William F. Buckley once famously said that a conservative is “someone who stands athwart history yelling ‘Stop!’ at a time when no one is inclined to do so, or to have much patience with those who so urge it.”
Well, I have a message for our representatives standing athwart efforts to provide aid to our ally Ukraine: Stop!
I get it — the urgency of fixing the migrant crisis on our southern border and our spiraling $34 trillion debt are crying out for attention. But as a conservative myself, and CEO of a church-empowerment network, I am concerned some of my fellow conservatives on Capitol Hill are misreading the moment on Ukraine.
Today, Ukraine finds itself alone on the world stage fighting against an enraged, modern-day Goliath. But remember, the future King David did not confront Goliath bare-handed. As Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has pointed out, he had to be equipped with a slingshot. And unless the freedom fighters in Ukraine are adequately equipped to defend themselves, we are looking at a humanitarian disaster on an epic scale.
The havoc wreaked by Vladimir Putin’s Russia throughout the relatively narrow strip of territory it temporarily occupies in east Ukraine has been heartbreaking. Children have been kidnapped, innocent civilians have been slaughtered, and residential apartment buildings have been targeted with artillery.
Putin has already declared that Ukrainian culture and ethnicity are a myth. So, who could be surprised by a brutal, post-war program of de facto ethnic cleansing? Any student of history knows this is very well possible, and we cannot allow it to happen.
Of course, foreign policy realists ask: Is funding Ukraine’s war effort really in America’s best interests, considering the expense? Yet analysts estimate Ukraine’s brave resistance so far has claimed over 350,000 Russian soldiers and wiped out half of its tanks — all without costing the life of a single U.S. active-duty service member.
Consider the war’s impact from a global strategic perspective. President Xi Jinping has reportedly told the Chinese military to prepare for an invasion of Taiwan by 2027. If Russia can overwhelm Ukraine, then the Baltics, Finland, Poland, Romania, Moldova, and all of Eastern Europe will be placed at risk. A humiliating defeat for NATO could well empower China to attack Taiwan. But with a dagger poised at Europe’s throat, the United States could find itself fighting a two-front war.
Imagine a world where a free Ukraine and Taiwan are sacrificed to despots on the altar of America’s foreign-policy realism and narrowly calculated self-interest. It would mark the end of the rules-based global order that has corresponded with the greatest leap in prosperity the world has ever seen.
For all of these reasons and more, I am urging my conservative colleagues to clear the logjam and renew the flow of vital resources to help Ukraine win its battle for freedom from the Russian Goliath. Let’s be the Good Samaritans that Ukraine so desperately needs.
Members of Congress, do not be swayed by the firebrand posts you read on social media. Our organization has over 5,000 churches in our network, and I speak with church leaders nearly every day. I assure you, many conservatives do support aid to Ukraine.
Many of America’s faith-based organizations are taking a lead role in Ukraine by providing food, housing, and much-needed social services. With their help, my team has provided Ukrainians with over 3 million meals, along with housing, generators, and even trauma care centers since the war began.
But the reality is that much more needs to be done. If the current Russian offensive succeeds due to Western neglect, the people of Ukraine will find themselves where no one wants to be: at the mercy of Vladimir Putin.
Not long after the war began, I visited the Polish side of the Ukrainian border. I watched as wave after wave of humanity poured across the border in the dead of night. They were mostly women, children, and elders who were fleeing the brutal assault.
Over and over again, various refugees begged me, “Please don’t leave us!”
But those pleas weren’t directed at me as an individual. They were directed at us, the West, and especially the United States.
There are millions of Ukrainians in this situation. They're moms and dads, sisters and brothers, families just like ours who simply want to live in a peaceful democracy. And yet, their lives have been brutally upended.
As the debate rages on Capitol Hill, they are tearfully pleading for us not to forsake them.
So how about it, America? What's our answer? Will we support the innocent Ukrainian people in their existential fight for freedom? Or stand by and watch as an emboldened Russia decimates Ukraine, placing Eastern Ukraine and Taiwan in mortal danger?
They’re waiting for an answer.
David Donaldson is the co-founder and CEO of CityServe International, a non-profit relief organization headquartered in Bakersfield, Calif.
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