Ukraine’s recent cross-border attack on Russia highlights a serious problem in its ability to defend against Vladimir Putin’s genocidal war. The U.S and its NATO allies recognized the grave threat that the war posed against their collective national security interests and correctly responded by supplying weapons to the beleaguered nation. Senator Jim Risch has repeatedly said that Putin’s war poses a serious threat to America’s national security. He told columnist Chuck Malloy: “If we abandon Ukraine and throw in the towel…there will be major consequences.” Getting out of Ukraine, “I believe, would set up the largest arms race that the planet has ever seen.”
Unfortunately, we have conditioned our aid on the unreasonable restriction that U.S. supplied equipment and munitions may not be deployed on Russian soil. We have gradually loosened the restriction, but have usually made known just how far Ukrainian operations can extend into Russian territory. The Russians have no such restrictions. We should lift all restrictions on our aid, allowing the Ukrainians to strike any targets in Russia that Putin uses to support his war. And, we should start supplying Ukraine with longer-range weaponry to take out those targets.
I’ve personally witnessed the folly of restrictions like we have imposed on Ukraine. While flying a nighttime recon mission in Vietnam on June 27, 1969, I observed a sizable North Vietnamese Army (NVA) unit just over the Cambodian border from Tay Ninh Province, where I was stationed. As we approached the border in a single-engine “Bird Dog” spotter plane, the pilot and I saw over a dozen lights just a stone’s throw over the border. When we got about half of a kilometer from the location, all the lights disappeared. As we moved away, they reappeared. We turned back toward the border a couple of times with the same result.
That, plus the fact that the NVA was in full control of the border areas, confirmed that it was an enemy unit. My heavy artillery battalion could have eliminated it in minutes, safeguarding the lives of U.S. troops and our South Vietnamese partners. The restrictions made that impossible.
The NVA unit need not have worried about disclosing its location because it was well known by all concerned that U.S. forces were strictly prohibited from firing upon communist forces located in Cambodia. The restriction gave the NVA a valuable advantage in the war, narrowing the dangers it had to plan against. It took good advantage of the policy, maintaining numerous facilities just over the border from Tay Ninh Province, knowing they could not be disturbed by American forces. The NVA could attack at will and simply return to their Cambodian sanctuary where they could not be touched.
It made no sense to let NVA forces know of our self-imposed combat restrictions during the Vietnam War. Nor does it make sense now to publicly impose unreasonable restrictions on U.S. aid to Ukraine. The policy has hamstrung the Ukrainian war effort and resulted in needless loss of lives. Ukraine’s cross-border attack has already caused chaos for Russian forces. Our removal of the aid restraint will dramatically expand the battlefield and complicate Putin’s efforts to subjugate the Ukrainian people.
The Ukrainians suffered many more needless casualties as a result of the unconscionable six-month delay by the U.S. House of Representatives in providing critical war supplies. Three Members of Idaho’s Congressional delegation understood the urgent need for the $61 billion aid package and voted for it.
Unfortunately, Rep. Russ Fulcher has not figured out that America is on Ukraine’s side. He supported the six-month delay and then voted against the aid when the issue was finally brought up for a vote on April 19. He and the extremists in control of the House did Putin a great favor by holding up the war supplies that the Ukrainians so desperately needed. The Republicans for Ukraine group gave Fulcher an “F–Very Poor” grade on its Ukraine report card as a result of his repeated refusal to support this important U.S. ally. Because he refuses to support the important national security interests of the United States, it is time for voters to call him home.
