To Save Ukraine, Speaker Johnson must find his inner Charlie Wilson

Tom Hanks plays Charlie Wilson in the movie Charlie Wilson’s War, based on the nonfiction book by George Kreil. Charlie Wilson is a well-connected, hard-drinking, womanizing Democrat from Texas who discovers the key to defeating the Soviet Union after its invasion. and the occupation of Afghanistan during the Cold War.

As depicted in a dramatic manner, movie, Wilson visits a vast and squalid Afghan refugee camp in Pakistan and realizes that the Afghan Mujahideen are fighting a battle between the United States and the Soviet Union. With the help of a rich and beautiful Texas woman (Julia Roberts), Charlie appropriates funds to equip the Mujahideen with sophisticated weapons, allowing them to shoot down Soviet helicopters and blow up Soviet tanks. use.

Soviet troops were forced to make a humiliating withdrawal from Afghanistan, and two years later, with the end of the Cold War, the Soviet Union collapsed. It might seem like a Cold War fairy tale, except it actually happened.

If the Ukraine-Israel military aid package passes the Senate; probably, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) will have to make a tough choice. He could become Charlie Wilson if he allows the aid package to move forward to a vote in the House. The aid package should pass in the House of Representatives, and the fight for Ukraine should continue. Alternatively, he could refuse a floor vote, in which case President Vladimir Putin could name him as a final candidate. Hero of the Russian Federation.

Withholding U.S. military aid would give Putin a geopolitical victory in his lifetime.This is how he succeeded conquest The collapse of Ukraine would undermine America’s core security interests. One Republican lawmaker said, “We cannot condone President Vladimir Putin’s actions.” march We understand the need to help through Europe. ”

In fact, that’s what Johnson himself said just a few months ago. He also emphasized the need for changes in border policy, but then declared the bipartisan Senate border proposal:Dead on arrival” Senator Lindsey Graham (RS.C.) was praised The proposal offers “real change” to reduce illegal border crossings.

Mr. Johnson has made it clear that he understands Ukraine’s interests, but he will be at odds with Donald Trump and a small number of extreme Republicans who have vowed to make Mr. Johnson the former speaker of the House of Representatives if they allow a floor vote on aid to Ukraine. I am afraid.

Johnson should sit down and watch “Charlie Wilson’s War” or read Kreil’s book. They tell the moving story of how one lawmaker became a legend and changed history.

In the film, after returning from a refugee camp in Afghanistan, Wilson tells a CIA officer (Philip Seymour Hoffman) that he saw children who had their hands blown off because they “tried to pick up something shiny” and that it was the Russians. He said it was a disguised landmine. As a toy. “They are raping women. bayonet stab pregnant people. ” Charlie Wilson understood the moral and geopolitical stakes in Afghanistan.

Not much has changed since Wilson’s time.Today the Russians are shelling Ukrainians maternity He raped Ukrainian women and kidnapped Ukrainian children.

The Soviet Union sought global dominance and weakened America’s power.Russia, as part of an unofficial alliance We are asking China and Iran to do the same.

The real-life Charlie Wilson said that Afghanistan is “the only place in the world where the forces of freedom are killing Russian soldiers.”Democratic Ukraine’s military has suffered deaths and injuries so far. 300,000 Russian soldiers fought without losing a single American soldier.

There are other ways to look at the choices facing Johnson. Churchill’s prophetic condemnation of the British government’s fanatical appeasement of Nazi Germany in the 1930s could apply to Johnson if he blocks aid to Ukraine and Putin “marches across Europe” There are enough. “Is it war for you or dishonor. There will be war because you chose dishonor. ”

Gregory J. Wallance He was a federal prosecutor in the Carter and Reagan administrations and a member of the ABSCAM prosecution team that convicted a U.S. senator and six members of Congress on bribery charges. his book, To Siberia: George Kennan’s epic journey through Russia’s cruel and frozen heart, Just published by St. Martin’s Press. Follow @GregoryWallance.