Rep. Victoria Spartz (Ind.), 43, exposed the elephant in the room about the Ukraine War. Spartz doesn’t think that 45-year-old Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky really understands the magnitude of the conflict, continuing boast about turning back the Russian army in the first few days of the conflict to conquering Kiev. Spartz wants more oversight in terms to the astronomical amounts of arms-and-cash sent to Kiev to fund the bankrupt Ukrainian government and prosecute the war effort against the Russian Federation/ President Joe Biden, 79, views the conflict today as a U.S. proxy war using Ukrainian troops against the Russian Federation. Biden has been vocal about saying March 26 in Warsaw, Poland that that 69-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin should not remain in power. Biden’s gaffe was backed April 26 by 69-year-old Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin.
Austin told an audience in Ramstein, Germany that the aim of the U.S. war in Ukraine was to degrade the Russian army to the point it could no longer wage war. Pentagon officials, including Putin, got the message that the Kremlin now fights an existential war against the United States. Republicans in the House and Senate worried about Spartz’s public remarks, fearing it could weaken the resolve shared by Western nations to back Zelensky’s war effort. Spartz, the only Ukrainian-born member of Congress, opened a can of worms for the GOP, currently in lockstep with Biden on the war against the Russian Federation. Democrats and Republicans alike worry that Spartz’s criticism of the Ukraine War could lead to cracks in the airtight coalition that wins the backing of Democrats and Republicans. If the Ukraine War continues unabated, it will become a 2024 campaign issue.
Biden’s White House has done everything to minimize the damage from the Ukraine War to the U.S. and EU economies, currently plagued with hyperinflation, especially oil shortages and skyrocketing gas prices. Biden hasn’t figured out that boycotting Russian oil, 10% of the world’s oil supply, created the hyperinflation and skyrocketing pump prices. “Her naiveness is hurting our own people,:” said an unnamed Republican lawmaker on the House Foreign Affairs committee. “It is not helpful to what we’re trying to do and I’m not sure her facts are accurate . . . We have vetted these guys,” referring to Zelensky and others in his Cabinet. Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said July 12 that Ukraine will not cede any territory to the Russian Federation. Since prosecuting the war since Feb. 24, Zelensky and Kuleba have lost over 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, including the entire Black Sea coast.
Kuleba’s statement rejecting any call of cede territory to Putin, doesn’t recognize the fact that Ukraine had no control before Feb. 24 of Donetsk, Luhansk and Crimea before the war started Feb. 24. But since Zelensky and Kuleba prosecuted the war, they have lost over 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory, including all the Black Sea coast and strategic ports. Zelensky and Kuleba keep asking Biden for more lethal weapons, since Biden refused to put U.S. boots on the ground. “President Biden has to stop playing politics, have a clear strategy and align security assistance with our strategy,” Spartz said, irking Republican and Democrat lawmakers. No one in the U.S. or EU accepts that Biden’s unrealistic strategy is to degrade the Russian army and topple Putin’s government. Sparts doesn’t see Biden’s current strategy as a real plan but a suicide mission for Ukraine.
Spatrz raised real questions about Zelensky’s leadership, knowing that he lost so much Ukrainian sovereign territory. “President Zelensky has to stop playing politics and theater, and start governing to better support his military and local governments,” Spartz said, prompting more criticisms by Republicans and Democrats. Biden thought he could steamroll the Ukraine War, making it seems as a life-and-death struggle between tyranny and democracy. Western lawmakers like hearing Ukraine paints itself as the protector of democracy under attack by Putin and the Russian Federation. Spartz is the first to recognize that Zelensky’s all about PR and theater but obviously has not succeeded as a wartime president seeking to defend against a brutal enemy. Spartz hit a raw nerve for Democrats and Republicans because she’s questioning the advisability of taking on the Russian Federation.
Spartz’s raises some inconvenient truths about the Ukraine War, namely, that Zelensky and Kuleba have lost a massive amount of Ukrainian territory fighting, as Spartz says, the biggest war since WW II. Spartz sees Zelensky fighting a PR battle to turn the world against the Russian Federation. With China, India, Brazil, South Africa and other countries playing it neutral, not wanting to take sides, it’s left Biden out on the limb trying to impose crippling sanctions. Biden’s Russian oil boycott has backfired badly on Western countries, causing shortages and skyrocketing prices. White House officials don’t want anyone, like Sparts, questioning the Ukraine War strategy. Spartz doesn’t see battling against the Russian Federation as a viable strategy. Spartz has been roundly criticized by Zelensky for not 100% rubber stamping Ukraine’s strategy of degrading the Russian army and toppling Putin.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlinecColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
