“It’s not peacetime” – the world is at war and no one can lead

Allegorically speaking, Rome is on fire again. He then discovers that Capitol Hill is inhabited by modern-day Neros.

The world is increasingly at war, but House Republicans and President Joe Biden have no intention of going up in flames. They are radically prioritizing electoral calculations over national security.

The Biden administration still lacks a comprehensive plan to win the conflict and clearly wants to escalate the conflict into a “forever war.” Biden and his national security team have failed to give Ukraine the green light for the weapons capabilities and long-range munitions Kiev needs to defeat Russian President Vladimir Putin in Donbass and Crimea.

But Biden’s major strategic failure on Ukraine does not justify the Republican decision to jeopardize the war effort. Rather, during the fundraising process in the House and Senate, Republicans should highlight Mr. Biden’s failures while getting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy the military and economic aid his country needs to survive.

Partisan politics can no longer dictate our national security. But it’s doing more and more of that. Many Republicans are participating in November politics, including Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. Biden himself is no different in terms of electoral calculations in Michigan that will influence his approach to Israel over its war with Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran.

Whether Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and her ilk understand it or not, we need to survive with Russia and China and their proxies, Iran and North Korea. We are in an increasingly heated global ideological war. Together, these four are a formidable enemy that will never go away.

Russia and China are betting that the U.S. government will remain deeply divided. Their disinformation campaign aims to stir up divisions within the Belt and Road. For Putin, it is the best way to win on Capitol Hill what the military has not won on the battlefields of Ukraine.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has also taken advantage of a severely distracted Capitol Hill to continue the rapid militarization of his land, sea, air, nuclear, and space forces aimed at dominating the Indo-Pacific. Mr. Xi is largely unchecked, harassing Philippine shipping in the South China Sea. Meanwhile, his plans to invade Taiwan continue at an alarming pace.

Time is running out. America needs to be ready for combat. Poland’s new Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a former European Council president, was right to warn that Europe was in a “pre-war era” with Russia and Belarus.So is America.

“These are not normal times.” Former first lady Eleanor Roosevelt first uttered these words during the 1940 Democratic National Convention in Chicago. At the time, the Democratic Party was deeply divided within the party, as was the country over the possibility of involvement in World War II. She added that right now there is “no time to consider anything other than what’s best for the country as a whole.”

Today, in the midst of the unyielding partisanship of our own generation, the Republican Party has seen men of similar stature boldly rise above the fray, even putting up with Mr. Greene’s self-serving threats to admit the House. , it is necessary to demand that funds be provided to Ukraine without delay. Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries (D.Y.) will replace Mike Johnson (R., Louisiana) as Speaker of the House.

When it comes to national security interests in Ukraine, Republicans either take control in the House or stay out of the way. So is Biden and his own national security team regarding the approval of ATACMS, precision deep munitions, and other desperately needed offensive military capabilities that will enable Kyiv to take on Moscow.

The Pentagon knows how to win Ukraine. Authorize new funding for ammunition and weapons and let Ukrainians do the work.

This same message applies equally to Trump and his anti-Ukraine war stance. His belief that his cult of personality can dictate world affairs is narcissistic and naive. National security can only be achieved when all instruments of national power are combined and exercised cohesively and collectively against the enemy.

History is full of people who believed that their admiration for their persona could determine, if not influence, the outcome. None of them worked.

As a nation, we are staring into the deep abyss of the world. We lack leaders who understand the importance of bipartisan politics. We cannot safely continue down this dangerously naive, partisan and selfish path.

When it comes to national security and foreign policy, every leader or candidate for leadership in our country is wrong. That includes Biden, Trump, Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. Each is wrong in its own way, to varying degrees.

We are truly a house divided, as President Abraham Lincoln once warned. Putin and Xi are calculating, even calculating that this separation will destroy our system and give them free reign over the West economically and militarily.

If we continue to foolishly look inward as a nation, we will find ourselves increasingly marginalized, if not ostracized, on the world stage. Because Biden, Trump, Republicans and Democrats on Capitol Hill are all repeatedly sending a message to allies that Washington can’t do it. Trusted for longer.

For example, NATO currently insists that the United States should not lead the Ramstein Group, which coordinates military aid to NATO. A leadership vacuum in Washington forced French President Emmanuel Macron and Czech President Petr Pavel to step in and fill the vacuum, leading to this moment.

Republicans still have an opportunity to make the right choice in Congress — the exact same choice our greatest generation made on December 7, 1941: that tyranny trumps democracy. The choice is not to.

Similarly, Biden urgently needs to make the same winning choice that President Franklin Roosevelt made after Pearl Harbor: defeating our nation’s enemies at all costs. Subordination to Moscow and Beijing is not an option. Victory must be our country’s only guiding star in the defense of the West.

These are certainly not normal times. The world is at war, and Washington is led by deeply flawed men and women who are unwilling to meet the challenges of this most extraordinary of times.

mark toth He writes about national security and foreign policy. Colonel (retired) Jonathan Sweet He served as a military intelligence officer for 30 years.