Thread by @GaudetteRob

🧵 Outstanding points made by @RepMcCormick in a hearing 2 weeks ago.

1. The war in Ukraine is obviously winnable.

2. Ukrainian victory is in the U.S.’s strategic security and economic interests.

3. The U.S. isn’t sending what Ukraine needs to win.

1/n

McCormick would know. He spent 20 years in the military, reaching the rank of commander in the Navy. He also was a helicopter pilot in the MarinesC and served in Africa, Afghanistan and the Persian Gulf. He’s also an ER doc, which checks out 🤣

2/n

@RepMcCormick asked whether the war is winnable to @US_EUCOM Supreme Allied Commander Gen. Cavoli, “which is the coolest title ever.”

Cavoli unequivocally answers “yes, with our Ukrainian colleagues.”

@RepMcCormick McCormick agrees. But,

“What’s being supplied is ‘adequate.’ I don’t like that word, ‘adequate.’”

“The U.S. has a GDP of $25-27 trillion. Add Europe? $45 trillion. Russia’s GDP is $1.7 trillion.”

“This shouldn’t be a contest!”

4/n

@RepMcCormick “We’re slow-rolling our support… the idea that we can’t win this war is insane. We outnumber them dramatically.” 👏

“We also continue to hold up aid in Congress, which drives me crazy.”

5/n

@RepMcCormick I’d disagree Ukraine is a third world country, but this point stands:

“Ukraine, with a GDP of $200 billion, has taken out 50% of Russia’s armor and inflicted 350,000 casualties.” (And a lot of that armor is from Cold War era defense stock!)

“That’s success by my measures.”

@RepMcCormick “How do we expect them to succeed if we don’t give them surge capabilities?”

He says we needed surge ops in Iraq and Afghanistan, and we’re the strongest military in the world.

“We can’t give them adequate. We need superiority.”

No one is talking about this!”

7/n

@RepMcCormick Then he shifts to Ukraine’s strategic importance. Ukraine has:

• 70% of Europe’s grain.
• Steel
• Cobalt
• Rare minerals
• Uranium

“No one is talking about the economic impact of giving this to our enemies.”

Celeste Wallander, Undersecretary of Defense, agrees.

8/n

@RepMcCormick Third point: “we gave our word.” This is really underplayed IMO. Our word means everything. We can’t give our word and then let Ukraine flounder. Imagine what our enemies will think.

“We gave our word not once, but many times.”

@RepMcCormick “Reagan, at the 40th anniversary of D-Day, said isolationism is a failed policy.” 💯

“NATO was specifically designed for an expansionist, Marxist government.”

“The time to stand is now.”

10/n

“It’s a winnable war and strategically important for the future of the world.”

E.g., we “need to increase our food stores by 50% by 2050. And our natural resources, for us and our allies.”

Ukraine must win if we’re going to remain safe and prosperous!

👏 @RepMcCormick.
11/11.