Op-eds

Fox News: It's time to help Ukraine win this war
Send Ukraine the damn MiGs
By, Rep. Mike Waltz
April 8, 2022

Ukraine has shocked the world with a valiant defense of its country. Rather than swiftly take the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, as Russia had anticipated and our own defense department believed, the Ukrainian military has brought the Russian military to a standstill across the country. 

Even at times, the Ukrainian military has forced the Russia into retreat and retaken occupied territory.  

Vladimir Putin has staked his legacy on this invasion. Desperate, he has resorted to despicable war crimes by launching strikes against children’s hospitals, civilian centers, and executing civilians without cause.

We’ve helped the Ukrainians defend themselves against this invasion. It’s now time we help them go on offense to retake the Russian occupied parts of Ukraine. 
Dwight Eisenhower once declared "guns and tanks and planes are nothing unless there is a solid spirit, a solid heart, and great productiveness behind it." 

The Ukrainian people have shown spirit, heart, and productiveness. They now need all the guns, tanks, and planes capable to defeat Russia militarily, and retake Crimea and the Donbas to restore their borders.

For months, the Biden administration has balked at the notion of providing ‘offensive’ arms that could be deemed too escalatory and invite further aggression for Putin. It needs to end the notion of only providing ‘defensive’ weaponry.

According to reports, Ukrainian helicopters recently attacked a Russian fuel depot and demonstrated the capability to strike targets in Russia. They should be given the capabilities to continue those cross-border missions.

While the U.S. has belatedly provided much-needed arms, such as stingers and javelins to defend against Russian aircraft and tanks, and now is the time to help them advance against Russian military.

Russia continues to carry out strikes against Ukraine’s pivotal coastal city of Odesa – their lifeline to the Black Sea – and need the capabilities to defend against a Russian advancement on a key economic port. The Biden administration needs to provide Harpoon anti-ship missiles to do just that.

Additionally, Ukrainian pilots are trained to use Soviet-era MiG aircraft to maintain control over their airspace. They have the personnel to fly these aircraft without prior training and MiGs would provide an immediate boost to their defense posture but also provide air cover for future Ukrainian army advances. Send Ukraine the damn MiGs. Every day that passes without vital equipment, more civilians are dying.

Earlier this week, Secretary of Defense Austin and Chairman of the Joint Chiefs General Milley told me in a Congressional hearing that we are providing training to Ukrainian forces, despite NATO Supreme Allied Commander General Wolters telling me the previous week we were not.

We cannot send these mixed signals to the world as it weakens our public commitment to helping Ukraine defend themselves. The Biden Administration should very publicly commit to training Ukrainian forces as a means to signal to the Russian military that this war will be a long quagmire, draining Russia of blood and treasure.

At this point, Russia needs to know this is a conflict that won’t just drag out, but one that it will ultimately lose.

The Biden administration can still use additional tools to further cripple the Russian economy and isolate them diplomatically. Russia is currently relying on China to avoid international sanctions – we should be imposing secondary sanctions on China to close off these loopholes.  

President Biden can also fully sever Russia’s ties from SWIFT which would disable Russia’s ability to access international banking as it relates to their energy sector. These economic actions will further diminish Putin of much-needed resources to fund his military assault. 

The decision enter into a peace agreement with Russia lays solely with the Ukrainian people. But until that time, the international community needs to send a diplomatic message to Russia that they will no longer be permitted to use international organizations to spread their propaganda. This includes removing Russia from the UN Security Council.

I’ve cosponsored legislation to establish a lend-lease program to simplify bureaucratic barriers and allow a speedier transfer of U.S. military equipment to Ukraine. This World War II-era program was used to assist allies in the war effort and can be used again to help Ukraine. The Senate has passed legislation to do this and Speaker Nancy Pelosi should allow a vote on this legislation immediately.

When this conflict is over, lawmakers will assess what we could have done more to help Ukraine. They should have been provided arms months ago. General Milley conceded to me "The more [stingers] that they had prior to the invasion, the better off the would have been." 

But until then, the Biden administration has an obligation to show global leadership by utilizing all available tools of the U.S. government to assist Ukraine.  

It’s time to help Ukraine win this war.