Interviewed by Norah O'Donnell on Sunday night’s CBS 60 Minutes program, Democratic Minority Leader in the House of Representatives, Hakeem Jeffries, said the US may one day have to intervene in the war in Ukraine and send troops to the combat zone.
“We cannot allow Ukraine to fall. If this happens, there is a significant possibility that America will have to intervene in a conflict not only with our money, but also with our military personnel,” Jeffries said.
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The house leader added that if Russian President Vladimir Putin wins in Ukraine, he “will not stop” in pursuit of his goal to recreate the Soviet Union, in turn threatening NATO countries; furthermore, there are lessons to be learned from the invasion of neighboring Georgia and the illegal takeover of Crimea.
“Are we to believe that in the face of this kind of consistent aggression that if we allow Vladimir Putin to succeed in Ukraine that he's only going to stop in Ukraine? Of course not," Jeffries said.
He went on to accuse pro-Putin members of the Republican party of delaying the approval by Congress of the long-awaited bill to provide $61 billion in military and humanitarian aid for Ukraine, which made the possibility of a need for future US military intervention that bit closer.
Citing Michael McCaul, the Republican chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee, and Mike Turner, the Republican chair of the Intelligence Committee, who both said in separate interviews in April that Russian propaganda had infiltrated the GOP, Jeffries added: “There is a growing pro-Putin faction in the Republican party that does not want to support Ukraine and believes for some reason that Russia is not an enemy of the United States of America.”
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Jeffries went on to specifically point the finger at Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene who he said was the leading supporter of Russia [in the House].
“Check the record,” he said. “That's the reality of who she is, what she's said, and her belief system.”
French President Emmanuel Macron talked about sending Western troops to Ukraine at the end of February after which France said there was a coalition of countries, including Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia and possibly Poland, who were potentially ready to send troops to Ukraine if it became necessary to prevent a Russian victory.
However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and British Foreign Minister David Cameron said that the appearance of Western troops in Ukraine would make the situation worse.
In turn, President Volodymyr Zelensky said in mid-March that “Kyiv does not need foreign troops in the conflict zone – as long as Ukraine holds out.”
The Kremlin warned that the appearance of Western troops in Ukraine would lead to an inevitable clash between Russia and NATO. “This will be one step away from a full-scale third world war. I think that hardly anyone is interested in this,” Putin said.
In the Senate, 15 Republicans, including Senator JD Vance of Ohio, voted against the bill to provide more aid for Ukraine. Vance said in a New York Times op-ed in April that Ukraine has insufficient manpower and military strength which US support would be unable to change.
Jeffries pointed out that Ukraine had held off Russia’s forces for over two years, saying: “This has been a strategic success by any definition, and so those that want to convince the American people that the Ukrainian effort has been a failure are promoting Vladimir Putin's propaganda because the facts say the exact opposite, which is why it's important for us to finish the job. It's a Churchill or Chamberlain moment.”
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Comments (5)
This was never about Ukraine and always about US regime change in Russia. Sorry, Ukraine, you have been used.
MRGA VirgoAtheist,
Nope To everything you just said. Firstly the chaos in Ukraine is caused by solely by putin's regime. It is breaking international laws and has been called out for this by 143 Nations specifically for doing this.
Democratic allies not upholding fair international laws or aiding a democracy under existential attack would actually be a harbinger of the potential end for democratic governance for the people by the people. It would result in global chaos.
It would offer the blueprint for all other tyrant expansionist wannabes. Everything freedom seeking people hold dear in the way of current rights would now be subject to not so benevolent dictatorial aspiring leaders. Once in power these simply lock in their rule by getting rid of opposition or any media, judiciary or member of the general public that subsequently squawks about growing oppression. This results in there being no practical way for the people to again 'elect' a public serving replacement.
The path forward in this war is clear. Full steam ahead in defending Ukraine! Allied boots in Ukraine's ground, sea and air as necessary!
Putin cannot be rewarded for his crimes with an inch of Ukraine's territory.
Jeffries is a CLOWN and a fool. He can pick up a weapon all he wants, but if US and NATO troops go into Ukraine, the UK, Europe and the U.S. will be hit, and WWIII will ensue, drawing in China and all of Russia’s allies. The west is trying to save itself by creating chaos everywhere, but it will be the end of the Anglo-American empire and Ukraine.
“There is a growing pro-Putin faction in the Republican party that does not want to support Ukraine and believes for some reason that Russia is not an enemy of the United States of America.” - Hakeem Jeffries
In decades of travel to Europe and Canada, I have met many friends and colleagues. Many of them have reached out over the years and asked how Americans can elect people like Trump, JD Vance and Marjorie Taylor Greene? They asked what has happened to us?
Commenters and opinion writers here on the Kyiv Post have also asked that same question repeatedly. I can tell you exactly the event that took place that has led America to the choices it has made.
It all began on 4 November 2008 - the day Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. While many of us celebrated this landmark breakthrough, as a (at that time) 40-year-old white American, I witnessed first-hand how many of my neighbors and associates reacted to this event - they collectively freaked the fuck out.
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A reaction bordering on hysteria took place in much of the White community in America. It led to the Tea Party movement, a massive uptick in the sales of handguns and assault rifles, the wider acceptance of the racist 'Great Replacement Theory' conspiracy. Conservative broadcasters from Fox News to popular radio talk show hosts pumped endlessly into the ears of these people that they were losing power in America permanently. This went on for eight years - and the population of Americans who were horrified on that November day in 2008 were primed to be manipulated by Russian propaganda, right-wing conspiracy theories, and the MAGA movement that enables Donald Trump.
What happened wasn't borne from inadequate education - we all know who these people are. It wasn't a reaction to economic despair - Right this moment America's economy is booming, but MAGA refuses to recognize that anything other than a collapsing economy is happening. No, the one thing this fueled this nightmare is America's original sin that we just can't seem to shake - racism.
@Coach John,
Compelling insight.
Obama was an intelligent, inspiring and well meaning statesman and as such gained the respect of the USA's democratic allies. putinrump.....arghhh....
It's clear in putinrumps catering to white supremacy movements, response to racist crimes, verbal attacks against the BLM movement and immigration policies that he stokes the racism you mention. Yes putinrump occasionally hires visible minorities but seemingly only ones that he can leverage and then afterward discard. There are shocking quotes in this regards from the White House team serving under his tenure.
Meanwhile do you remember how there was a petition in France to try to assign Obama French citizenship ...and then lure him to run for president there? Race had become increasingly a non-issue in most of the more evolved democracies in the EU. I do fear though that putin is now trying to mirror his USA hybrid war success on this regards, into similar racist movements abroad. I'm thinking of the voldemort aspiring politicians like orban, fico, salvini, le pen, wilders...etc that inherently hate muggles.
Folks should only be judged by their words and actions. On both fronts putinrump fails.
The Dem wants to be Speaker. But won’t be.
Republicans put forth a bill funding Ukraine but without the earmarks for pet projects present in the Dems senate bill.