The Case for American Military Intervention in Ukraine

I am saddened and frustrated by our country’s refusal to militarily intervene on behalf of Ukraine in its current conflict with Russia. The current situation is tragic and yet, as a country, we sit back and watch as the continuing horrors unfold. We refuse to militarily intervene to help defend the Ukrainians against Putin’s naked aggression. And why? Because our leaders — from both political parties — are paralyzed by errant conclusions drawn from our country’s involvement in prior foreign conflicts.

Understandably, none of us wants the U.S. to get bogged down in another Viet Nam, Iraq, or Afghanistan. Our track record of intervening in foreign conflicts for the express purpose of building new democracies is horrible. We have repeatedly proven to be incapable of exporting our brand of democracy to countries that have not naturally come to adopt democratic principles on their own. However, Ukraine is already a democracy. The Ukrainians are simply trying to protect what they have. We should help them.

The U.S. also has a failed history when it comes to picking sides in, and intervening to try to influence the outcome of, civil wars in foreign countries. By all accounts we ought not to engage militarily in those matters. But, the conflict in the Ukraine is NOT a civil war. Ukraine is merely fighting for its national survival trying to defend itself against an unprovoked Russian invasion. We should help them.

Finally, when justifying our lack of military intervention in Ukraine, the constant refrain from our politicians and bureaucrats is: “If the U.S. does X, it will mean World War III”. While WW I and WW II were horrible tragedies in every respect, and while everyone in the civilized world should do everything possible to avoid WW III, there are limits to how far we should go. Think about it: As horrible as WW I and WW II were, in hindsight would anyone now honestly suggest that the U.S. should NOT have intervened in both? Both wars were started by unprovoked attacks on the world’s democracies by power hungry megalomaniacs. U.S. intervention turned the tides of both wars against the aggressors. Had the U.S. not intervened, there is little doubt that the outcomes in both wars would have been different. The same is true in Ukraine. If defending one of the world’s democracies now means that the U.S. needs to intervene militarily, then let’s do it. If WW III results then so be it, but do recognize that this time it would be the world (with a few notable exceptions) against Russia, not nearly the more balanced conflicts of the past two World Wars.

Ukraine needs our help. We should help them.