Pay Any Price? Bear Any Burden?

“…we shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe to assure the survival and success of liberty.” – John F. Kennedy Inaugural Address Jan. 20, 1961

Those were simpler, though not less dangerous times. The Soviet Union was seen as America’s number one enemy. China had not begun to challenge its position as the world’s most powerful nation. Foreign policy then was mostly nonpartisan.

After a year of supporting Ukraine in its attempt to push back the Russian invasion and hold Vladimir Putin accountable for what Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has charged are war crimes, it’s time to ask some hard questions.

First among them is, what is our goal? If it is not victory (and victory defined) what is it? Since America’s last victory in World War II, we have been engaged in either stalemates or defeat. First in Korea, which to this day is still called a conflict that ended in a draw, resulting in more than 33,000 American battle deaths.

Then there was Vietnam, where 58,220 U.S. soldiers perished. We lost that one to the communist North. People still argue over the reason.

Iraq for a time seemed more of a success, but

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