Washington DC chooses war. And for now, leaders in Washington have determined that the United States has a vested interest in the Ukraine war.
After months of confusion, lawmakers finally approved paying $62 billion to Ukraine to fight Russia in recent weeks, with most Democrats supporting U.S. aid.
But Congress removed the funding only after prolonged pressure from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.). President Biden, McConnell and others ultimately urged House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) to support the aid, despite opposition from most House Republicans. The Senate approved the combined foreign aid package a few days later by a vote of 79-18. Only 31 of the 49 Senate Republicans voted in favor.
That package included funding for Israel, another conflict that the United States injected itself into, thanks to a bipartisan vote of lawmakers.
The House of Commons effectively functions as a parliament, with Mike Johnson as ‘Prime Minister’.
Ukraine Vice President Kamala Harris (left) raising a Ukrainian flag presented by President Zelensky and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (California) address the U.S. Congress at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC, on December 21, 2022. President Volodymyr Zelensky. (Mandel Gunn/AFP via Getty Images)
The recent death of Alfonso Chardy provided a not-so-subtle reminder of how Washington is embroiled in foreign conflicts. Chardy was a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter for the Miami Herald who helped uncover and expose the Iran-Contra affair in the mid-1980s. It was the Reagan administration’s decision to engage in proxy wars in Central America in the name of fighting the spread of communism during the Cold War. There were concerns about the growing influence of the Soviet Union in the Western Hemisphere.
In the late 1970s, left-wing Sandinistas seized power in Nicaragua. Congress sent funds to the Contra rebels to support the civil war. However, lawmakers began restricting funding to the Contras starting in the early 1980s before eliminating all funding.
Reagan administration officials found creative, if illegal, ways to get around Congress.
The United States will covertly sell arms to Iran in order to gain Tehran’s favor in releasing Western hostages held in the Middle East. The proceeds from these arms sales benefited the Contras in their fight against the Sandinistas.
Congress may have decided not to get involved in Nicaragua. But Washington as a whole chose that particular battle and confirmed that the United States is fighting through proxies in Central America.
On October 18, 2023, President Biden arrives at Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport and is greeted by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Going back several decades, in 2003, the United States decided to enter the Iraq War. Congress voted to authorize the operation in the fall of 2002, but few lawmakers today defend the entire conflict.
That was the gist of a floor speech by Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio), perhaps the most vocal opponent of sending aid to Ukraine in Congress.
“In 2003, I was a high school senior and I was in a political position,” Vance said of graduating high school in Middletown, Ohio, and joining the Marine Corps. “At the time, I believed the George W. Bush administration’s propaganda that an invasion of Iraq was necessary.”
Vance later said the discussion about aid to Ukraine “sounds familiar.”
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“Twenty years later, we’re still talking about the exact same thing, even if the name has changed,” Vance said. “When I went to Iraq, I realized that I had been lied to. The promise of establishing this country’s foreign policy was a total joke.”
Mr. Vance said the push for war in Iraq was “probably the most shameful moment in the history of the Republican Party over the last 40 years.”
Sen. J.D. Vance (R-Ohio) has long criticized the aid the United States has provided to Ukraine. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Mr. Vance said his “excuse” for supporting the Iraq war was “because I was a senior in high school. The excuse of many who were in this chamber and in the House of Representatives then and are singing the same thing now. What is it?” he added. What kind of song do you think of when you think of Ukraine? ”
The answer is that American leaders are committed to supporting Ukraine in its conflict with Russia.
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History will prove who is right or wrong on this front. Just as history judged US involvement in Central America by either countering Soviet influence or seeking war in Iraq. Remember, foreign aid packages include funding for Israel. Congressional Republicans have been more comfortable supporting Israel than some liberals.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has been one of the most outspoken opponents of sending U.S. dollars to Israel.
“Simply put, we are deeply complicit in what is happening. This is not an Israeli war. This is an Israeli-American war. Most are provided by the United States and are subsidized by American taxpayers,” Sanders said. “We are aiding and abetting the destruction of the Palestinian people.”
Missouri Democratic Rep. Cori Bush also opposed the bill in the House.
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“This bill passed today is a death warrant. It’s a death warrant for the Palestinian people,” President Bush said. “Apparently this means that Palestinians are less valued. Their lives are less valuable than the lives of Israelis. And shame on those who feel that way.” I have to say that.”
Returning to Ukraine, it was clear that McConnell had the upper hand. This will likely be one of his last major policy achievements as Republican leader. Mr. McConnell did not call Mr. Vance by name. But it was clear who he was targeting in his impassioned floor speech.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer both support funding for Ukraine and Israel. (Getty Images)
“Much of the hesitation and shortsightedness that has delayed this moment is based on pure fiction,” McConnell said. “I take no pleasure in refuting false fantasies, and I sincerely wish that acknowledging responsible thinking by American leaders was the price of admission to having a serious conversation about the future of our national security. .”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York expressed a similar opinion.
“Achieving this was one of the greatest accomplishments the Senate has faced in years, perhaps decades. Many people inside and outside Congress wanted this policy to fail,” Schumer said. he said.
“I think we’ve turned the corner on the isolationist movement,” McConnell said. “Some would argue that these are even more difficult times than before World War II. I don’t want events like Pearl Harbor to grab our attention.”
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In the 1930s and early 1940s, the United States stood by as Adolf Hitler ran wild across Europe. The United States became involved after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill petitioned the United States during a joint session of Congress just after Christmas 1941.
America chooses war. America chose war in Ukraine and Israel.
History will judge whether those decisions were the right ones.
