Articles and letters written in The Ukrainian Weekly in support of Kamala Harris were filled with emotional viewpoints, but they did not point to a realistic view of events. Some who do not like Donald Trump feel validated to make stuff up to make stuff happen.
I spent the 1990s in Ukraine with the United States Army and the United States Air Force on a variety of missions. I was in Ukraine when former US President Bill Clinton managed to convince Ukraine to give up their nuclear weapons, not to the United States, but to Russia.
At meetings with Ukrainian generals, the US warned Ukraine to look after their own best interests, but the Ukrainians said they trusted Clinton and signed the Budapest Memorandum in 1994. This was the first step to war with Russia, as Mr. Clinton showed weakness and lacked leadership.
In 2007, US President George W. Bush supported North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) membership for Ukraine. This would have eliminated any invasion by Russia in 2014 and 2022. However, former German Chancellor Angela Merkel blocked the move. Bush showed poor leadership and allowed Merkel to prevail.
In 2014, Russian President Vladimir Putin invaded Crimea and the eastern provinces of Ukraine. At that time, Barack Obama was president of the United States and Joe Biden was the vice president. Obama abrogated the Budapest Memorandum by not adhering to its intent, and, in so doing, they bear responsibility for the integrity of Ukraine’s borders. Instead of helping the country, Obama and Biden told Ukraine to “stand down.” Instead of offering significant aid, Obama sent blankets. Ukraine was shocked. This was another reason for war in 2022. Obama and Biden betrayed Ukraine, and it showed Putin that America was not leading the free world.
Ukraine realized that it could not trust the Democrats, so they began to train troops with newfound vigor. A friend of mine, who retired from the US 1st Special Forces Group, was in Ukraine. He helped train the country’s Azov Brigade during the early days of the 2014 Russian invasion. The brigade continues to fight to this day.
Trump was elected president of the United States in 2016 and began to study geopolitical scenarios across the globe. He realized that NATO had become lazy and inefficient, that many countries were not close to providing the alliance with the recommended financial contribution of 2% of each country’s gross domestic product, and that military training was not taking place. These nations preferred to spend their defense allocations on social welfare programs. The warrior ethos was replaced by apathy and indifference coupled with drugs and hedonism.
After a routine conversation with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump sent Ukraine more than 600 Javelins in 2017. Biden refused to help Ukraine in 2022. It was Trump who saved Ukraine in the initial weeks of the invasion.
The Democrats could not stomach Trump, though he improved the US economy and told NATO members to shape up. US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decided to impeach Trump over his conversation with Zelenskyy, though Biden’s son, Hunter, sat on the board of directors of a Ukrainian company.
During Trump’s presidency, he sent the 10th Special Forces Group to help Ukraine. Poland was very helpful by sending groups of “GROM,” or Polish Special Forces soldiers, to train Ukrainian troops. Trump may have called Putin “smart,” which was a negotiation tactic, but he also took him to task.
In one conversation, Trump warned Putin not to attack Ukraine.
Months before Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Zelensky begged Biden for military aid. Biden and Harris refused. They firmly believed that Ukraine would fall in three days, so why help? Thanks to Trump, Zelensky used the Javelins he received back in 2017 to save Kyiv.
How did Ukraine survive in early 2022? My friend from the 1st Special Forces Group was not surprised; he was proud of the Ukrainian military and how they used hit-and-run tactics. They morphed into a force that used fast-hitting, lethal tactics, but only when they got the supplies they needed.
Where do we stand today? Biden has been slow-walking aid to Ukraine since the beginning of the war. He was afraid of offending or provoking Putin. Somehow, they believed that a war of attrition would be the best option for Ukraine. Biden and Harris have blood on their hands for creating this stalemate.
Will Harris do better? Of course not. She is a carbon copy of Biden and his disastrous policies. Remember Afghanistan? The press wants you to forget, but Putin saw weakness in both of them. He will be happy to have Harris at the helm of the United States.
Americans of Ukrainian descent should all vote for Trump. He is not a perfect person, as no one is. However, he is a leader, though you may not like the structure of his sentences or his energy. His running mate, J.D. Vance, was not my first choice, but we have what we have. Trump is reaching out to Nikki Haley, and she will make a great Secretary of the State Department. Haley knows international politics and she is a strong supporter of Ukraine.
Trump understands that the United States is up against an evil coalition of Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. We need peace in the world, but Russia must be defeated. US industries must come home from China, especially pharmaceutical companies. North Korea must suffer the consequences of sending troops to Ukraine. Iranian bomb-making factories must be destroyed, and their nuclear weapons program has to be pulverized.
When Trump was president, there were no new wars. Trump planned to leave Afghanistan with honor, and not leave weapons worth over $85 billion in that country, which could have helped Ukraine. Biden did not care. That is why everyone needs to put Trump back in the White House.
Col. Roman Golash (retired) was deputy brigade commander of the 332nd Medical Brigade of the US Army in Nashville, Tenn. Before that, he was assigned to a terrorist mitigation group with the U.S. Fifth Army. During mobilization in 2005, he was part of the First United States Army, training the 34th Infantry Division for duties in Iraq. He also participated in eight missions to Ukraine in the 1990s.
This opinion piece is reprinted with permission from the US publication The Ukrainian Weekly.
The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.