It is quite astounding how many times the United States fails to learn the same lesson over and over again. Usually, I try to maintain an air of optimism on this website, but - given recent events - I have rarely been as upset as I am now, especially as someone who has dedicated much of my life to raising awareness about important issues across the world and highlighting the necessity of American presence on the world stage. Because, yet again, the United States is refusing to learn from history.
We are now two years into Russia's unprovoked war of aggression against Ukraine. Hundreds of thousands of lives have already been lost. Millions of Ukrainians have been displaced. And countless more suffer under brutal occupation in areas controlled by Russian forces, who have committed acts of kidnapping, rape, torture, mutilation, murder, and ethnic cleansing against Ukrainian civilians and prisoners of war.
The United States and most of the western world have, for their part, given billions of dollars' worth in military aid to the Ukrainian armed forces - aid that has been crucial in keeping further Russian advances in Ukraine at bay. And until last year, that aid, which has played a pivotal role in stalling the Russian advance and inflicting devastating losses on Russian troops, was considered a reliable and effective method of combating the aggressive, imperialist, and genocidal ambitions of Russian dictator Vladimir Putin.
But since the Republican Party has taken control of the United States House of Representatives, the future of further aid to Ukraine is very much in question. A growing far-right, isolationist, non-interventionist, and so-called "anti-war" faction of the House GOP has vociferously opposed any further aid to Ukraine in their fight against Russia. This faction has made it their mission to toe the Kremlin line on foreign policy, repeating old, tired, worn-out isolationist propaganda about the "military-industrial complex", "warmongers", and "Ukrainian Nazis".
Under the tenure of House Speaker Mike Johnson - who has become increasingly beholden to the far-right caucus - bipartisan bills to provide more Ukraine aid have been sidelined and tabled, with Johnson and other Republicans insisting on lumping the aid together with "border security" - only to backtrack and reject Democratic proposals to work out a compromise.
And as the hopelessly divided US Congress continues to play petty politics, and as Ukraine aid continues to linger in political deadlock, Russian forces have begun to push forward in their invasion of Ukraine. Last week, the strategic city of Avdiivka - which had been the site of a ferocious battle that lasted nearly two years - fell to Russian forces, who summarily executed dozens of Ukrainian prisoners of war who were captured. According to Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the lack of western munitions has led to severe ammunition shortages among Ukrainian forces, leading to Russian forces making advances across the entire frontline and Ukrainian casualties to massively increase.
So, it seems that, yet again, the United States is reneging on its responsibilities on the world stage, once again surrendering to malevolent forces hell-bent on waging war and genocide against the free world. We keep making the same mistakes over and over and over again. We made this mistake in Rwanda. We made this mistake in Darfur. We made this mistake in Syria. We made this mistake in Afghanistan. And now we're making this mistake yet again - this time in Ukraine.
How many times must we make the same mistake over and over again? How many more avoidable atrocities, horrific genocides, and incalculable levels of human suffering will we allow to rage unchecked before we finally realize the truth that inaction in the face of evil is unacceptable? How many more times will we sit idly by, convincing ourselves that the rest of the world doesn't matter? How many more innocent people will we allow to be slaughtered in the name of "America First"?
How many more? Too many more.
Such is the cost of isolationism. If only we could learn.
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