Dr. Dabbs – Why Ukraine Matters

George Washington’s and Dwight Eisenhour’s words should be heeded.

I am a long-time reader and admirer of your articles. Please keep them coming. Your work as a medical doctor provides a unique perspective on gun ballistics that isn’t found anywhere on the internet and is very educational. On the war in Ukraine however, I must respectfully disagree. I served on active duty in the Army from 1971-1974 and in the Naval Intelligence Reserve program from 1978 – 1996. The old Soviet Union was clearly our number one threat back then. No argument there. But today’s Russia is not the same as the former Soviet Union. I’m not Russian or Ukranian and have no family in either country and am just speaking for myself here. Eastern Europe has never been in the United States strategic national interest. What happens in Moldova, Romania, Albania, or Bulgaria doesn’t affect things much here in the United States. That’s partly why President Eisenhower didn’t intervene in the 1956 Hungarian Revolution when Russian tanks moved into Budapest. Turkish President Erdogan (who I’m no fan of) offered to sponsor peace talks between Russia and Ukraine in the Spring of 2022 and many were hopeful that Ukraine would declare it’s neutrality and a settlement could be reached, and it came close to succeeding. Unfortunately, thanks to Britain and the United States rushing in and promising President Zelenskky with unlimited, and in my opinion unobtainable, “we’re in it to win it” military support, we have the Verdun-like stalemate that we have today and approximately 500,000 dead Ukrainians. President Biden has made the political choice of fighting an extended proxy war with Russia that is now over two years old, yet he has never explained how this actually benefits the United States. And as you well know, Russia has more tactical nuclear weapons than we do so I would be careful what you ask for. President Biden has much invested in his Ukraine policy and his political legacy, and he can’t afford to change course before the upcoming November election. Sometimes as history has shown us however, we can be overtaken by events. Thank you very much. Respectfully, Greg

Dr Danna,
Thank you for a most informative article.
I quit following news coverage in the’60’s. Both of my parents worked in the production side of the media so I was privy to the tricks that media uses to sell the news to the public. (Craft is King) and (it doesn’t have to be true. It just needs to sound like it’s true.)

What you said here will never make it to the mainstream media coverage.
Now I’m wondering why the US isn’t loading up fleets of transport ships to transfer this surplus to the Ukraine? Does our surplus also include munitions?
As an aside I lived in Hamilton MS in the late 70’s. Our house was less than 1/2 mile North of the Cur/Magee Chemical Plant. Our oldest son was born in Golden Triangle Regional Medical Center and immediately developed life threatening symptom. We were fortunate that one of the top Pediatric doctors had just moved back to Oxford. He immediately put our 4 week old boy in an oxygen tent and when he found out where we lived told us if we wanted our son to live we needed to move.
We were in the process of buying a a lot and building a home but we shelved that plan. We quit our jobs and moved back to Kansas. Our son’s health improved and he made a full recovery.
I still miss Mississippi and if it weren’t for 6 grandkids I would retire down there. You-all live in a beautiful and wonderful world down there.

Ridiculous. GTFO of Ukraine and make them or Europe give us our billions back. What a boondoggle porkfest. We (the West) have sacrificed the young men of Ukraine to fight our dirty little proxy war against the big bad wolf, er, Bear. It’s comical except for the billions laundered and the millions of dead Ukrainians. Get off Russia’s front porch, live up to your agreements and take care of your own border, US.

Hello again Will. I finally have a minute or two to sit in front of a real keyboard. As you know by now, you and I are practically neighbors in the hill country of North Central Mississippi. We are also both of the same vintage, and share many of the same experiences. I immensely enjoy reading your articles, and with me, most of your political statements are “preaching to the choir”. When it comes to the current situation in Ukraine however, we will have to respectfully disagree. I swore an oath to protect our Constitution, and am generally a free speech absolutist, so you needn’t fear that I will grab my keyboard/phone and run away because we have differing opinions. So… I’ll pen a few of the reasons why I believe that we (USA) have MANY more urgent needs/concerns to address than yet another European war.

