The newspapers are filled with reports of an extraordinary victory by Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region. As of this writing, over 6,000 square kilometers have been recaptured from the Russians, dozens of villages have been liberated, and massive amounts of Russian military equipment have been captured….
Yet while the Ukrainian victories are truly worth celebrating, a sober view of the situation is required. Ukraine has won some important battles. It has not won the war. The Putinites are not about to give up….
The Ukrainians are fighting for their independence, their lives, and for their kidnapped children. The Russians don’t know why they are fighting. When the brutal cold winter hits, it will be the Ukrainians who will be willing to endure it and come out and fight….
But we need to do our part as well. The Biden administration’s support for Ukraine, while welcome, has been episodic and inadequate. The Ukrainians have shown they can put American high-mobility artillery rocket systems (HIMARS) to good use with great effect….
But we shouldn’t stop there. America has 4,000 F-16s, which are no longer our frontline fighter aircraft, and 350 A-10 ground-attack planes that the Air Force has been trying to get rid of for years. The A-10s were designed to destroy Russian armor. The current war is the perfect place to put them to good use….
The vital interests of the entire Western world are at stake. Putin needs to be defeated and discredited, and not only to save Ukraine and the Baltic states. Deterrence needs to be reestablished if there is to be any degree of peace in the world.
It’s costing America a lot to help Ukraine fight this war. But it will cost us far more if we let it lose.
Abridged and reprinted with the author’s permission from National Review where the full version can be read.
The view expressed here are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of Kyiv Post.
