Why are we involved in Ukraine’s war?

I almost never watch Fox News these days. I’ve found that they tend to play the same sort of games we get mad at the more left-leaning news sources for. For me, lying for our side is just as bad as the Left lying for theirs. My earnest hope is that our side will be better, and more committed to the truth, regardless of which side it hurts. Nevertheless, it was on as background noise while I was working on my novel when Jessie Waters made a comment about how Democrats were buying up land in Ukraine. He didn’t offer specifics; it was a one-off comment, and I haven’t seen anyone at Fox follow up on that comment. But it does raise some questions, what is the endgame in Ukraine? What exactly are we doing funneling billions of dollars to Ukraine, in a war where it makes sense to feel sympathy for the attacked, to pray for them, and to wish ill will against the aggressor? Beyond that, however, it is fair to ask how Russia’s attacking Ukraine actually concern us. 

I have my own conspiracy theory on this. That is, I can’t prove this, but as a child of the Cold War, I remember that the Democratic Party seemed to always be championing Russia (then the USSR) against the interests of the United States. I remember that Democrats were so committed to Russia, that when Reagan was bold enough to call them the Evil Empire, Ted Kennedy went running to Russia to console them, and even plead for their help against Reagan. This commitment to Russia lived on and was strong throughout the 90s and the early aughts. The Obama regime was completely committed to Russia. Hillary Clinton offered them a “reset button,” as a make-good for perceived tensions alleged to have been caused by Bush. Later, Obama himself offered them more “flexibility,” after the election,- 1  and mocked Republican candidate, Mitt Romney for taking a strong stance against Russia, saying that the 80s called, “and they want their policies back.” -2

But something changed in 2015. After Putin took Crimea, a lot of discussion came to the fore about Putin’s aggression. During the campaign season, then-Candidate Trump had expressed his belief that he could negotiate with Putin and later joked that perhaps Russian hackers could find the documents Hillary Clinton had lost. Hillary was allegedly mishandling sensitive documents and was under investigation at the time. Sure enough, there were documents leaked by hackers that did not help Hillary’s defense. At that moment, Democrats flipped on Russia. Suddenly Trump was Putin’s stooge, and when Trump defeated Hillary, the Democrats floated volumes of conspiracy theories linking Trump to Putin. Stephen Colbert at one point called Trump Putin’s c@&k holster, -3. Hillary, meanwhile, constantly challenged the legitimacy of Trump’s presidency -4. 

In 2018, there was a blue wave. Democrats won 40 seats in the House and immediately set about looking for excuses to impeach Trump. They became obsessed with this imaginary Trump connection to Russia and beat that horse over and over until it died when the Mueller Report was released, and the conspiracy theory was discredited. Mueller concluded that Trump behaved in ways he didn’t like, but there ultimately was no there, there. And yet, Democrats continued to beat that dead horse. The party that was once head over heels in love with Russia now hated Russia with the power of a thousand suns. 

During Trump’s presidency, though, Russia was actually pretty quiet. But we did learn some interesting things about Ukraine. We learned that Ukrainian Officials had been involved in trying to help Hillary’s campaign -5, and then Biden openly admitted on film to having engaged in a quid-pro-quo with Ukraine, threatening to withhold foreign aid if they didn’t fire a prosecutor, he didn’t like -6. This prosecutor was incidentally investigating corruption at an energy company called Burisma. Hunter Biden, Joe Biden’s son, sat on the board of Burisma. The connections Democrats built with Ukraine seemed to be rising to the surface. Then Trump asked Ukraine about the video and suggested they should investigate it. The Democrats then accused Trump of a quid pro quo, threatening to withhold funds, if they didn’t investigate that matter. Having read the transcript of that phone call, I find these claims to be dubious, even though I tend to be ambivalent towards Trump. This was the first of many ridiculous accusations that have been leveled his way. They couldn’t get him on Russia, so they tried Ukraine. Trump was ultimately impeached, but not convicted over these allegations. 

