Fox News Aug. 23 debate provided a sharp contrast on the Ukraine War, with 51-year-old former U.N. Amb. Nikki Haley slamming 38-year-old biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy saying the billions spent on the Ukraine War should be spent on the border. Haley ripped Ramaswamy for opposing Biden’s $200 billion proxy war with the Kremlin. “I think this is disastrous that we are protecting against an invasion across somebody else’s border when we should use those same military resources to prevent across the invasion of our own southern border here in the United States of America,” Ramaswamy said, provoking Haley. “Ukraine is the first line of defense for us and the, and the problem that Vivek doesn’t understand is the wants [to] hand Ukraine to Russia, he wants to let China eat Taiwan, he wants to go and stop funding Israel. You don’t do that to friends,” Haley said.
Haley’s completely misstates the Ukraine War lecturing Vivek on Biden’s faulty logic, insisting, along with Ukraine’s 45-year-old President Volodymyr Zelensky, that Putin will take over Europe without the Ukraine War. Biden and Zelensky’s logic insults NATO who has plenty of resources to repel a Russian invasion of any European country. Zelensky has wanted to join NATO, thinking he Ukraine’s war with the Kremlin doesn’t exclude NATO membership. Haley repeats Biden’s talking points to lash out at Ramaswamy who’s moved up in the polls, seen by most as winning the Fox News debate. Ramaswamy, without Haley’s insults, knows perfectly well what’s going on in Ukraine but rejects the Biden and Zelensky’s talking points that Ukraine defends European democracy. No bankrupt and war-torn country can defend anyone but itself battling the Kremlin.
Former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, 60, and 64-year-old former Vice President Mike Pence completely agrees with Haley, joining her in attacking Ramaswamy as an amateur and rookie. But who’s really correct on Ukraine? Haley, Christie and Pence all endorse the Biden Ukraine policy. Haley says Ukraine is the first line of defense for the European Union. No it’s not. Haley, Christie and Pence know that NATO, not Ukraine, is responsible for European security. No one knows where all the billions going to Ukraine have gone. Biden knows, better than anyone, that Ukraine is one of the most corrupt countries on the planet, with Zelensky and his junta enriching themselves at the expense on the U.S. Treasury, all making up rubbish that Ukraine protects European democracy. Zelensky and Co. are out for themselves, not protecting vital U.S. interests.
Telling Ramaswamy he has no foreign policy experience is a real insult from Haley who touts her time at the U.N. as her own experience. But listening to Haley, she sounds like a Biden infomercial for the Ukraine War. “You have no foreign policy experience and it shows,” Haley told Ramaswamy. But what kind of experience does Haley have not knowing that NATO protects European security, not Ukraine. Haley knows that Biden and Zelensky have been telling Congress and the European parliament that Ukraine protects Europe from Russian encroachment. Ukraine couldn’t stop Russia from invading and seizing some 25% of Ukraine’s sovereign territory. How does that fit with Haley, Christie and Pence’s view of the Ukraine War? Haley called Putin a “thug,” but what good does it do to work on a responsible plan that restores peace and security to the region?
Republicans still back Biden’s proxy war using Ukrainian troops against he Kremlin. Ramaswamy backs former President Donald Trump’s plan to end the war after taking office. U.S. foreign policy requires the U.S. to have practical and cooperative relations with the Russian Federation. Surely Haley, Christie and Pence know that the U.S. can’t be at war with the Kremlin forever. U.S. foreign policy, especially arms control, requires the U.S. to have workable diplomatic relations with the Kremlin. In the current state of war, Biden has turned the clock back on decades of diplomacy and détente with Russia, leaving nonproliferation in shambles. How does Biden expect to reduce the chance of nuclear war without a working diplomacy with the Russian Federation. U.S. foreign policy can’t defend Ukraine at the expense of world peace or a new nuclear arms race.\
Haley, Christie and Pence all pile on Ramaswamy because he won the debate, capturing most applause from the Fox News pro-Trump audience. Attitudes toward Ukraine have been changing with a CNN polls showing that 55% of Americans not supporting continues funding in Ukraine. As the economy deteriorates, citizens look to costly government expenditures, especially on extraneous defense spending. Biden thinks funding Ukraine and the war against the Kremlin is backed by the public. Clearly attitudes are changing on the subject. If Haley has so much foreign policy experience, how does she expect to resume arms control talks when Biden’s in a proxy war against he Kremlin? Ramaswamy was right on the pulse of the audience thinking that the U.S. waste a lot cash on Ukraine. Biden has been given too much leeway funding the bankrupt Ukraine government and war.
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.
