Sen. Lindsey Grahm (R-S.C.) visited Kiev with Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), all three pressuring 80-year-old President Joe Biden and 64-year-old German Chancellor Olaf Scholz to send M1 Abrams tanks and German Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine. All three think 70-year-old Russian President Vladimir Putin should be toppled from power. Graham buys the views of 44-year-old Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s in asking for more lethal weapons with the intent to driving Russia off Ukrainian sovereign territory. Graham, like Zelensky, doesn’t care whether it escalates the war to the point the U.S. and NATO must commit troops and a no-fly-zone to Ukraine, pushing the Ukraine War to WW III, possibly nuclear war. Graham sees no reason to seek a negotiated settlement with the Russian Federation.
No president in U.S. history before Biden has started a war with the Russian Federation, once thought unthinkable because of Russia’s nuclear arsenal. But for Graham, Blumenthal and Whitehead, they ignore the risks to world peace but, more importantly, the strategic balance of power that’s kept the world safe since the end of WW II. Biden has pushed the world to the brink following along with Ukraine’s demands for unlimited cash and lethal weapons. Taking on the burden of Ukraine’s bankrupt government, Biden pays for Kiev’s civil salaries and the war, now exceeding $50 billion, climbing every day. To Graham, Blumenthal and Whitehead it’s worth the investment to get rid of Putin. All three have grossly miscalculated the resources and determination of the Russian Federation to resist the Ukraine War, essentially battling the U.S. and NATO to loggerheads.
Whether admitted to or not by Graham, Blumenthal and Whitehead, escalating the war could morph into WW III where the U.S. and NATO commit troops to battling the Russian Federation. I’m tired of the shit show surrounding who is going to send tanks and when are they going to send them. Putin is trying to rewrite the map of Europe by force of arms. World order is at stake,” Graham said. Graham knows that it’s exactly the opposite that the U.S. and NATO are expanding to Ukraine and Eastern Europe, now adding Finland and Sweden in violation of agreements made after the Soviet Union disbanded in 1991 Graham knows that adding Abrams MI and German Leopard 2 tanks would encourage Ukraine to escalate the conflict, prompting a more fierce response from the Kremlin. Yet to Graham and other Democrat and Republican war hawks, they’re ready to take on the Russian Federation
Former President Donald Trump, 76, has the perfect issue to run on in the 2024 election, taking on U.S. war hawks from both sides of the aisle, ready to start WW III possibly nuclear war, all because of irrational hatred of Putin. Graham was part of the late Sen. John McCain’s (R-Az.) neocon brotherhood, looking to take on the Russian Federation at any opportunity. When Trump ran for president in 2016, he won independent voters by taking on former President George W. Bush’s Iraq War, blaming Bush for spreading Islamic terrorism around the world. Trump won the respect of Democrats and independents by taking on the status quo. Now the status quo seeks to escalate the Ukraine War into WW III, possibly nuclear war. Graham uses the same claptrap as Zelensky, saying Putin threatens to take over other European countries, especially former Soviet satellites.
Putin has made clear he doesn’t want a puppet U.S. state with Ukraine on the Russian border. Putin told Biden for months before the Feb. 24, 2022 Ukraine War that he needed to renegotiate new security arrangement or he was forced to take a “special military operation,” resulting in the invasion. Yet to war hawks like Graham, Putin’s the one to blame, demonizing the Russian leader as the new Adolf Hitler. Graham rants about German Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s reluctance to escalate the conflict knowing the consequences to the European Continent. Scholz also know the devastating role Nazi Germany played in killing some 28 million Russians. So, for Scholz, it’s personal for Germany to start escalating Germany’s role in the Ukraine War. Sending Leopard 2 tanks would no doubt prompt a retaliatory military response from Putin, maybe even attacking a European country.
Graham has become Zelensky’s biggest cheerleader in Congress seeking more lethal weapons to battle the Russian Federation. Putin already sees the Ukraine War as a conflict between the U.S.-NATO and the Kremlin. “To the Biden Administration: Send American tanks so that others will follow our lead,” Graham said, trying to pressure Scholz into sending Leopard 2 German tanks. Poland already signaled they’ll send Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine if Germany agrees to selling more to Poland when they’re available from the manufacturer. Instead of talking about ceasefire and peace talks, Democrat and Republicans war hawks want to supply Zelensky everything he needs to degrade the Russian military, escalating the war until Russia gets out of Ukraine. Putin has shown no interest in surrendering territory in Ukraine until Kiev agrees to ceasefire and peace talks with a neutral third party like Turkey.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