First of all, I’m happy to stipulate that Vladimir Putin is a dirtbag megalomaniac who would gladly expand Russia’s boundaries if he had the wherewithal to do so, but we should remember just how small the Russian economy really is. California’s economy dwarfs Russia’s, and Texas’ nearly equals it. The European Union’s economy is the second largest in the world, right behind the USA, hovering around $17 trillion in GDP. Russia’s GDP is only 1/10th of the EU’s at $1.7 trillion. This one consideration alone should suffice to dispel all the fearmongering that “Vlad’s” Russia will overrun Western Europe. In addition to economic might, many of the EU nations possess substantial military capabilities. So why are the Europeans sitting mostly idle waiting for the “Yanks” to once again bail their asses out of another European war? Even Poland admits that Ukraine is a European problem, and that the other EU countries should be upping their ante instead of simply waiting for more US aid. Coincidentally, the Poles are contributing around 4% of their GDP to NATO, while the majority of their neighbors can’t seem to come up with the requisite 2%.

Secondly, with $32 trillion of debt, we can scarcely afford to send any American dollars overseas. That’s an unfathomable figure to almost everyone on the planet. Our drunken orgy of printing/spending fake money has far surpassed the insane for the imbecilic. As recently as Obama’s inauguration, our debt stood at $12 trillion, which was unmanageable even then. Racking up another $20 trillion in the last 16 years has now put us in the position of paying more in interest than we do on our OWN national defense. We’ve already bankrupted our children’s future with uncontrolled spending on mostly asinine projects passed with spurious, if any, justification. You tried to preempt any discussion of the money we’re wasting in Ukraine by claiming we’re just “cleaning out our basement”… sending equipment we’re not using anymore. Even if we assume for the moment that our mothballed materiel has no present or future value to US (though 155mm rounds don’t really depreciate), it costs real American dollars to put equipment back in serviceable condition, and transporting said equipment halfway around the world costs million$. In addition to anything that can be classed as military aid, we’ve taken on the expense of all of Ukraine’s infrastructure. We’re paying the salaries of all government employees and first responders. We’re paying to rebuild roads and bridges even in the midst of the conflict, and assisting, if not covering in its entirety, transport costs for Ukrainian officials of all stripes and many ordinary citizens. Yet all the preceding will pale in comparison to the hundreds of billion$ we’ll pour into the reconstruction and economic stabilization of any section of post-war Ukraine not under control of the Russians. The talking heads will once again assure us that we’re defending and/or building a Democracy, and once again it will be all BS.

Thirdly, let’s consider the actual military threat posed by today’s Russia instead of just the oft-repeated warnings of Russia’s “Manifest Destiny” to steamroll through the former Soviet states and then Western Europe. There’s no doubt that Russia has significant (but finite) conventional and nuclear capabilities. Although Russia’s conventional forces should have completed all objectives in Ukraine months ago, those forces comprise ZERO threat to the United States and thusly an inconsequential threat to NATO members. The simple fact that Russia has become mired down in Ukraine, underscores that fact very well. The latest news indicates Russia will again turn to conscription to supplement ranks. The nuclear stockpile that Vlad may soon access, is a much more pressing concern… conceivably a worldwide concern. One of Vlad’s associates/confidants states publicly that he will eventually result to a nuclear strike if Western pressure continues unabated. Now I’m not asserting that we, or any other nation acquiesce entirely to Vlad’s ambitions for fear of a nuclear exchange, but no one seems to be at all interested in a diplomatic solution. There are seemingly no efforts to end this war other than through “complete victory” by one combatant or the other. Conversely, our State Department and elected officials are burning up the airlines and airwaves in efforts to prevent Israel from destroying the TRULY genocidal Hamas regime… even though that conflict is much younger than the hostilities in Ukraine, and will be decided much sooner.

Lastly, let’s briefly consider where our skewed priorities currently lie in these United States. By Presidential proclamation, Easter or Resurrection Sunday has been usurped by “Transgender Visibility Day”. We insist that men be allowed to compete with women in team sports… and that they (men) can openly use the same locker rooms/showers as women. We not only condone, but encourage children to permanently mutilate their bodies by defining gender as a “choice”. We celebrate the sexualization of children as young as preschool by openly discussing homosexuality and/or having “Drag Queen Story Hour”. We can’t even take our kids to Disney World without seeing bearded men dressed as Fairy Godmothers! We have a black woman nominated to the Supreme Court not because she may be best qualified, but because she is a “WOMAN of color”. Yet in her own Senate Confirmation Hearings, she couldn’t even define the word “WOMAN”!

