Lawmakers must remove conditions on US aid to Ukraine

I very strongly supported a to Ukraine, Israel, Taiwan, and encourage my friends in the House to pass the bill. But I also wrote a newsletter recently that this isn’t enough. We can’t just give weapons to Ukraine to allow it to lose a war of attrition. Russia is much bigger than Ukraine. It has a much bigger military complex. It’s capable of either producing or buying an enormous number of weapons. And Putin has proven that he’s willing to take a huge number of casualties in order to get what he wants. So I recently wrote that we have to go on offense, we had to be prepared to take the war to the Russians, not just to have Ukraine get punished, day after day, with hospitals bombed, electric generating facilities bombed, factories bombed. In fact, they’ve got to be able to hit back. So I’ve been delighted recently, when for the very first time, we began providing the kind of weapons that will allow Ukraine to truly hit Russia. The first attacks have been in Crimea, where they began taking out Russian facilities. I hope presently, you’re going to be attacking inside Russia itself. Putin has to learn that not only is this a war, he can’t win. But this is a war, which every week is going to become more and more expensive. You know, it’s not hard to understand. If the other guy gets to hit you, and hit you, and hit you. And you’re not you’re allowed to block the hits, but you can’t return them. Sooner or later, you’re going to get worn down. But if you can counter attack, if you too, can go on offense, then you can make a big difference. So I think it’s very important. With all the new weapons that Ukraine is getting, with all the aid they’re getting not us from the US. But from a number of countries around the world, including virtually every Western European country. I think it’s very important that we encourage them to seek out the places where Russia is weak to take out Russian airfields, Russian command and control centers, Russian generators of electricity, and Russian hydroelectric facilities, as well as taking out the refineries. If they go back on the right track, and they start causing Russia pain, Putin have faced a totally different equation about whether or not he wants to continue this war. It’s in everyone’s interest outside of Putin, to get this over with to save lives. And to get a peaceful Ukraine, able to focus once again, on being one of the great agricultural producers in the world, and a great Manufacturing Center, which it was, I think the Ukrainians will recover quickly once the war is over. I think that passing recent legislation helps them get to that point. And I think a new strategy of being on offense will increase that possibility. This is a key pivotal moment. And if we all come together to help, I think we will find out that in fact, we can win an enormous victory, stop Putin and teach China not to go into Taiwan, and teach the Iranians to be pretty darn careful, because we are prepared to do what it takes for evil to be defeated.