OPINION: An Open Letter to Mr. Waltz and Mr. Rubio

Dear Honorable Sirs,

Mr. Waltz, I stood with you in Normandy this last June for the 80th anniversary of D-Day. You jumped from a C-47 over Mont Saint-Michel alongside two of my parachutist daughters.

Mr. Rubio, I have long respected and appreciated your courage and clarity.

I write to both of you not as a detractor, but as a friend who wants to see your success and hopes for a just end to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Both of you have previously defended Ukraine. Both have publicly recognized the evil of Russian aggression. Mr. Waltz, you even trained Ukrainians in 2019 on how to use Javelins against Russian forces.

On Feb. 24, millions grieved, not merely because of Putin, but specifically because of the US and the validation your leadership team have given him by perpetuating a myth of moral ambiguity about the Russian invasion.

Left uncorrected, the posture presented this last week represents the single greatest foreign policy shift in the history of the US. More importantly it projects a departure from a values based approach to freedom, to a transactional “might makes right” approach which both of you men have previously opposed.

I write with an appeal. That you would set the record straight, leaving no room for question that you stand on the side of the oppressed.

Let me acknowledge the challenges of serving any president. Your mission is to implement his policies, and I respect the complexities of that duty.

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Yet, there are lines that must never be crossed: absolving the greatest war criminal of the 21st is one.

Both of you appear to have crossed that line.

In denying the victims of this war their history, their identity, and the righteousness of their cause, you have broken the hearts of the suffering.

On this solemn anniversary, I urge you to set the record straight. There must be no ambiguity about who is right and who wrong in the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

There are many mistakes from which one can recover. This is not one of them. This is fundamental. This transcends politics. It is a matter of conscience.

Will this radical ethical switch take place under your watch? Let it not be.

There are two things you can do immediately.

First, correct the errors. Then refuse to spread untruths about President Zelensky and the war in Ukraine. Second, use your influence with President Trump for the same.

Both of you have long political careers ahead. I urge you not to leave this moment in history with any doubt about where you stand. In the greatest land war since World War II, there can be no room for moral equivalency.

Respectfully,

DW Phillips, Esq.

The views expressed in this opinion article are the author’s and not necessarily those of Kyiv Post.