We’ve bastardized law enforcement officers in this country by accusing them of systemic racism, and by completely upending the relationship of the legal system to perpetrator and victim. Victims are now not only denied consideration and protection under the law, they’re actually blamed for the actions of criminals. Automobile manufacturers are sued for making cars that are “too easy to steal”, and some inner-city political hacks want to hold the convenience store owners “accountable” when they (owners) are victims of crime. Shoplifters operate with impunity… and don’t try to stop one! Not only will you lose your job, but you’ll be charged with assault and/or sued by the shoplifter. Flash-Mob singing and dance routines have been replaced with Flash-Mob jewelry store smash and grabs. Elderly people in our cities are assaulted by mentally ill vagrants. Young women are sucker-punched for no reason.

The situation on our southern border defies explanation or even description… even the term “invasion” is insufficient. We have absolutely no idea who’s coming into the US from over 160 other countries… most of them military aged males. They aren’t coming here for the same reasons the “huddled masses” came through Ellis Island. They’re coming with not only the permission of our government, but with its strong encouragement. NGOs are coached by our leaders to make asylum seekers of anyone looking to better themselves at someone else’s expense. Our tax dollars are pissed away on free phones, medical care, transportation, food, and lodging to people who don’t speak our language, don’t respect our laws, and don’t know our customs and culture. Even with known terrorists exploiting our border, no one is able to stem the tide of illegals. A sovereign state erects barriers, only to have the Federal government tear them down.

In spite of all the above, good Doctor, you would have me be most concerned with “driving a stake through the heart of the Russian Bear”. Even if Vlad was driven from Ukraine bloodied and with his tail between his legs, it’s not going to change who/what he is, nor change the daily life of most Russian citizens. With Iran and China openly supporting his efforts, it’s quite unlikely that Vlad is going anywhere. Money and equipment alone will never expel the Russians. Ukraine has lost nearly an entire generation of men with the average age of their soldiers now in the mid to late forties, with no backfill available. Short of an influx of well trained, young bodies… Russia already has this one in the bag. So whose sons and daughters shall we send? The liberal mouthpiece Macron says he can’t rule out sending troops, and then changes his tune a day later. Will the self righteous Germans send their young people to fight? How about the Brits? I can answer that for you with historical certainty. If the US does any less than carry the ball all the way across the goal line, the Europeans will punt.

Will, your reasoning for continued Ukrainian support seems to stem from having grown up under the Soviet “boogey-man”. That threat is what shaped the USA into THE undeniable Superpower. Perhaps we should be thankful for all the advances we made because of that threat. Times have changed however, and the USSR is no more. Don’t you think we should address our own problems now as opposed to taking on someone else’s? As far as genuine threats from foreign adversaries go, China and the hordes of Islamic terrorists funded by Iran, pose a much more significant threat than does Russia. Repurposing aid destined for Ukraine to rebuffing China and Iran would yield much more benefit to US. Thanks for the article, Will.

Most Americans have little or no understanding of the ramifications of this war. The out come of which will determine the fate of the free world for the next 50 to 100 years. This is not just the fight of the Ukrainian people, this is, in fact, the fight of the free world over the idealist communist philosophy and beliefs. The government we as Americans currently have is by no means perfect, if a perfect government even exists. It is the best hope we as free people have, of a peaceful future and world. People should have a look at an original “Startrek” where they looked atbthe woeprld as a post WWII where Nazi Germany was the Victor Prather than the degree world. Though this is fictional, it is very telling of what could be the furniture c if the would under a Communist dictator such as Putin.

Hey Dabbs I love reading your articles. And I’m honored that you included my NY Jew comment in your article. That being said, when I was in the Army my brothers were being shot at in Viet Nam while I was in Germany training for the big Russian invasion. The one that never happened. As you said, now we finally have the opportunity to put that ass hole Putin in his place without any of our guys getting hurt. We have to keep up the fight even if it’s only with cash instead of bullets. Problem is that your red state buddies don’t agree with us and when the orange guy gets re elected, they will all let their buddy Putin take what ever he wants. Do what you can to get the word out to show how important this is. And guys, don’t comment on my comment. I really don’t give a shit if you agree with me or not.

I am a retired/disabled police officer, 41 years, mostly as the lone officer in rural townships in SW PA. Retired from one PD (piddly pension) & then began at another municipality. I was still working in 2015 when a nasty dose of A-fib way-laid me. I do a lot of reading now & feel Doc Dabbs’ writings are among the best. I don’t know where he gets the time. Keep up the good work.

I think with what we know right now, you’re spot on. Will more information come to light in future years that shows how truthful the propaganda of each side is? Almost certainly. All anyone can do right now is act on the best information they have available at the time. I just hope that we actually fund and spin-up production of replacement shells and consumables fast enough that we can get our own stocks refreshed in time for whichever looming global conflict flares up next.

