Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and retired U.S. Army Gen. Jack Keane on Thursday backed the effort by Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to provide foreign aid to Ukraine.
House lawmakers are expected to vote Saturday on a long-stalled supplemental aid request for Ukraine by President Joe Biden. The Senate in February passed a $95.3 billion aid package that included $60 billion for Ukraine and billions more to Israel and the Indo-Pacific region. Johnson reportedly is backing separate aid packages of $61 billion for Ukraine, $26.4 billion for Israel, and more than $8 billion for the Indo-Pacific region.
The letter from Pompeo, who served under former President Doanld Trump, and Keane, a former vice chief of staff of the Army, helps Johnson, who is facing considerable heat from conservatives frustrated by sending taxpayers' money overseas instead of focusing on problems at home.
"The crisis is now upon us," stated the letter, issued by Pompeo's Champions America Values PAC and obtained by Newsmax. "The Ukrainians are rapidly running out of air defenses and artillery. The Russians, sensing our hesitation and disarray, are pushing forward, advancing to the west — toward the NATO borders — little by little each day. If we do not get help to Ukraine soon, Russian advances will accelerate."
Pompeo and Keane warned that Ukraine is just one step of Russian President Vladimir Putin's decades-long quest of building a new Russian empire like the Soviet Union, echoing the fears of moderate Republicans, most Democrats, and Biden administration officials.
"Absent our critical support, Russian forces will win," the letter stated. "They will arrive on NATO's eastern borders threatening all of Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. The defense of NATO's Baltic members will become difficult if not impossible. Putin or his successors will likely attack NATO."
The letter stated that opponents to foreign aid for Ukraine "have been allowed to misrepresent the nature of that assistance for too long."
"No one is asking Americans to fight or die for Ukraine — least of all Ukrainians," the letter stated. "No one is asking American taxpayers simply to hand Ukraine tens of billions of dollars. On the contrary, the overwhelming majority of the money spent on aid to Ukraine is helping rebuild America's defense industry.
"Having served on the front lines, we are grateful to every member regardless of party who understands that our enemies are 'provoked' by weakness, not by strength. That is the lesson of 2021, when the disastrous U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan helped convince Putin that the U.S. would do nothing when he attacked Ukraine. And Republicans who have been vocal in calling out that critical strategic error must bear in mind that history will judge us for what we do now and will hold us accountable if Russia triumphs."
Pompeo and Keane stated that supporting Ukraine reduces the risk that future generations of Americans will have to take up arms in Europe, the Middle East, or Asia.
"Winston Churchill warned that while free nations sleep, dictators plan," they wrote. "No nation is ever served by ignoring the ambitions of its enemies. We salute you for your clear-eyed determination to do what's right for America, and hope that your colleagues will support you in this vital effort."
Michael Katz ✉
Michael Katz is a Newsmax reporter with more than 30 years of experience reporting and editing on news, culture, and politics.
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