ANALYSIS – The unprecedented NATO proxy war against Russia in Ukraine is necessary and strategically important. Despite some overall quibbling, and German weakness, the West has come together to stop naked aggression in Europe.
And that is a good thing for all the aggressors and rogue regimes of the world to see.
The West should show the same resolve in any potential Chinese attempt to strike Taiwan.
But there needs to be a division of labor.
This is why Europe must fully take the lead in facing Russia in Ukraine to allow the U.S. to lead in facing China.
While I may have questioned, and continue to question, many decisions by Joe Biden in this war, I have strongly supported the U.S. backing of Ukraine as it defends itself against the unjustified Russian invasion that has caused untold misery, destruction and death.
More recently, I have argued that a total Russian defeat or severe weakening of Russia would only benefit China, but this means we must weigh our end-game goals; it doesn't mean we should allow Russia to succeed.
Until Russia sees a negotiated solution is in its best interest, the fight must continue.
To that end, the U.S. has already shown incredible leadership and served to a large degree as the ‘arsenal of democracy.'
The Europeans have also, to varying degrees, coalesced around the need to back Ukraine, and, again, with the sad exception of Germany, most have overcome any initial hesitation over cutoffs of Russian gas supplies or fear of ‘escalation' to come to Ukraine's aid.
Some Europeans are ramping up that aid significantly.
But the U.S. remains the go-to guy for helping Ukraine, as the more than $30 billion we have spent on security assistance to Ukraine clearly shows.
Some estimate the U.S. aid to Ukraine so far has topped a whopping $50 billion. And as part of that assistance, some U.S. military stocks and munitions have become seriously depleted.
This needs to change.
Fortunately, this may have begun to change.
With a recent €18 billion (nearly U.S. $20 billion) commitment, the European Union and its member states have now become larger funders of Ukraine, having lagged behind the United States for much of 2022.
But compared to the U.S., the EU has contributed significantly more financial humanitarian aid and less in military support.
That also needs to change.
The recent discussions and plans to supply Leopard 2 tanks from Polish stocks, European armored fighting vehicles and additional British military hardware, as well as plans to even provide European F-16 jet fighters and other major military weapons systems, are all good moves in the right direction.
But Europe needs to do much more, and the U.S. needs to do significantly less.
This will allow the U.S. to play a strong supporting role in defending Ukraine against Russia in Europe (where Europe has the most to lose and is best positioned to lead), while the U.S. can lead in facing China (where the U.S. has the most to lose and is the only one to truly lead).
Meanwhile, the U.S. must keep pushing Europe to see the China threat as a global danger that will require a strong European commitment to help the U.S. contain it.
And if (or, more likely, when) China does try to strike Taiwan, Europe should back the U.S. there just as strongly as the U.S. has done with Europe in Ukraine.
In the meantime, Europe must lead in countering Russia so the U.S. can lead in countering China.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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OK EU get your own Defense Forces organized
EUDF
Great Article.
Do you subcontract the writing of your articles to the Kremlin’s Office of Propaganda? The opening sentence gives that away, by referring to Russia’s illegal, brutal, barbaric, genocidal war against Ukraine as “NATO’s proxy war against Russia”! Need I remind “American Liberty” that this war was initiated SOLELY by Russia, in flagrant violation of the Budapest Memorandum in which Russia pledged to protect Ukraine’s “territorial integrity.”
NATO only got involved after the fact as a supplier of arms and advice in order to help Ukraine resist the Russian onslaught. Notably, the US, the UK and France are also parties to the Budapest Memorandum, and therefore also have the duty to assist Ukraine from the war criminals in the Kremlin.
While European nations in general, and in particular Germany, can and should do much more, Poland and the Baltic States have contributed more to Ukraine’s defense as a percentage of their GDPs than the US has.
In addition, while the cost of US aid to Ukraine may seem substantial at first blush, it is a tiny fraction of what the US spent in Afghanistan and Iraq in causes that were not supported by the local populations to anything resembling the degree of dedication exhibited by the Ukrainians in defense of their homeland and indeed their existence as a people.
Hear Hear, John. Although your quibble that the description “NATO’s proxy war with Russia” is confusing to me. The Russian Invasion is also “brutal, genocidal and barbaric” as well, so what’s the quibble as to whether they are one-and-the-same? I don’t see the Kremlin’s Office of Propaganda in play here, but very much so in the American press.
Quite right, Crespo. The Europeans need to step up their game in Europe to stop the Russians and encourage them to withdraw. The Ruskies also need to realize the REAL danger to Russia aren’t Ukrainians, but from Chinese hordes invading across their common border with China as Russia is weakened from the fight within Europe. Those Siberian oil fields and other natural resources are what the Chinese truly covet. A world alliance with Russia, Europe, and America against the Chinese makes much more sense. The Chinese have few natural resources to sustain their future empire except for mountains of coal.