Bolling: Mitt Was Right

During the 2012 presidential campaign, Mitt Romney called Russia our “number one geopolitical foe.” President Obama and Democrats scoffed at Romney’s comments.

Romney was right, and numerous events since then have proven that point.

We are all currently focused on Russian aggression against the free and independent country of Ukraine, but let’s not forget that this is just the most recent example of Russian aggression. It is certainly not the only example.

In 2008, Russia invaded Georgia, and continues to occupy parts of that nation. And of course, in 2014 Russia invaded Ukraine, effectively taking control of the Crimean Peninsula. No one doubts that Russia’s ultimate goal would be to reunite the nations that composed the old USSR before its collapse in 1991.

Unfortunately, there is little the U.S., or other allied nations, can do to stop the Russian invasion of Ukraine since Ukraine is not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). However, other nations in the region are, and should Russian aggression be directed against those nations, direct military engagement will be unavoidable. We have treaty obligations to defend those nations, and we will certainly honor those treaty obligations.

In the meantime, the only thing the U.S. and our allies can do is protest Russian actions, rally other nations in opposition to Russia’s actions, impose as many significant economic sanctions as possible against Russia, and shore up our own military assets in NATO nations in the event they are needed to repel further Russian aggression.

We need to be aggressive in implementing all of these steps now. We cannot afford to give the Russians any more uncontested latitude.

If we had listened to Mitt Romney in 2012 the course of history may have been different. But we didn’t, and now we are faced with the reality of inaction.