Himes: Saying There’s No Ukraine Strategy Is an Excuse, They Took a Lot of Territory

On Friday’s broadcast of CNN’s “Situation Room,” Rep. Jim Himes (D-CT) stated that complaints that there isn’t a clear U.S. strategy for its endgame in funding Ukraine in its fight against Russia is an excuse because it comes “after a year in which the Ukrainians actually managed to recapture about half the territory that they lost to the Russians and score staggering military victories.”

Himes said, “I’ve watched now the excuses for being against aid to Ukraine for a very long time. People say, well, we’re concerned that there is no plan, no strategy. This coming after a year in which the Ukrainians actually managed to recapture about half the territory that they lost to the Russians and score staggering military victories. There [are] complaints about, well, we don’t know where the weaponry is going. I’m ranking member of the Intelligence Committee. I know where the weaponry is going. As soon as it crosses into Ukraine, it is used against Russia. And, at the bottom of this, Kaitlan, is something dark and ominous, which is, we are approaching the election in 2024. Donald Trump really, really, really doesn’t like Ukraine because it was the source, ultimately, of his first impeachment, and, therefore, about half the Republicans in the House are not risking doing what their Republican forebearers, going back to Ronald Reagan, going back to well before Ronald Reagan would have done, which is to say, think about this as a fight of freedom and democracy against dictators and authoritarianism, think about what President Xi is going to take away from the United States cutting and running, thinking about what the Iranians and the North Koreans are going to think of us as the sort of leader for freedom and democracy if we cut and run.”

Follow Ian Hanchett on Twitter @IanHanchett