Years later, the Democrats still cling to their Trump/Russia corruption narrative. Their hatred of Russia has reached a fever pitch. So when Biden suggested the US might tolerate a minor incursion into the Ukraine-7, and Putin seized upon that opportunity, it didn’t take long for Democrats to jump on the anti-Russia bandwagon… where I have been my whole life, as a child of the Cold War. I’d have welcomed them to the party, but for my suspicion that their rooting for Ukraine was insincere and had more to do with their desire for revenge against Russia for Trump, even though the Mueller Report fully discredited their conspiracy theory.

I am praying for Ukraine. But the truth is, this war has absolutely nothing to do with us. American blood and treasure were not sacrificed in the onslaught, so why would we need to be anything more than the cheering section for Ukraine? Biden, the Democrats, and even some Republicans have been pushing very hard to fund and supply Ukraine for this fight at a time when the American people themselves are struggling to get by. What are we getting out of this? What is the end goal? How long is this going to continue? 

Jessie Water’s comments on Fox News add another reason we might be suspicious of the war in Ukraine. 

Rumors are abounding that members of the US Government (both parties) are buying up land in Ukraine. Rumors also suggest that American companies are buying up land. There’s even talk of rebuilding Ukraine as those fifteen-minute cities we keep hearing about. To be fair, I was unable to find anything I’d consider solid enough to use here. But it is enough to raise questions. Naturally, these rumors have “fact checks” that claim to debunk these rumors. And apparently, these rumors go back quite a ways. Here’s one from USA Today from last year, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/09/13/fact-check-ukraines-president-did-not-sell-farmland-us-companies/7942775001/ -8.

The fact is that there’s already some anecdotal evidence that the Democrats are pushing support for Ukraine out of one of the most disingenuous reasons for war I have ever seen. On the surface, it looks as though they’re just trying to get revenge for Trump/Russia, a lie they repeated so often that they convinced themselves of. But the suggestion that people in our government might have a financial stake in this fight wouldn’t surprise me, and the fact checks on these allegations are not enough to alleviate my concerns that the reason to intervene on behalf of Ukraine are not coming from a place of generosity and altruism. It will be interesting to see what else comes to the fore in the coming years. 

-1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mgQaFlo_p8

-2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N0IWe11RWOM 

-3: Stephen Colbert Makes Another Homophobic Trump-Putin Joke, Marlow Stern, The Daily Beast, 6/12/2019, https://www.thedailybeast.com/stephen-colbert-makes-another-homophobic-trump-putin-joke. Accessed 10/15/23.

-4: Hillary Clinton: Trump is an ‘illegitimate president’, Colby Itkowitz, Washington Post,  www.washingtonpost.com, 9/26/2019, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-trump-is-an-illegitimate-president/2019/09/26/29195d5a-e099-11e9-b199-f638bf2c340f_story.html. Accessed 10/15/23

-5: As Russia Collusion Fades, Ukrainian Plot To Help Clinton Emerges. John Solomon, The Hill, 3/20/2019. www.thehill.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/hillary-clinton-trump-is-an-illegitimate-president/2019/09/26/29195d5a-e099-11e9-b199-f638bf2c340f_story.html accessed 10/15/23

-6: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=797504800724150 

-7: Joe Biden’s “Minor Incursion” Russia Remark: History Proves It Was a Mistake, Dakota Wood, The Heritage Foundation, www.heritage.org, 1/26/22, https://www.heritage.org/global-politics/commentary/joe-bidens-minor-incursion-russia-remark-history-proves-it-was-mistake. Accessed 10/15/23
-8: Fact Check: false claim that President Zelenskyy sold huge amounts of land in Ukraine to US companies. Molly Stellino, USA Today, 9/13/2022. USAtoday.com, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2022/09/13/fact-check-ukraines-president-did-not-sell-farmland-us-companies/7942775001/, accessed 10/15/23