This article is taken from Gary Marx’s “Peace and Power” podcast
Introduction and Guest Presentation
00:00 | Watch on YouTube
Gary: Welcome to Peace & Power Ukraine, a place to discuss all aspects of policy related to Ukraine. It is a place that sits at the crossroads where East meets West and freedom collides with totalitarianism. Thank you for joining us during these unprecedented times. This week, we have seen President Trump speaking to the United Nations and meeting with President Zelensky. The two First Ladies of the countries also met to talk about abducted children. We have many headlines to cover, but first, I want to introduce another great guest. Bob McEwen served six terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from the great state of Ohio. During his congressional tenure, McEwen served on the Intelligence and Rules Committees. He was also a member of the U.S. delegation to the European Parliament for ten years. Prior to Congress, he served three terms in the Ohio House of Representatives. In 2020, President Trump appointed him to the 1776 Commission on Patriotic Education and the Defense Science Board. He currently serves as the Executive Director of the Council for National Policy. It is a real blessing to have you on today. Welcome, Bob.
Bob McEwen: Gary, thank you very much. It is always an honor for anyone to be around you, so thank you for this invitation.
Bob McEwen’s Background and Connection to Ukraine
01:31 | Watch on YouTube
Gary: Let’s level set with a bit of your background as it comes to Ukraine. I know you’ve been there a couple of times recently, but maybe go back and tell us what was your first time being in Ukraine and your first introduction to this very special country.
Bob McEwen: The reason I got involved in politics was because I love America and I hated communism. That made for a nice relationship with Ronald Reagan. I was his co-chairman in Ohio in 1976 and then we worked together for four years until we were finally successful in 1980. Then he asked me to do various trips as an envoy to Central America and other places where communism was starting to unravel. More nations went communist under Jimmy Carter than any president since Truman, and it looked as though America was absolutely on the decline. In fact, the president of the Soviet Union, Leonid Brezhnev, said at a conference that by the end of the 1980s, they would be able to work their will any place on the planet because the correlation of forces—economic, military, and political—were on the side of socialism and communism. That was the direction it was going.
Then the day came when a nation chose a non-communist leader of a communist country. Poland got into a situation whereby the lower house could choose the Prime Minister without a veto from the upper house. If they did that, I knew for certain that communism was finished. Six days later, Hungary declared independence, and 46 days later the Wall came down. Then Ukraine followed. Catherine the Great said, “If you lose Ukraine, you lose your head.” That was the breadbasket of the world. In fact, when Putin went in there under Biden in 2021 and shut off grain shipments out of the ports, grain prices around the globe began to skyrocket because of the dependency on Ukraine. I was able to help start a prayer breakfast in Kyiv about 11 years ago. They then continued to cascade across the country until there are now 70 city-wide prayer breakfasts held regularly in Ukraine. That is more than any other nation besides the United States. Because of my hatred for communism and my affection for freedom, one cannot see the wonderful power of the Ukrainian people—who prayed for 300 years to be out from under the boot—without being moved. I was fortunately there when they declared their independence.
Odessa Security Conference and Regional Geopolitics
04:52 | Watch on YouTube
Gary: That is tremendous. I had the chance to be at one of those, so thank you for the foundation that you helped build. I also understand you were back just recently at the Black Sea Security Conference in Odessa. Was that your first trip to Odessa?
Bob McEwen: It truly was. I have always had an interest in Odessa because, in Ohio, there is a little town on Lake Erie called Milan. It has a population of less than 2,000 and is the birthplace of Thomas Edison. On the square, a historical monument says that from this port, in the late 1800s, it was the largest grain port in the world, second only to Odessa. So I have always had an interest and wanted to go there. Once you go to Odessa, you see it was a great Jewish city for a hundred years with absolutely gorgeous homes. Socialism destroys everything, but if you squint your eyes a bit, you can see how fantastic it had to be. Fortunately, under independence, it’s growing back again. As you mentioned, it is right on the Black Sea. They had the Black Sea Conference to let the world see that this has to be an international body. When Obama became president, the first thing he did was withdraw American naval forces from the Black Sea, which was a clear signal to Putin that he could do whatever he wanted. Consequently, he came along and took Crimea. Weakness invites aggression. Evil always probes and presses against the door to see if it is locked or if it can be pushed. When we have weak leadership, and most of the time there is very weak leadership in Europe, the entire world pays a price.
Military Strategy and the Nature of Socialist Regimes
07:21 | Watch on YouTube
Gary: Putin definitely took some opportunity to make that conference a target. As I understand, there were missile attacks during that time. What was that experience like?
