Dumb, dumber, dumbest.
That describes the judgement of Donald Trump, our war president, as he mismanages the U.S. involvement in wars in Ukraine and Iran.
Our “investment” in manpower and money in Ukraine was about $70 million in weapons and munitions over the first four years of that now five-year war.
For perspective, Trump is asking for an annual defense budget of $1.5 trillion. (Yes, that’s a “T”). Renewing support for Ukraine’s warriors would be less than 3% of the proposed Department of Defense annual budget.
Our return on that initial investment has been deep damage to the Russian armed services and deep hurt to the economy of Russia, our biggest enemy in the world.
Note: We have lost no troops in Ukraine. But Russia has suffered, according to The Economist, an estimated 462,000 to 728,000 troops killed or wounded.
In short, it has been a bargain basement investment by American taxpayers.
Now, though, acting as if he were a Russian ally, Trump and his blood-thirsty “Secretary of War” Pete Hegseth have cut off military aid for Ukraine, a former ally. Dumb, really dumb.
In contrast, Trump’s two-month war with Iran has already cost $25 billion. And there is no end in sight at more than $10 billion per month.
What’s our return on investment in what looks to be an “unwinnable” war against Iran? It’s negative many times over.
- Gas at $4.30 per gallon
- 14 U.S. service people killed
- A reprieve on the damage to the Russian economy from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz; the higher prices for Russian oil exports has saved the Russian treasury.
- Loss of trust with our former European allies who were not consulted and then harangued for not sending war help
- Loss of trust with Congress, also not involved in the decision to go to war, despite a constitutional requirement to do so.
- A sharp run-down of the U.S. inventory of missiles and munitions needed for other possible threats, such as an attack by China on Taiwan.
- A gift to Iran in the form of a new “Weapon of Economic Destruction” (WED) that replaces its potential nuclear Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD), namely learning that it has the ability to close the Strait of Hormuz at will and hold the global economy hostage.
Summing up, we exited the war that Ukraine was “winning,” in the sense that Russian is not winning. It’s a stalemate.
And we got into a Middle Eastern quagmire where wars are constant and rarely end well.
Trump has plenty of faults, such as: corruption to the max, a perverse ability to make enemies out of allies, foul and bumbling rhetoric, disrespect for all manner of U. S. citizens from women to people of color and with disabilities.
But his worst shortcoming is his judgment when it comes to foreign policy; he is just plain ignorant and impulsive. He learns not from history.
Trump’s retreat from Ukraine and potential withdrawal from NATO did have one positive outcome: our former European allies have stepped up to help Ukraine hold off the Russian assaults.
The best answer, though, would be for the U.S. to join with the EU to back Ukraine. The combined U.S. and European economies dwarf Russia’s. War is almost always like table-stakes poker. The player with the most chips usually wins.
No way would Russian President Putin win if Trump had pulled off a joint defense of Ukraine.
(Torinus is a retired U.S. Marine officer.)
