With a new Republican-led House on the horizon, there looms an important debate over continued U.S. military assistance to Ukraine. A number of conservative members of Congress, as well as influential outside groups, have announced opposition to further aid.
But to arm a friendly nation to defeat a massive, unprovoked Russian invasion is a quintessentially conservative and Republican thing to do. Ronald Reagan did it to the Soviets in Afghanistan, so bloodying the Red Army that it was finally forced to admit defeat and withdraw.In his 1985 State of the Union address, Reagan articulated what became known as the “Reagan Doctrine.
Of course, the scale and intensity of the war in Ukraine dwarfs the 1980s insurgency in Afghanistan. So too will be the sums needed to defeat Russia this time around. To date, we have supplied approximately $17 billion worth of military equipment, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies. We certainly can afford to do more.
True, the sums are not trivial, but nor are the results. Ukraine has used our equipment and that of our NATO allies to devastating effect. According to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Russia has suffered more than 100,000 casualties so far. That means the death toll inflicted on the invading Russian army during the first nine months of its war in Ukraine is greater than the number of Soviet fatalities during nine years in Afghanistan.
Every $175,000 Javelin or $120,000 Stinger missile that knocks out a multimillion-dollar tank, helicopter, or warplane ultimately translates into a decimated Russian military that is not only incapable of winning in Ukraine, but unable to threaten our NATO allies in Europe conventionally for decades to come. The Ukrainian Defense Ministry claims to have eliminated nearly 3,000 tanks and 6,000 armored vehicles, along with 544 planes and helicopters.
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