The Devil You Know

Today marks the one-year anniversary of the Russo-Ukrainian War. The USA and its allies have poured billions into the defense of the Ukrainian underdogs. But, to what end? … What is the end game? … What is the exit strategy?

Was the objective to expose Putin as a bully and perhaps deranged despot? Those traits were already well known with absolute certainty. Putin is unapologetic and unabashed in his authoritarian ways.

Are we prepared to invest additional tens of billions to rebuild the war-torn nation? Again, to what end? What is our national interest? What is the benefit to our nation and to our people? Is there an economic benefit to be derived from a weakened but surviving Ukraine?

Do we believe that a weakened Russia is beneficial or advantageous to the western alliance? Have our leaders anticipated that a weakened Russia is likely to create a geo-political vacuum, which would almost certainly be filled by an emboldened China, which is increasingly spreading its newfound wealth and influence around the world? At least, Russia and Putin are well-known (and relatively impotent) “devils.”

Without giving serious consideration to what is almost certainly a host of potential unintended adverse consequences, I have yet to hear the list of “intended“ consequences. What is to be expected or hoped for?

Yes, the “good guys” protect the weak, but I am not convinced that our nation is sufficiently altruistic or capable of playing the role of savior to all who suffer throughout the world. There has to be an ulterior motive: “What’s in it for us?”

I have yet to hear a definitive plan, objective, or an explanation for why all of this matters. There may be one, but after a year, no one in a position of “leadership” has bothered to articulate it adequately or convincingly.