DON'T FORGET GEORGE WHEN THINKING ABOUT UKRAINE / OH... SORRY, WE ALREADY HAVE

Vol. I | Issue. 90 | May 16, 2022

There is almost nobody out there who isn’t supportive of and rooting for Ukraine to kick Russian a-s. Our hearts, minds, and sympathies are with them and their very gutsy President, Volodymyr Zelinsky. However, as it relates to foreign policy, we should always disengage our hearts from our minds.

George Washington, in his Farewell Address on September 19, 1796, made clear that:

“It is our true policy to steer clear of permanent alliance with any portion of the foreign world.". - George Washington, 1796

In today’s world that would be impossible but still something to consider every time we dedicate American blood and treasure around the world. 

History has proven that permanent alliances with self-executing mutual defense treaties create disastrous conflagrations. Had those interwoven mutual treaties not existed, there would have been no WWI. Clearly, there would have been conflict and almost guaranteed war, but not on the scale that so tragically occurred and not a World War. We will never know, but had England not agreed by treaty to mobilize and respond to the aggressive actions of Germany and Austria, those mutual defense treaties wouldn’t have all gone off like a thousand contiguous mousetraps all snapping at the same time.

WWII was inevitable due to the inertial and historic forces caused by the forces unleashed during and after WWI. The NATO Alliance was clearly necessary after WWII in order to secure the safety and security of Western Europe. NATO was not merely an instrument to guarantee the safety and security of Western Europe, it was necessary to guarantee the safety, security, and prosperity of the United States. Had the Soviets been allowed to overrun Western Europe, we would have become Fortress America, economically isolated and subject to Soviet diktat regarding our place in the world. 

In other words, with the formation of NATO, the fundamental question was asked: Does America need this at this time? The answer was a resounding YES and it was the correct answer. The formation of NATO is a clear example of how Americans’ hearts and minds were fused into one. We needed NATO both because it protected vital strategic American interests and because its formation will keep the people of Western Europe free. 

Now let's get back to George in 1796…

He had so much integrity, that he even admitted chopping down that Cherry tree when he could easily have lied about it and not gotten caught. In addition to his aversion for foreign entanglements and alliances, he also stated that "it is intended that we honor all existing international treaties".

In that regard, in addition to the fact that our hearts support Ukraine, the U.S. has a contractual obligation that guarantees the Sovereignty of Ukraine known as the Budapest Accords. That document makes the U.S. a guarantor of Ukrainian Sovereignty and Security. Budapest Accords is an agreement that the U.S. should never have been a party to. At the time and in the moment, Bill Clinton inked the agreement in his haste to finalize the final steps in the dissolution of the Soviet Union. In exchange for the confiscation of all nukes from Ukraine, Russians and nee Soviet Union, along with the U.S. guaranteed Ukrainian Security.

How stupid, right? The Russians, with their 1000-year historic claims that Ukraine was part of Russia, take the nukes and gave up their claims leaving the U.S. and all other signatories to the Budapest Accords being duped into believing that Russia would give up their historic claims to Ukraine. Want to know something funny? The Russians signed this thing too…

Currently, there is a $40 billion dollar aid package passed by the house which may be passed by the Senate. There are countless talking heads in the blabosphere from Ukraine making clear that it is our obligation to give their country the $40 billion based on our natural sympathies for their cause which it seems that we have accepted to be true. 

Where did the gargantuan number come from? What will it be used for? Is this really America’s obligation? How much are the front-line NATO countries contributing? 

What likely would the “patriarchal, transphobic, misogynist, racist…” slave-holding Father of our Country do? We don’t know what George would do, but he most certainly would ask the right questions.

Beyond our sympathy for the Ukrainian cause and some clear strategic interest… How far does that interest go and how much of the burden should be shared by other nations that have an even more compelling interest in the outcome?

Just like George, I cannot tell a lie… I do think, all things considered, that it is not America’s obligation to foot this $40 billion dollar bill without significant participation by our so-called “Partner” nations.

-Emes