Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) said on “Fox News Sunday” this week that the United States needs to focus on the threat from China, not on supporting Ukraine.
Shannon Bream: The Senate Armed Services Committee released this memo saying this is not just a U.S. issue. The math doesn’t add up, as more than 20 other countries also contributed.
Vance: Yeah. So it’s interesting that the Senate Armed Services Committee memo actually makes my point. Because Russia says it will if European countries ramp up production by the end of 2024 and Russia does not significantly increase production from the current situation. There would still be a 3-1 advantage against the Ukrainians. And again, it’s not now, but by the end of the year. Almost a full year has passed since then. When these people try to refute that argument, they often end up refuting it for me, Shannon.
The argument I’m making is very simple. It’s not that we don’t admire the courage of Ukrainians, we certainly do. It’s that America is stretched too thin. We do not have the industrial capacity to support a war in Ukraine, a war in Israel, and a potential war in East Asia if China invades Taiwan. Therefore, America must choose.
By the way, Shannon, some of the very people who weakened our nation’s weapons manufacturing capabilities by moving American manufacturing overseas to China in the first place are now saying we could be in three wars. The same people that are there. one time. Mathematics is meaningless. We are too thin. I have to concentrate.
And the last thing I would like to point out on this is that if we focus on East Asia and focus on containing China, the Europeans can step up in Europe. Germany still does not spend 2% of its GDP on defense, despite Donald Trump’s demands. Many NATO countries have allowed their own industrial power to wither.
So why are Americans subsidizing European security? We should focus on our own problems, which are mainly China’s problems.
Bream: Well, there are a few things. The memo also quotes the commander of the Indo-Pacific region and says that munitions can be managed in a multi-front fashion that you’re talking about. we can do it. An even more dangerous situation is that Putin will feel like he has won in Ukraine, emboldening Xi in that particular region.
Vance: Well, Shannon, I’m a kid from 2003. I remember when the generals came forward and said that the 2003 war policy was a joke and that everyone’s career was ruined. So I think we as policymakers need to take this seriously and ask ourselves some hard questions. Unfortunately, we have to ask ourselves: Will China be further deterred by us being tough in Europe, or will China be further deterred by us having the weapons it needs to prevent an invasion of Taiwan? be.
My point is that the Chinese are focused on real power. They don’t focus on how harsh people are saying on TV or how determined we are to advocate. They focus on how strong we actually are. And that’s what we have to focus on in order to be strong enough to push back against the Chinese, but we’re past our limits at this point.
Bream: What about the argument that President Putin will cross Ukraine? If he touches NATO territory, we will be obligated and drawn in. So the argument is: invest now, help Ukraine now, and don’t let our military get into an Article 5 situation.
Vance: Yeah. So I understand this argument, Shannon, but unfortunately I don’t think it really passes. So the people who want us to pour unlimited resources into Ukraine want us to believe two things at once.
On the one hand, they want us to believe that Ukrainians are on the verge of victory in Ukraine’s Far East. On the other hand, they want us to believe that President Vladimir Putin is about to march to Paris. You cannot believe these things at the same time, and the fact is that Ukrainians have shown that Putin is much weaker than people feared and, importantly, that the Europeans are willing to go even further. This means that he has shown that he is willing to take on a lot of things. If they are responsible for their own defense, they can deal with Putin. Let’s focus on China.
