Commentary: Big Tent Ideas

RASHEED WALTERS: Yes, The Ukraine War Is A Territorial Dispute

No featured image available

The war between Russia and Ukraine has not only raged on for over a year but has completely geopolitically disturbed the rest of the world. Yes, President Vladmir Putin’s ruthless invasion was wrong, but the continuous pointing of fingers and condemnation of Putin, along with questioning the patriotism of Americans who criticize this pointless war, gets us nowhere.

Condemnation of the Biden administration’s incompetence that allowed this war to happen is virtually nonexistent. Everybody instead clamors over President Biden’s bravery during a fake air raid alarm during his recent visit to Kyiv, Ukraine a visit the United States alerted Russia about three hours before it happened. Condemnation of the NATO nations, who in 2018 paid only 1.47% of GDP on defense while the U.S. paid 3.5%, and who proudly financed the Russian military industrial complex through their reliance on Russian energy, is also nonexistent. It takes a village; Putin, Biden, and NATO are all responsible for this catastrophic war.

The Ukrainian war is a Slavic disagreement about borders that has absolutely nothing to do with the United States of America. But a Slavic civil war is now an American problem because of the Biden administration’s America Last foreign policy and the establishment neocons and globalists from both parties in Congress. A very expensive American problem at that; over $100 billion in military and financial aid has been sent to Ukraine. All while the United States is suffering historically high inflation and is on the verge of an economic depression way worse than the Great Depression of 1930.

How do we even know the money is not landing in corrupted pockets? We don’t, according to John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction: “When you spend so much money so quickly, with so little oversight, you’re going to have fraud, waste and abuse.” Ukraine has a notorious reputation for corruption; Transparency International scored Ukraine 32 out of a possible 100 in January 2022, placing it 123rd out of 180 nations studied.

We spent $146 billion over a 20-year period in Afghanistan, whereas in Ukraine, we spent more than $100 billion in a single year, with abysmal oversight. Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky is very pleased with this financial support. Sadly, any talks of peace are very offensive to members of the Ukrainian government. Ukraine’s Ambassador to Germany, Andrij Melnyk, told Elon Musk, who graciously donated Starlink satellites costing upwards of almost $100 million dollars, to “f**k off” when Musk advocated for peace between Russia and Ukraine.  I wonder what the Ukrainian government will say when Uncle Sam cuts off the war welfare spigot? Instead of attempting to put an end to a war that is forcing millions of people to flee their homes and leaving tens of thousands of Ukrainians dead, Zelensky is currently planning a “new offensive,” and taking back Crimea.

The victim is now the new aggressor. A Ukrainian offensive would be suicidal for the entire country since Russia will retaliate with nuclear weapons. Thus, Zelensky’s insanity can only be stopped if funding for Ukraine is cut off. Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has rejected Zelensky’s invitation to visit Kyiv and is opposed to writing any more blank checks to Ukraine.

Many criticize McCarthy’s stance, claiming that it only benefits Russia and that we must beat Russia. In actuality, Russia has already won the war, reduced its reliance on the West, and formed an alliance with China and Iran against the United States of America.

If the United States is not willing to be a peace broker between Russia and Ukraine, it should not be involved at all. Financial aid to Ukraine must not only end, but also be paid back.

Rasheed Walters is an entrepreneur, political commentator and historian who resides in Boston. Follow him on Twitter @rasheednwalters.

The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.