Republicans Have Become 'Tired' of the War in Ukraine

How do you become ‘tired’ of a war and go home?

Interesting question. I suppose we became ‘weary’ of Vietnam, ‘fatigued’ in Iraq and ‘exhausted’ in Afghanistan. But Lindsey Graham is simply tired. And I understand that. It would wear down the best of men trying to keep on the good side of the Orange Man, and Lindsey is not getting any younger.

During the 2016 presidential campaign, Graham was a vocal critic of Trump, labeling him a "race-baiting, xenophobic, religious bigot" and stating that Trump did not represent the Republican Party.

But, what the hell, Graham wants to be president, and you gotta play golf with someone.

The Second World War was known as The Great War, and the generation who won it, The Greatest Generation. That Greatest Generation was neither Republican nor Democrat. Everyone leaned in to win that one. WWII was an equal opportunity employer.

My father was sent home from World War One. He'd faked his way all the way to France, as an ambulance driver, when the found out he was only sixteen and sent him home. Too old for WWII, he worked at Douglas Aircraft in Chicago, building DC-3s. My older brother was drafted during the Korean War but, as a newly graduated mechanical engineer, the army recognized his value by making him a school-bus driver. Drafted a few years later, I trained as a medic, but somehow missed Vietnam. No bone spurs in our family but no bullets either.

George Bush got us into the longest war ever fought by America, a 20-year exercise in American power that we lost to Afghan terrorists, armed with not much more than car-bombs and determination.

The cost of that war is estimated to be around $2.3 trillion, fifteen times what we spent in aid to Ukraine thus far, and we left the great share of our military equipment behind for the Taliban to use against their civilian population.

We tired of that war as well, but with greater reason than our weariness in Ukraine.

The embarrassment of that ‘battle fatigue’ in Ukraine is magnified by the Orange Man's ceding American support to Vladimir Putin, the aggressor.

Aggressor? I refer to the Budapest Memorandum on Security Assurances, signed on December 5, 1994.

Ukraine, at that time was the third largest repository of nuclear weapons in the world, having inherited them after the Soviet Union collapsed. It agreed to join the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) as a non-nuclear state, ceding its weaponry to Russia.

In exchange, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom provided security assurances, including:

• Respecting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,

  • Refraining from the use of force or threats against Ukraine,

  • Not using economic coercion to influence Ukraine’s decisions, and

  • Seeking United Nations Security Council action if Ukraine faced aggression involving nuclear weapons.

Russia violated the Budapest Memorandum a mere ten years later when it annexed Crimea in 2014, and followed that by a full scale invasion in 2022. The U.S. and U.K. condemned Russia's actions, but took no direct military action, as the memorandum provided no legally binding security guarantees.

The expectation was that there would be no Ukrainian defense.

The U.S. offered to evacuate Ukrainian President Zelenskyy, he famously refused and replied, "I need ammunition, not a ride.

Oops.

The U.S., NATO, and EU countries provided military aid, including:

• Advanced weapons (HIMARS, Javelin missiles, tanks, drones, and later F-16s).

  • Ammunition and air defense systems (e.g., Patriot missiles).

  • Training for Ukrainian forces.

  • The U.S., EU, U.K., and allies imposed sanctions, including, freezing Russian assets abroad (including $300+ billion in central bank reserves).

• Banning Russian banks from SWIFT (global financial system).

  • Embargoing Russian oil and gas (EU gradually reduced reliance).

  • Sanctioning oligarchs, politicians, and military officials.

Billions of dollars followed, in financial aid to support Ukraine’s economy and government operations, including humanitarian aid for millions of refugees and displaced Ukrainians.

Ukraine applied for EU membership (granted candidate status in June 2022). NATO expanded, with Finland (2023) and Sweden (2024) joining, strengthening the alliance. The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Vladimir Putin over war crimes (March 2023).

And that's where we are now, but for two things. Putin and the Orange Man are the weakest players in the negotiation, one who’s losing the war, and the other, who’s losing support at home..

Zelenskyy must sign.

There will be no division of territories and assets.

The Budapest Memorandum is the bottom line.