A Victory in the House of Representatives for Democracy
Supporting our allies is essential for protecting American freedom
By passing bills on military aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, and moving to force the sale of TikTok, the House of Representative affirmed its opposition to the global resurgence of terrorism and totalitarian regimes. The bi-partisan passage of the bills shows our two parties can work together to solve our most serious problems, providing a path forward for Congress and the world.
The stakes could not be higher. As Iran threatens to take over the Middle-East, Russia brings war and imperialist expansion back to Europe, and China flaunts its military power in the Indo-Pacific, the U.S. could become increasingly isolated as a liberal democracy. Without robust U.S. military aid, the world could face the disappearance of Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan as independent, democratic nations. As calamitous as such a situation would be, it would not be the end of efforts by Iran, Russia, and China to extend their hegemony over ever more regions of the world. If Iran were to defeat Israel with the help of Hamas and Hezbollah, they would no doubt massacre Israelis and then move on from a consolidated, Islamo-fascist Middle East to threaten Africa. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is only the latest effort to subjugate neighboring peoples in Belarus and Chechnya. After defeating Ukraine, Russia would surely impose a draconian, totalitarian rule upon the country and be in a position to control Poland, Hungary, and the Baltic states. China’s bellicose military build-up is not just meant to invade Taiwan but to extend its power throughout the Indo-Pacific, turning more and more of its neighbors into vassals.
Preventing such a disastrous chain of events must begin now, not after continuing defeats have driven up the costs of stemming the tide of totalitarian rule. In the build-up to World War II, Germany began with its “liberation” of ethnic Germans in Czechoslovakia’s Sudetenland. By acceding to this move, the Western nations were then faced with the invasion of Poland and then of France. With each victory, the Nazis became bolder and extended their reach even further. Their totalitarian control over subject peoples made it impossible to resist them except from outside and at tremendous cost to the U.S. and its allies. A similar dynamic played out with Japan and its anti-Western attempt to build what they called a Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere. With each incremental victory, Japan extended its reach until the attack on Pearl Harbor.
If the US wants to prevent another chain of events like the ones leading up to World War II, it needs to act decisively now to defend the nations at the forefront of this new threat to global peace and freedom before such incursions arrive at America’s doorstep.