quickly spread into neighboring states – a key public rationale behind US intervention in Vietnam. However, former Defense Secretary Robert McNamara acknowledged in 1995 that the theory did not play out as predicted, stating, “I think we were wrong. I do not believe that Vietnam was that important to the Communists. I don’t believe that its loss would have led – it didn’t lead – to Communist control of Asia.”

Updated with contributions from Will Porter.

About Kyle Anzalone and Will Porter

Kyle Anzalone is the opinion editor of Antiwar.com and news editor of the Libertarian Institute. Will Porter is the assistant news editor of the Libertarian Institute and a staff writer and editor at RT. Kyle Anzalone and Will Porter host Conflicts of Interest along with Connor Freeman.

Our Books

10books 2023facebookcoverphoto 02

Related Articles

Related

News Roundup 12/6/2023

News Roundup 12/6/2023

US News Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin has hit out at Americans who prefer a less interventionist foreign policy, smearing them as isolationists who want to see the US “retreat from responsibility.” AWC Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has scheduled a...

read more
News Roundup 12/6/2023

News Roundup 11/30/2023

US News Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) vowed in a letter to his colleagues to bring a bill to the Senate floor as soon as December 4 to fund military aid for Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. President Biden has requested the funding as part of a massive $105...

read more
News Roundup 12/6/2023

News Roundup 11/27/2023

US News The Senate Plans to Hold a Vote on Ukraine and Israel Aid as Early as Next Week. Politico Russia David Arakhamia, a high-ranking member of Volodymyr Zelensky’s Servant of the People political party, said that Kyiv could have ended the war with Russia after a...

read more
News Roundup 12/6/2023

News Roundup 11/24/2023

Russia 45% of Americans Say the US Is Spending Too Much in Ukraine. Chicago Tribune  Turkey Says Sweden Will Not Be Admitted Into NATO Before Next Week's Summit. Reuters Newsweek reports that the US may send Ukraine a modified HIMARS launcher capable of firing...

read more
News Roundup 12/6/2023

News Roundup 11/22/2023

Ukraine The White House Announces New $100 Million Weapons Package for Ukraine. Press Release AWC Berlin has pledged to send Kiev $1.4 billion in weapons to aid its war against Russia. The announcement of the German arms package comes as the White House is nearing...

read more
News Roundup 12/6/2023

News Roundup 11/20/2023

US News The House Intelligence Committee says the FBI should be required under the law to obtain a “probable cause warrant” before searching the foreign intelligence surveillance program database for information related to domestic crimes. Wire The Senate on Thursday...

read more

Pin It on Pinterest

Share This