Senator Michael Bennet on Supporting Ukraine: Never Make Peace With Evil

The Importance of Supporting Ukraine

• 🇺🇦 Senator Michael Bennet emphasizes the critical importance of supporting Ukraine, drawing parallels to historical lessons of appeasement.
• 🤝 He highlights the bipartisan nature of the support, with colleagues from both sides of the aisle recognizing the significance of the issue for Colorado, the country, and the world.

Historical Lessons on Peace and Strength

• 🏛️ Bennet references Ronald Reagan's doctrine of "peace through strength" and contrasts it with the dangers of mistaking surrender for peace, citing Senator McConnell's remarks.
• 📜 Historical examples, such as President Woodrow Wilson's "peace without victory" approach and Neville Chamberlain's Munich Agreement, are presented as failures that weakness invites.
• 📉 Wilson's attempt to cut off financial aid to warring European nations inadvertently escalated conflict, demonstrating that appeasement does not lead to lasting peace.

The Cost of War and the Need for Security Guarantees

• 💔 Bennet shares the profound human cost of the conflict, noting 43,000 deaths and nearly 400,000 casualties in Ukraine, with significant impact felt even in his home state of Colorado.
• 💰 The United States' investment of approximately $25 billion (about 0.53% of GDP) in Ukraine is framed as a necessary expenditure for national security and global stability.
• 🛡️ He stresses that credible security guarantees from the United States and its allies are essential to prevent future Russian aggression and ensure a just and enduring peace.

The Stakes of the Conflict

• 🌍 The outcome of the war in Ukraine is presented as a determinant of the post-World War II international order and a test of Western resolve against authoritarianism.
• 🌐 Bennet argues that ignoring the moral and strategic imperative to support Ukraine means ignoring history and what adversaries like Putin and Xi Jinping are signaling.
• ✊ The speech concludes with a call to demand moral and strategic clarity by continuing to support Ukraine's fight for a just peace through strength, echoing the sentiment "we must never make peace with evil."