Tom McClintock says America is growing ‘dangerously vulnerable’ after Russia invades Ukraine
Rep. Tom McClintock, who recently urged the West to assure Russian leader Vladimir Putin Ukraine would not join NATO, is now getting tough with the Russian leader, calling the invasion of Ukraine “barbaric” and “an affront to all humanity.”
“If the current threat to European security expands to become a threat to American security, we must be ready to confront it, contain it, and if necessary, defeat it,” he said in a statement issued late Friday. “But the hour is late.”
McClintock, who is seeking re-election in California’s new 5th Congressional District, emphasized that his views are “not a call to war with Russia. It is a wake-up call that America is growing dangerously vulnerable in an increasingly violent and unstable world.”
Earlier this week, prior to the Thursday invasion, McClintock told KSEE24’s “Sunday Morning Matters” program in a clip posted to Twitter, “The Ukrainian issue is not an American security issue. That is a European security issue and needs to be handled by the Europeans.”
Last week, he told FOX26 News a simple way to deter Putin would be to say that Ukraine could not become a member of NATO, the U.S.-European alliance that regards an attack on a member as an attack on all members.
“The easiest way to defuse the situation is to simply declare that Ukraine is not going to become a part of NATO,” McClintock said. “That is the crux of the situation, so take it off the table.”
Friday afternoon, a video of the remarks remained at the top of his congressional website. McClintock did not mention NATO in his Friday statement.
His office explained Friday he was now referring to a potential attack on a NATO member country that would make it an American security issue that the U.S. would need to confront.
The congressman, who has a history of being tough on Russia, had been silent Thursday as Republican leaders and California GOP members of Congress spoke out.
Biden and the invasion
When he issued his statement Friday, McClintock, like Republican congressional leaders, criticized President Joe Biden’s policies, saying there was a disturbing pattern to his actions.
“Most immediately, all forces resisting Russian aggression should have the lethal aid they need to fight in every manner they can,” he said.
He charged the Biden administration with not providing such aid when it could, a reflection of what he said was this country’s growing vulnerability in an increasingly dangerous world.
The congressman cited the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan earlier this year, calling it an “unconditional surrender to the Taliban,” and noted “the debacle that followed,” as well as what he termed an unwillingness to defend the U.S. Southern border against undocumented immigrants.
Such lapses, he said, “have fundamentally altered the calculations of both allies and adversaries around the world.”
McClintock issued a dire warning: “The collapse of our Southern border has introduced millions of unvetted foreign nationals into our communities. The introduction of woke ideologues into our military leadership has diverted our armed forces from their sole mission of prevailing in an armed conflict.”
He feared that the U.S. is “speeding into an ominous future while undermining our nation’s ability to survive and triumph in such a world.”
“History warns us that countries that bankrupt themselves or cannot defend their own borders aren’t around very long. We must secure our own border, revive our economy, focus our national spending priorities on defense and restore our military to its singular mission: Victory.”
This story was originally published February 26, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
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