Opinion: NATO won't back US in Ukraine

The Washington Post has published a massive two-part epic on the war in Ukraine and what happened there.

It took that much paper and ink to inform the public that Ukraine blames the United States for not providing it with the necessary arms to defeat the Russians and the United States blames Ukraine for not fighting the war the way Ukraine should have.

One finding that I absolutely agree with:

“Ukrainian officials said the Americans didn’t seem to comprehend how attack drones and other technology had transformed the battlefield.”

It is often said that generals fight the last war.

The Post notes that, “Many in the West underestimated Russia’s ability to rebound from battlefield disasters and exploit its perennial strengths: manpower, mines and a willingness to sacrifice lives on a scale that few other countries can countenance.”

Both the West and the newspaper continue to underestimate the Russians in that they cannot bring themselves to admit the failure of the much-ballyhooed counter offensive, preferring to view the defeat as a stalemate.

I have written many times that the titles, NATO, the West and the United States are interchangeable.

Everyone in what we used to call the Third World, but is now referred to as the Global South, understands that Ukraine is a member of NATO in everything but the name.

President Biden regularly notes that more than 30 countries are supporting Ukraine in the war. These supporting countries comprise NATO.

The only people who believe that Ukraine is fighting the Russians alone are the Western news media.

When pundits and commentators declaim that allowing Ukraine into NATO is the only way to stop the Russian behemoth in its tracks what they are really asking for is the only resource NATO has left to expend.

That resource is NATO’s Article 5, backed up by United States military boots on the ground. The U.S. is the only NATO state that still has the military assets to put boots anywhere.

The heretofore dreaded Article 5 calls for all members to support any other member attacked. In effect, the article allows each member the ability to opt out should they so choose.

Don’t believe me? How many NATO states do you think will join us in a shooting war with Russia? Still don’t believe me? How many NATO states do you see lining up to join us in Israel?

Rube Render is a former Clovis city commissioner and former chair of the Curry County Republican Party. Contact him:

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