The Russo-Ukrainian War has dropped off the front pages of the newspapers, and the Ukrainian flags which were ever-present in my Northern Virginian neighborhood are no longer quite as present.

This is change is expected due to the passage of time, and to the fact that there has not been that much major change on the front over the past few weeks to months in part due to winter. Russia continues to commit atrocities against civilians. The West could provide tanks to Ukraine soon. This would represent a further increase in Western support.

But right when the West looks to be ramping up support, the United States may face real political trouble in supporting Ukraine. The Washington Post reported that for the first time, a poll showed that more Republicans oppose rather than support further Ukrainian funding. And we have a slim Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

In conservative circles, there are two broad arguments which are used to justify this change. There is the alt-right approach which not only opposes supporting Ukraine, but supports Russia or tries to argue that both sides are equally bad. Russia is the great savior of traditional values and Christianity (when it is not hailed as the great savior of Communists by lunatic leftists), and we should let Russia win.

These people are not worth discussing. But there is another, more generally isolationist argument. These people agree that Russia is worse than the Ukrainians. But that does not mean that the US has to be the one to support Ukraine. Why can Europe not do it? Why does America, facing so much difficulty, have to use its monies to support a country so far away? Yes, the Russians are committing atrocities in Ukraine, but why is that our problem?

This argument has more merit to it. It is true that there are other instances of chaos and murder occuring across the globe that the US has little interest in. Close by Haiti, which has devolved into anarchic gang violence, is an example. But Ukraine is special. Even if one chooses to ignore the Russian atrocities or not give a nickel about human rights or democracy, there are real geopolitical reasons to support Ukraine to the hilt.

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