The Patriots were aware that they needed powerful allies for the revolution to succeed and sent Benjamin Franklin to Paris to enlist the French in our cause. The colonials had fared rather poorly in the early stages of the war. The French were reluctant to commit until it could be shown that we had a reasonable chance of winning. The Patriot victories at the two battles of Saratoga in the Fall of 1777 provided that showing.
The French officially entered the war early in 1778 and declared war on Great Britain later that year. France’s main contribution to victory was the fact that it was contesting the British in many areas across the globe, particularly the lucrative sugar-producing Caribbean islands. The cost of defending its wide-spread territory became too great for the British, causing them to lose enthusiasm for continuation of the American hostilities.
The Revolutionary War provides a powerful narrative. A feisty little wannabe nation tirelessly fighting to throw off the yoke of a powerful oppressor and willing to risk it all for freedom and self-determination. Just the right opening for a benevolent world power to step in and help out.
As it turns out, the United States had an opportunity to return the favor by coming to the aid of France in two world wars in the last century. Although the US has been involved in many conflicts, skirmishes and wars since our revolution, there has not been another one that quite fits the narrative of the Revolutionary War. Well, not until Russia’s genocidal war against Ukraine.
There is an interesting parallel between our revolution and the war that Russia’s dictator, Vladimir Putin, has been prosecuting against the Ukrainians. The old Soviet Union gained full control over Ukraine in 1920 and maintained a tight grip over the country until the Soviet Empire disintegrated in 1991.
Putin, a devoted Soviet, has done all in his power to reconstruct the Soviet Union, to include the subjugation of Ukraine. The Ukrainians, much like the American Patriots in 1776, are not willing to live under those oppressive conditions. When Putin launched his full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, much of the world believed that he would succeed. But the people of that pugnacious country have consistently demonstrated that they will risk everything for freedom and self-determination.
The United States initially responded by providing substantial military aid to the Ukrainians, but with nonsensical limitations on how and where powerful weapons could be used. As the war slogged on, America’s leadership changed hands, resulting in severe cutbacks in lethal aid. The US government even pushed the Ukrainians to cave to Russian demands to cede territory and take other needless actions that would endanger its ability to maintain its freedom and self-determination. Their President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, was told in the White House that he had no cards to play.
Zelenskyy and his Ukrainian Patriots were having none of it. They essentially channeled Patrick Henry’s historic words, “Give me liberty or give me death.” They have intensified their efforts, innovated new battlefield strategies, used cutting-edge technology to develop remarkable new weaponry, and started to turn the tide against a lumbering, exhausted Russian military. They have indeed shown that they have the will and staying power to eventually maintain their freedom.
Ukraine is the epitome of that feisty collection of American colonies, risking all to preserve their way of life and showing they have the desire and ability to prevail. Now is the time for the United States to pay it forward by providing Ukraine the resources and support it needs to follow in the footsteps of our great nation–the nation that will be celebrating its similar journey to freedom on this Fourth of July.
That being said, the ultimate answer as to whether we should provide substantial support to Ukraine is if it will serve the national security interests of the United States. The answer is a resounding “Yes.” Russia and China are the most significant threats to America’s national security. China is a powerhouse, which threatens to eclipse the United States, both economically and militarily, unless we wake up and take appropriate action to keep that from happening. But that is another story.
Russia is a declining nation, but with its vast nuclear arsenal and malign attitude toward the US and our NATO allies, it is the greater immediate threat. Ukraine is grinding down Putin’s conventional warfare capabilities every day on the battlefield. That is occurring to our great advantage, without any risk to the personnel of America and our allies. The least we can do for Ukraine is to provide the support necessary to achieve a suitable outcome to the war.
The members of Idaho’s Congressional delegation, with the exception of Rep. Russ Fulcher, have in past years acknowledged that we need to provide Ukraine the support it needs to survive. During the last year or so, they have been too frightened of political retaliation from the top of our government to do anything about it. Chief of the cowards is Senator Jim Risch, who knows what is at stake and should be shouting from the rooftops of Washington about the critical need to help that beleaguered nation. We can only hope that the members of our delegation will find their voices and do what needs to be done to keep the US and our NATO allies safe from the Russian threat. Or that voters will replace them with people who have the courage to do the job.
As Americans gear up to celebrate the 250th anniversary of our Declaration of Independence, we must never forget those stirring words: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” The signers knew that full equality did not reign at the time, but the words gave inspiration and direction to future generations to accomplish that goal. We are still a work in progress.
