USA Offers Military Aid to Ukraine

The United States has finally understood the dire situation that Ukrainian military units are facing in the war with Russia. The regular Ukrainian Armed Forces, the National Guard of Ukraine and volunteer paramilitary units have been bravely engaging Russian terrorists in eastern Ukraine with surprising combat victories. Some have even said that the battle for Donetsk will be the Russians’ Rubicon.

That is heartwarming. However, to win the war against Russia, with its vast military arsenal, Ukraine will need more than Washington’s best wishes and support. It will need hands-on help.

Last week, the Pentagon decided to send equipment and aid to Ukraine including armored vehicles and increased training.

USA Today quoted Eileen Lainez, a Pentagon spokeswoman, who said the help includes armored personnel carriers, cargo and patrol vehicles, binoculars, night vision goggles and small patrol boats. The equipment is valued at $8 million and follows a similar $7 million package of equipment shipped in April. Vice-President Biden confirmed this in a telephone call to President Poroshenko.

Earlier the Pentagon had announced a proposed $19 million aid package to help train the National Guard of Ukraine. The money will help train four companies of guardsmen and a headquarters element, Navy Rear Adm. John Kirby said. The proposal requires congressional approval and would begin in 2015. Trainers would come from US forces in Europe or the California National Guard, which has partnered with Ukrainian troops in the past. Hopefully Congress will approve the package as soon as it returns from vacation.

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee and a strong supporter of Ukraine, acknowledged that Ukraine’s military is making progress in pushing back Russian mercenaries. He urged the White House to authorize shipments of anti-tank weapons.

Washington cannot shirk its responsibility to help Ukraine in its uneven war with Russia just as it didn’t turn its back on France and England during World War II. Yes, what Russia is doing is the same that Nazi Germany did 75 years ago.

The Senate is not standing aside of this campaign to help Ukraine. Sen. Mark Kirk (R-IL), along with 18 senators, sent a letter to President Obama requesting that the US designate the main pro-Russian organizations of the so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) and the Luhansk People’s Republic (LPR) as Foreign Terrorist Organizations (FTO) under US Law. This would be a major slap in Russia’s face, acknowledging that it launched this terror campaign against Ukraine.

According to the State Department, the FTO designation “impacts travel related to terrorist organizations, makes it a crime to provide material support to terrorist organizations, and freezes the financial accounts of terrorist organizations in US financial institutions.” Currently, 52 organizations are designated as FTOs, including such nefarious actors as Al-Qaida, Hamas and Hezbollah. The designation could have a significant impact on Russian interests in the United States if the US determined them as providing “material support” to the rebels.

“Russia should pay a heavy price for its invasion of Ukraine and support of the terrorist groups that shot down MH17,” Kirk said. “The designation of the separatists as terrorists under US law is overdue, and I call on the President to take this step immediately so we significantly raise the costs for Putin for his violation of international norms and Ukraine's sovereignty.”

Senators Kelly Ayotte (R-NH), John Barrasso (R-WY), Richard Burr (R-NC), Saxby Chambliss (R-GA), Dan Coats (R-IN), John Cornyn (R-TX), Mike Crapo (R-ID), Mike Enzi (R-WY), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Johnny Isakson (R-GF), Ron Johnson (R-WI), John McCain (R-AZ), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Jim Risch (R-ID), Pat Roberts (R-KN), Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Roger Wicker (R-MS) also signed the letter.

If your senator is not on board, contact his or her office and insist that he or she joins the campaign.

Unfortunately, President Obama continues to misunderstand Ukraine’s situation. He fails to recognize that the Russian war with Ukraine was inevitable because Russia’s manifest destiny is global domination, which also threatens the United States.

Last Friday Obama naively told Putin that the US merely remains deeply concerned that Russia is ramping up support for pro-Russian terrorists in Ukraine. Russian mercenaries are indiscriminately targeting and killing civilians and soldiers and the White House is concerned.

“I indicated to him, just as we will do what we say we do in terms of sanctions, we’ll also do what we say in terms of wanting to resolve this issue diplomatically if he takes a different position,” Obama told reporters later.

Putin must have been laughing hysterically on the other side of the phone conversation.

The Ukrainian nation, after enduring centuries of abuse, persecution, murder and another war with Russia does not deserve the insult of a diplomatic solution. Russia must be subdued, defeated and expelled from Ukraine. It must be forced to sign an internationally guaranteed treaty with Ukraine stating that it will never again invade Ukraine.

A note of acknowledgment about Col. Andriy Lysenko, spokesman for the National Defense and Security Council of Ukraine. His task is to meet with reporters, explain what happened on the battlefront and answer their questions. His balanced, informed, knowledgeable, professional behavior infinitely boosts his credibility and the righteousness of Ukraine’s cause. Good job, Colonel!