Bob McEwen: I think that Ukraine got the better end of it. At that Sunday afternoon dinner, everyone’s phones went off. We checked and found out that five strategic airbases had been hit. Strategic means nuclear. There are some planes that can carry nuclear weapons; they are massive Bear aircraft, remnants of the 1960s. The Ukrainians used drones and drove trucks within the vicinity of those strategic aircraft. At exactly the same time, the drones went out and destroyed a third of their strategic air force. That was quite a message to the Russians. Without God, there is no respect for life. Whenever you remove God, then life doesn’t matter anymore. That’s what socialism always does, whether it be the national socialists under Hitler or the fascists under the Italians. Eisenhower once mentioned the struggle in trying to clear mines while they were occupying Europe immediately after World War II. He was speaking to a Russian general who said they didn’t have any problem clearing mines because he just marched the Soviet soldiers through the field. They would blow up, and then they would clear the broken legs and dead bodies. Americans don’t do that because we respect God, and where there is God, there is respect for life.
Analyzing the Conflict and the Meat Grinder Tactics
09:51 | Watch on YouTube
Gary: It was said that the Afghanistan debacle for the Soviet army was difficult because they had lost 18,000 troops who were primarily sons of the elite mothers of Moscow and St. Petersburg. In this case, he has lost hundreds of thousands more dead and wounded, but they haven’t been from those elite families. They’ve learned the lessons of Afghanistan.
Bob McEwen: They have stolen soldiers from North Korea. As they capture the North Korean soldiers, they tell the Ukrainians that they were told they were going to Russia for training. They were never told they were going to be front-line fodder. Putin is willing to chop people up and lose thousands for nothing. This is a real sad situation.
Trump’s Vision for Ukraine and Global Leadership
10:24 | Watch on YouTube
Gary: I want to get your reaction to President Trump’s most recent post on Truth Social. He said: “After getting to know and fully understand the Ukraine-Russia military and economic situation, and after seeing the economic trouble it is causing Russia, I think Ukraine, with the support of the European Union and in particular NATO, is in a position to fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form. Russia has been fighting aimlessly for three and a half years, a war that should have taken a real military power less than a week to win. This is not distinguishing Russia; in fact, it is making them look like a paper tiger.” Strong words from the President. Your thoughts and comments, Congressman McEwen?
Bob McEwen: This is when you recognize that you really need a leader and not a politician. People sense leadership immediately. Tyrants sense leadership and they also sense weakness. Under Donald Trump, Putin didn’t move an inch. Once we had the weakness that we’ve had under the Democrats, things changed. Trump knows how to negotiate. Every three years, the President of the United States would meet with the NATO leaders and they would sign an agreement that they were all going to meet the 2% minimum for defense, yet nothing happened for 30 years. Donald Trump said, “How about this? Maybe we don’t need you.” They went running to their checkbooks. He gave Putin a chance. He shook his hand and said we could work this out if you just have a ceasefire. Well, because of Putin’s bullheadedness and because of what Ukraine has gone through, they are going to come out far better than they ever would have before. It’s only because we have a leader.
The Failures of Experts and the Heart of the Ukrainian People
12:52 | Watch on YouTube
Gary: Trump showed that leadership on the world stage this last week. President Zelensky also recently told Putin he needs to make sure all of his officials in the Kremlin know where their bomb shelters are, because the next phase of the war is going to be coming to them. Another thing General Kellogg said was that we are closer now to World War III because of Russia’s escalatory tactics near NATO borders in Poland, Estonia, or Denmark. He is spreading and escalating, but I think we are going to see opportunities to box him in. NATO’s weapons will be sold to Ukraine and they will be able to use them offensively to target energy and military targets deep within Russia.
Bob McEwen: It is important to recognize that all of the experts—international diplomats, military, and political leaders—were all wrong. They didn’t know the heart of the Ukrainian citizen. It goes back to Yamamoto and the attack at Pearl Harbor; he feared they had awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with great resolve. Those experts who talk to each other and give each other awards and certificates didn’t talk to the Ukrainians. America was weakened, but now America is back and the world notices it. The National Security Advisor for Joe Biden was a campaign operative for Hillary Clinton who put together the Russia hoax. That was the person over top of our military. Antony Blinken, the Secretary of State, has parents who worked for Soros. Between Soros, who negotiated giving the Ukrainian nuclear weapons to Russia in the first place under Bill Clinton, we got into this pickel. Now, when you talk about General Kellogg, you can see how rapidly all of this can right itself with the right kind of leadership and people who know what they are talking about.
Optimism for the Future of America and Global Influence
15:14 | Watch on YouTube
Gary: As we close out, if there’s one thing you want to share with the audience that we didn’t get to, what would it be?
Bob McEwen: I have never been more optimistic about the future of America than I am at this moment. You hear Biden say “the best days are ahead,” which was just nonsense because we were in a spiral. But when you see what is happening on college campuses, when church attendance is hitting record highs, and Bible purchases in America are up 22% over just a year ago, it is significant. When you see leaders like the former president of Albania singing “God Bless America” and waving the American flag, the world notices. Foreign economic investment in America has been between 12 and 13 trillion dollars because the entire world wants to invest here. That is where the future is.
Gary: Thank you, Bob McEwen, for being with us on Peace & Power Ukraine. Friends, we will look forward to another great conversation next time. Have a great day and God bless.
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