Will Republicans in Congress vote for US strength on Ukraine — or bow to Trump? | Opinion

Congressional Republicans, under pressure from Donald Trump, appear ready to block further United States military aid to Ukraine. Their reasons vary. Some say the United States has done enough and the war is a stalemate. Some believe (with limited credible evidence) that Ukraine’s government is corrupt. Some argue that American aid takes away needed funds from the immigration problem on our nation’s southern border.

By all measures, the U.S. has been generous in providing aid to Ukraine, and I agree we need to do more to address illegal immigration at the border. Today there is a bipartisan border bill in the U.S. Senate (which also provides aid to Ukraine, Israel and Taiwan), supported by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, that would significantly help stop the flow of illegal immigration. Unfortunately, Republican House speaker Mike Johnson labeled the bill “dead on arrival” before he had a chance to read it. Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma deserves credit for working across the aisle to craft a bill that makes a good faith effort to help the border problem.

If the Trump wing in Congress prevails and blocks U.S. military aid to Ukraine, the consequences for American credibility would be significant. Former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates (who served under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama) and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice recently wrote in Foreign Affairs magazine that the United States faces the most difficult set of challenges we’ve ever seen. Not only are we divided politically at home, but we face severe challenges to our military and to our allies from China, Russia, Iran and North Korea.

China has stated publicly it will reunify with Taiwan by force if needed. Russia has invaded Ukraine, starting the largest land war in Europe since World War II, and slaughtered rebels in Syria. Iran supports proxy armies that attack U.S. troops. It desires to push the U.S. out of the Middle East and to see the end of Israel. North Korea has nuclear weapons and continues to make threats on the peninsula against our ally South Korea.

If the United States walks away from Ukraine now, our adversaries will recognize we will not stand by our allies in tough times. They will see that democracies are fragile and American foreign policy can be easily manipulated by a former president. Divide and conquer.

The greatest tragedy would be what happens to the Ukrainian people after Vladimir Putin rearms and the Russian army slowly grinds through the rest of Ukraine. The stories of torture, rape, kidnapping and murder of Ukrainians by the Russian army are well documented. British historian Antony Beevor has written of Russian soldiers’ rapes of approximately 2 million German women at the end of World War II. The Russian army today is as undisciplined and true to form as it was in 1945. If successful Putin, will place a new Iron Curtain over Ukraine much like Joseph Stalin did at the end of World War II.

Congress still has the chance to pass the Senate bill providing aid to the Ukrainian people, giving them a fighting chance to keep their land and their way of life. If passed, it would send a loud and clear message to the world that United States still stands for freedom and democracy.

This is one of the most important votes the members of Congress will take in our lifetimes. They must decide whether to do what is popular with a segment of their base — or to do what is right.

Mike McCaffree is a real estate broker in Nevada, Missouri. He has a degree in political science from Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri.