The Russia – Ukraine War At Six Months: The War That Should Have Never Been

The Russia – Ukraine War At Six Months: The War That Should Have Never Been

Could the Ukraine War Have Been Avoided? Military expert Daniel L. Davis, a retired U.S. Army Officer with combat experience, kicks off a multi-part series looking at the Ukraine war:

As we mark the six-month mark of the Russo-Ukrainian War tomorrow, it’s time to finally ask the hard question that few in Washington want answered: did hubris in Kyiv, Washington, and Brussels doom the Ukrainian people to a war that could and should have been avoided?

We must get an accurate, truthful answer to this question because if the answer is ‘yes’, war could have been avoided, then tens of thousands of Ukrainian people have been killed, millions driven from their country, and hundreds of their cities demolished for little more than to satisfy the arrogance of a handful of men – and still with no genuine chance for Kyiv to win.

A sober analysis of available evidence leads to the distressing conclusion that, indeed this war could and should have been prevented. Thousands of lives could and should have been saved. The utter destruction of the Ukrainian economy could have been prevented. The serious consequences to American and European economies that have resulted – and the worst is almost certain to come this fall and winter – were unnecessary.

Exposing the truth is more than merely an academic exercise. The longer this war grinds on, the longer Western leaders and media perpetuate the myth that Ukraine can win the war, that all the Western sacrifices are necessary and worth it, and that our suffering should continue “as long as it takes”, yet more people will unnecessarily die, tens of millions of Americans and Europeans will see their quality of life continue to erode, and the greater the risk that the war escalates – whether by error or miscalculation – and spills beyond Ukraine’s borders.

It is therefore vital to American national interests and our future security to honestly and accurately determine whether or not the war in Ukraine was avoidable. The overwhelming majority of government officials and so-called expert military and foreign policy pundits claim the war was foisted on the West by a power-hungry Putin and that war was unavoidable. As this analysis will show, however, with even a modest willingness on the part of Ukrainian and Western leaders to use diplomacy, war almost certainly could have been averted.