So who is Ukraine in this analogy? The US? We spent trillions of dollars in Iraq and Afghanistan along with tens of thousands of dead and wounded. We fled Afghanistan in defeat with the Taliban and other terrorists in control of the country.
We made the mistake of mission creep that got us into the nation-building business that bogged us down for 20 years. Almost immediately afterwards, we are deeply involved in Ukraine with no end in sight. Our investment is approaching $100 billion with much more to come.
We are the world’s biggest debtor nation. We must borrow the money to fight these endless wars. Our annual debt servicing costs are $400 billion a year. They will rise to a trillion dollars a year by the end of the decade, more than the current defense budget. And we have the looming crisis of our $100 trillion unfunded liabilities of SS and Medicare. The Medicare Trust Fund is exhausted in 2028. Is Ukraine our hill to die on?