Cons:
1) Biden is corrupt as hell, and I wouldn't be surprised if his support is basically hush money to ensure that Ukraine doesn't expose all of this schemes.
2) We are in massive national debt. Reagan spend $3B in Afghanistan to push the Soviets out of Afghanistan. That was when the Soviets were still a superpower. That is $7-$12 billion in today dollars (depending if that figure was in 1980's dollars or 1989 dollars). Biden has spent ~$75B so far in Ukraine (in less time) and Russia is a shadow of their former selves. So what gives? Reagan did stuff like only provide stingers in exchange for empty stinger tubes. To ensure that they were actually used in war and not stockpiled. Is Biden just blindly shipping them stuff?
Pros:
1) F Russia. They have been funding our enemies for YEARS getting American soldier killed. They need pay back. Make them think twice about supporting our enemies again. So far, they are up to almost the amount we lost in Vietnam. Not to mention the number that died in other conflicts they supported. I'd be happy with 3X, but not at the expense of fast victory.
2) If we had let Putin waltz into Ukraine unopposed, then he wouldn't have stopped there. Just like he wasn't satisfied with Crimea. He probably would have taken every non-NATO country.
3) We need to make sure China does not try to take Taiwan. That would be a severe blow to our economy and way of life. Even if we just let it happen and didn't engage at all. Maybe our actions in Ukraine so far postponed that? A complete defeat of Russia would probably postpone any action in Taiwan for 50+ years. (assuming no future democrat president projects weakness)
4) None of our troops are fighting. The Ukrainians are doing all the grunt work. While $75B is a lot, it's NOTHING compared to the $2.3T we spent in our war in Afghanistan. And 0 American deaths is WAY better than ~2500 that were killed in Afghanistan. I'd rather all of our conflicts were like this. Yet people are more anxious about this war than the 20 years we fought in Afghanistan. It makes no sense.
5) We have screwed over nearly every ally since Vietnam, and that has made our allies weak in return. We let Saddam wipe out the Kurds, even though the Kurds are the only decent people in the area. If anybody deserves their own country over there, it's them. We screwed over the people who helped us in Afghanistan. We have screwed over Israel (and Biden is starting to do that again now). If we had let Russia roll over Ukraine, then we would have screwed over yet another country that we had promised to help protect (in exchange for them giving up nukes). If we withdraw all our support now, then THAT will be what is remembered by future allies. Not the fact that we blew $75B prior. And it will be remembered as Russian victory and them "standing up" to us and winning.
In short, I think we need to win this fast. Don't drag it out for 10 years. Do it the Reagan way and ensure victory as fast as possible. We need to cut spending elsewhere (like entitlements) to pay for it. And before anybody says nonsense about the "military industrial complex", I think we should not give them any F-35s.
1) Biden is corrupt as hell, and I wouldn't be surprised if his support is basically hush money to ensure that Ukraine doesn't expose all of this schemes.
2) We are in massive national debt. Reagan spend $3B in Afghanistan to push the Soviets out of Afghanistan. That was when the Soviets were still a superpower. That is $7-$12 billion in today dollars (depending if that figure was in 1980's dollars or 1989 dollars). Biden has spent ~$75B so far in Ukraine (in less time) and Russia is a shadow of their former selves. So what gives? Reagan did stuff like only provide stingers in exchange for empty stinger tubes. To ensure that they were actually used in war and not stockpiled. Is Biden just blindly shipping them stuff?
Pros:
1) F Russia. They have been funding our enemies for YEARS getting American soldier killed. They need pay back. Make them think twice about supporting our enemies again. So far, they are up to almost the amount we lost in Vietnam. Not to mention the number that died in other conflicts they supported. I'd be happy with 3X, but not at the expense of fast victory.
2) If we had let Putin waltz into Ukraine unopposed, then he wouldn't have stopped there. Just like he wasn't satisfied with Crimea. He probably would have taken every non-NATO country.
3) We need to make sure China does not try to take Taiwan. That would be a severe blow to our economy and way of life. Even if we just let it happen and didn't engage at all. Maybe our actions in Ukraine so far postponed that? A complete defeat of Russia would probably postpone any action in Taiwan for 50+ years. (assuming no future democrat president projects weakness)
4) None of our troops are fighting. The Ukrainians are doing all the grunt work. While $75B is a lot, it's NOTHING compared to the $2.3T we spent in our war in Afghanistan. And 0 American deaths is WAY better than ~2500 that were killed in Afghanistan. I'd rather all of our conflicts were like this. Yet people are more anxious about this war than the 20 years we fought in Afghanistan. It makes no sense.
5) We have screwed over nearly every ally since Vietnam, and that has made our allies weak in return. We let Saddam wipe out the Kurds, even though the Kurds are the only decent people in the area. If anybody deserves their own country over there, it's them. We screwed over the people who helped us in Afghanistan. We have screwed over Israel (and Biden is starting to do that again now). If we had let Russia roll over Ukraine, then we would have screwed over yet another country that we had promised to help protect (in exchange for them giving up nukes). If we withdraw all our support now, then THAT will be what is remembered by future allies. Not the fact that we blew $75B prior. And it will be remembered as Russian victory and them "standing up" to us and winning.
In short, I think we need to win this fast. Don't drag it out for 10 years. Do it the Reagan way and ensure victory as fast as possible. We need to cut spending elsewhere (like entitlements) to pay for it. And before anybody says nonsense about the "military industrial complex", I think we should not give them any F-35s.
