In seeking to differentiate herself from Donald Trump on Ukraine and Russia, Kamala Harris delivered a stirring defense of democracy and Western values at the candidates’ first presidential debate. Unfortunately, it bore scant resemblance to her own administration’s policy—one which she goes to great lengths to take credit for.
I found much to like in the Ukraine policy that Harris pretends to be leading at the moment. Nevertheless, honesty compels us to draw a clear distinction between this administration’s words and deeds.
First, what Harris said about Ukraine:
“I actually met with [President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy a few days before Russia invaded, tried through force to change territorial boundaries to defy one of the most important international rules and norms, which is the importance of sovereignty and territorial integrity. And I met with President Zelenskyy. I shared with him American intelligence about how he could defend himself. Days later I went to NATO’s eastern flank, to Poland and Romania. And through the work that I and others did we brought 50 countries together to support Ukraine in its righteous defense. And because of our support, because of the air defense, the ammunition, the artillery, the javelins, the Abrams tanks that we have provided, Ukraine stands as an independent and free country. If Donald Trump were president, Putin would be sitting in Kyiv right now.”
Stirring stuff! But also, as we say in Judaism, chutzpadik. It takes some nerve, and not in a good way.
Start at the top: Harris’s personal intervention abroad. She was indeed sent to Munich in 2022 on the eve of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The message she carried was a deeply disappointing one—which is why we sent the vice president to deliver it. Her message was twofold. 1) Russia was about to invade; 2) the U.S. would be taking no additional deterrence action and would not provide Ukraine with its requested materiel.
Zelensky’s response was, essentially, “yes we know the Russians are coming, that’s why we asked you for the materiel you are declining to provide.” When Harris says she shared intelligence with Zelensky “about how he could defend himself,” she is giving the game away. She was there to wish him luck.
As for whether Putin would be sitting in Kyiv were it not for the U.S.—maybe? But Europe has provided more aid to Ukraine, by tens of billions of dollars, than the U.S. has. So when she uses collective nouns such as “we” and “us,” she is intentionally misleading people into thinking she is taking credit for Europe’s aid and the Ukrainian army’s bravery. Further, the way coalitional aid works is that different countries provide different military hardware. So the dollar amount is important, but it’s not the full picture. The Abrams tanks are obviously important and more effective than, say, the reformatted Soviet-style tanks that Poland sent Ukraine. But Poland did send nine times as many of those tanks as we did Abramses, and all of the tanks Poland sent are about equal in total monetary value to the batch of tanks America sent, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy. (We also sent a bunch of the older tanks.)
Germany spent almost as much on Howitzer artillery for Ukraine as we did. And according to Kiel, Germany spent four times as much as we did on air defense for Ukraine. (All of that makes sense, since Europe faces a greater immediate threat from Russia than the U.S. does.)
Then there are the overlooked burdens, like refugee costs. Some of Ukraine’s neighbors are spending twice as much on housing and caring for Ukrainian refugees as they are on weaponry. Poland alone is hosting a million of the displaced, out of about 6 million or so total. It’s intended to be a temporary disruption. But if we keep enabling a stalemate, it won’t be. Two-thirds of those refugees have found work, which means they must compete in the existing job market, and 300,000 or so must be absorbed by state agency budgets. About 40 percent are school-age children who need to be absorbed by the education system. Plus there are the necessary increased costs in border security.
Then there is the incremental nature of U.S. aid. Zelensky had been asking for fighter jets to defend Ukrainian airspace since March 2022. The U.S. first opposed letting Poland provide jets, then dragged its feet on approving U.S. fighter jets, then dragged its feet on providing the planes after approval. Those Abrams tanks weren’t provided by the U.S. until about 19 months into the war. The U.S. also waited a full year to beef up its provision of drones.
When I say “the U.S.,” of course, I mean Joe Biden and Kamala Harris and the rest of this current administration, which is in office right now and responsible for its actions despite the Harris campaign’s fuzzy concept of incumbency and militant resistance to accepting accountability.
Harris can crow about defending democracy till she’s blue in the face, but it won’t matter until her actions match her words.
