History shows those who have the will to win will win
As the Russian invasion of Ukraine settles into a slugfest in the east of the country, headlines appear suggesting many difficulties. There is a split within NATO as to how much support is appropriate to give to Ukraine. Weapons of sufficient range and lethality to allow the Ukrainian army to defeat the Russians will only prolong the war.
In the U.S., there is a political segment wondering why we have ever helped the Ukrainians at all. How does saving Ukraine from being dominated by the Russians serve American interests? Why are we sending billions to Ukraine while we have shortages of baby formula? Besides all this, if we give the Ukrainians what they need, might not that force Putin into a humiliating corner, and then who knows what he might do with, for instance, nukes?
This all sounds familiar. When Chamberlin went to Munich, he wondered why endanger the peace in Europe by denying Hitler what he wanted in Czechoslovakia? That would mean war, and Chamberlin wanted “peace in our time”. After all, Hitler only wanted the Sudetenland, where many Germans lived, supposedly oppressed by the Czech majority.
Putin, perhaps, only really wants a couple Eastern provinces, and the south coast, where many ethnically Russians live, oppressed by the neo-Nazi Ukrainians, leaving the rest of the country to its own devices. It can be swallowed up later, the principle of rewarding aggression having been established. Did Hitler stop with the Sudentland? Of course not. After shortly swallowing up the rest of Czechoslovakia, he also took a chunk of Lithuania in March 1939. Who cares about Lithuania?
England and France were riven by fear, and the U.S. stood aloof in our continental isolation. Why should we get involved in another European intertribal spat? I think we all know how that worked out.
Once we were in, however, we were in it to win it. There was no talk of giving Hitler, Tojo and Mussolini an “exit ramp.” There was no talk of “prolonging the war” by pouring massive amounts of American blood and treasure into the fight. There was only one “exit ramp” for the dictators, and that was unconditional surrender. That was the end of them. Well, not quite. Stalin was left standing in a deal with the devil.
After World War II, winning ceased to be an option. Korea was a stalemate, mostly because of fear of Russian nukes if we went too far. Vietnam was a defeat after years of wasted blood and treasure because we did not have the fortitude to win it. Russian nukes, again. The first Gulf War was fought to a tactical victory, and strategic defeat as Saddam Hussein was left in power. It took another set of wars which we were not willing to see to complete victory, thus the humiliation in Afghanistan.
If the history of the world teaches us anything, I think it is that those who have the will to win — and the means — will win. Hitler had the will, but not the means. To switch to domestic politics, how many of the “culture wars” have been won by the side with the will to win? The losers in these “wars” are those who were willing to compromise, to be “bi-partisan,” to be reasonable, to understand the other side. If wars aren’t worth winning, why fight at all? Surrender immediately and save the cost.
If, in the current situation, we do not wish to reward Russian aggression, the path forward is very simple. Arm the Ukrainians to the teeth. Break the Russian blockade of Odessa in the Black Sea. Millions are facing hunger, or worse, if Ukrainian grain is not exported. The Russian Black Sea fleet couldn’t stand up to our Navy for five minutes, and they know it. If, after that, the Ukrainians cannot expel the Russians, then we have a different and far more serious problem.
Concluding thoughts: If evil is given an “off ramp,” it will win; compromise is just another word for surrender on the installment plan.
Charles Milliken is a professor emeritus after 22 years of teaching economics and related subjects at Siena Heights University. He can be reached at milliken.charles@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Charles Milliken: History shows those who have will to win will win
