By Sandy Fitzgerald
Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, when offered the opportunity to leave Ukraine, asked only for ammunition for his country to fight back against the Russian military invading his country, and the United States should respect that strength and do “nothing less than that,” Rep. Darrell Issa told Newsmax Saturday.
And, the California Republican told Newsmax’s “Saturday Agenda,” as Biden won’t do what’s needed to protect Ukraine, he has “failed to be the commander in chief, and candidly, this is time for him to step aside and put somebody in charge that actually will defend freedom around the world. It is clearly is not President Biden or Vice President (Kamala) Harris.”
The United States must stand in a position of strength, and either work with NATO or by itself to “do what we need to do,” Issa also said Saturday.
“If we do not do it now, history will remember that we have abandoned these free freedom-loving people in their time of need. We failed to keep our promises, and it will cost American lives,” said Issa.
The time is past, he continued, for sanctions and diplomacy to be the sole solution to helping Ukraine, as it needs weapons and military support.
“What we can do now is what the Germans are doing and provide weapons and capability to these brave Ukrainians,” Issa said. “The Germans are giving rocket launchers to the Ukrainians, and Biden has left the capital.”
The president and first lady Jill Biden were photographed Friday boarding a Marine One helicopter to travel to their home in Delaware for the weekend, reports The New York Post. “We have a president of Ukraine who, given an opportunity to go to freedom, has asked for nothing more than the bullets to fight against these terrible invaders. We can do nothing less than that,” Issa said.
“This is a kinetic war and we will only be supportive of the Ukrainian people and freedom if we answer with a kinetic response,” Issa said. “When diplomacy fails that’s when the military gets called in, and the idea that this president is still talking diplomacy while Putin takes the country by force in violation of all these laws … the time for sanctions has passed.”
The battle for Ukraine can’t be called a conflict, as it is an “all-out war for the freedom of eastern Europe,” and sanctions that have been announced came too late and are not intended to stop Russia President Vladimir Putin, “this terrible dictator,” the congressman added.
The United States and NATO promised to defend Ukraine when it agreed to surrender its nuclear weapons, said Issa, but Zelenskyy’s predecessors made a key mistake with that decision,” Issa said.
“They should have kept their nuclear weapons and pointed them to Moscow and they would be a free and independent country today,” said Issa.
The congressman also called it “pathetic” for members of NATO to be unwilling to threaten real force against Russia in the defense of Ukraine.
“Now they’ll do sanctions,” he said. “Ultimately 40%, or effectively all of Russia’s real GDP comes from oil and natural gas exports. Europe has been buying them and they have been bought off.”
The United States also “gave up its leadership position” when it allowed the Nord Stream 2 pipeline to proceed and stopped being a net exporter of oil and gas, and to get that position back will be “much harder than it was to lose it in just one year,” said Issa.
The congressman also insisted that Europe and the United States have been “soft” with their response to the deadly threat to Ukraine from Russia.
“The Europeans will always be soft,” said Issa. “This was a Churchill opportunity, but it became a Chamberlain moment. This called for a Ronald Reagan and we got a Jimmy Carter instead.”
Such moments in history have “cost American lives and have cost tens of millions of lives around the world, he continued.
The administration also is trying to say now that sanctions were “never going to prevent” Putin’s actions, when before it said sanctions would be a potential prevention tool.
“They can’t have it both ways,” said Issa. “They can’t say give up on sanctions because they aren’t going to work. Of course, they’re not going to work. They didn’t work after Putin took Crimea. They were never going to work here. What would have worked here was NATO forces backfilling the Ukrainians in Kyiv. It’s too late for that.”
The United States should also be providing “every bit of technical capability it can,” including blocking the air space over Ukraine, and giving the country as much warning as it can from within the borders of surrounding countries such as Romania and Poland, said Issa.
“We can still do a great deal but it will take aircraft flying in and bringing in massive amounts of weaponry to prevent to stop this,” said Issa. “Let’s remember Putin is doing something he said he wasn’t going to do. Putin has been a straightforward liar, a KGB agent made president, and he is doing something in violation of all the laws.”
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Source: https://www.newsmax.com/newsmax-tv/darrellissa-ukraine-biden-russia/2022/02/26/id/1058652/