I really do enjoy your articles and look forward to them, I appreciate the effort and the perspective from your life experience.

I read your article with great interest and while I generally agree with most of it, it’s well worth stepping back and looking at the even bigger picture of past history. The Ukrainians and Russians have been fighting each other in the Donbass off and on for hundreds and hundreds of years, all the way back to the various ‘Rus tribes. And they’ll likely be fighting long after all of us, Zelenskyy, Putin, Feeble Joe, Donald Trump, et al are dead and gone. That’s a given. So it naturally behooves us to choose our own path wisely. My greatest frustration with the situation lies in the fact that the Democrats, aided and abetted by Big Tech, are not only profiting from their own grift, but using their vast resources to divide, conquer, and consolidate ever more power in ways too numerous to count. There’s always going to have to be a balance between interventionism and isolationism, and honestly, this isn’t it. There’s so much more I could say, but I think you get the point.

I love your writing, forward the emailed GunsAmerica newsletter to friends. I have similar thoughts on Ukraine. The idea that we were going to put nuclear weapons in Ukraine seems far fetched. Russia and the USA had an agreement to defend Ukraine as a result of the fall of the Soviet Union when Ukraine gave up the nuclear weapons it had in it’s control, we both pledged to defend Ukraine, so we are obligated, not under Nato, but just our word back then. The idea that our CIA would fund an ISIS attack in Russia is plain stupid. We should have never been in this position to begin with, Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, that was the start, the talk of Ukraine joining Nato was the other factor contributing to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Our undertakings in Afghanistan and Iraq were noble, the men involved were stellar, woman too, the whole effort was patially lost by the wavering inept leadership. Change, winnning a war takes the same commitment we did in WWII and failed to do every war since, it takes effort after the war. We succeeded in every battle as in Vietnam, the politicians lose the wars, but war works when done with a full commitment. Just do not let a democrat run things, they lack commitment and vision, except for a Marxist one. We fought for Jews once before and that war is not over. I thought the rest of your readers had better judgement. Keep up the great work, hope to meet you someday.

Right on! Give Putin and his cronies what they deserve. Most republican congressmen need to heed your last several paragraphs and get off their collective asses. Everyone should send this to their congressmen!

I think I you are right, and I’m astonished at the narrow mindedness and short vision demonstrated in some of the other comments.

Recall that after the fall of the Soviet Union, Ukraine was left in possession of a nuclear arsenal which they voluntarily gave up in return for assurances of protection and sovereign recognition. Perhaps they now wish they had decided differently.

Putin wants to reconstitute the Soviet empire, with vassal slave states, and Russia has a long and deep tradition of abusing them – the Holodomor was real, and stories of atrocities committed by Russian troops more recently in Ukraine are horrific and consistent.

As for “Europe can take care of itself” if we’d done that in WW2 the world would look much different now and it would be much, much worse. The Ukrainians are doing their own fighting, and they are willing to fight – giving them weapons to defend themselves and expel Russians is both extremely cost effective and the right thing to do.

Russia will not stop if it is appeased (have we not learned that simple lesson from WW2, of appeasing power-hungry dictators?). Other hostile nations are watching – Iran, China, North Korea – and their actions indicate their mindset.

We should wholeheartedly support Ukraine, and give them weapons they need to fight and win.

“Cleaning out our basement” is good for us in that, it allows us to send old equipment abroad to help Ukraine, thereby making us look good on the world stage, it clears the way to buy new stuff which, in turn, helps our economy, and it allows us to see real world performance without costing American lives.

However, Doc, you’ve overlooked some obvious details; the BILLIONS of dollars sent to Ukraine have disappeared without any accounting of where they went. Moreover, this war is just another in an endless string of inter-European wars that end up costing thousands of lives, billions of dollars and accomplishing…not much. To be clear, Ukraine isn’t worth one American life. Send material? Sure. Send troops? No way.

Hi, Will. My response to this article is going to require a keyboard… not this tiny pocket gadget. On the road with a tight schedule today. Stay tuned.

Thank you Dr. Dabbs for saying what needed to be said, and thank you Guns America for having the courage to publish this article. This article truly helps to reassure me that the fight against communism is not dead.

I am shocked at this….Zelensky was a puppet of the CIA…we installed him and drove out the real head of the country….Guns America you should be ashamed of this just like MSM