A. J. Kaufman
A. J. Kaufmancourtesy

Whether in the United States, Israel, Europe or anywhere, people tend to be impatient with foreign affairs and especially wars.

For several years after the Islamist terror attacks of Sept. 11, American leftists begged for a withdrawal "timeline" on our efforts in Afghanistan and especially Iraq. Former President George W. Bush wisely would not give one.

Ultimately, to fulfill a petty campaign promise, then-President Barack Obama quickly destroyed progress and gave rise to ISIS with his premature Iraq withdrawal, while President Joe Biden’s ignoble Afghanistan surrender nine months ago remains one of the most catastrophic blunders in modern military history.

Even though not a single U.S. soldier has stepped onto Ukraine soil, and bipartisan support holds strong in Washington, the isolationist voices, often coming from today's populist right, are loud.

Part of that is political, and understandably when America has a president who's not only been wrong on nearly every crucial foreign policy issue for 49 years, but is increasingly careless with important verbiage on the global stage.

To start, Vladimir Putin should ideally not keep any territorial gains. They’re internationally unrecognized, since Russia stole their neighbor’s land with zero legitimate justification.

Now 100 days into the war an odious Putin wrought, the stubborn bravery of Ukrainians proves most would prefer to fight to victory.

But with Russia making strong moves, further escalation could be hazardous. Backed into a corner, with or without faulty information, a deranged Putin could use tactical nuclear weapons.

Ukraine’s forces have fought better than anyone imagined, but they still depend on the West for vital supplies. And when it’s delayed or obfuscated, that can embolden evil and place innocent lives in danger.

The willingness of the U.S. and its allies to continue providing aid lets Ukraine keep fighting.

For isolationists, they are disingenuous, since any honest observer knows this war has global effects, rendering non sequiturs comparing ephemeral domestic and foreign affairs ridiculous.

My view is Biden should back President Volodymyr Zelenskyy until Putin stops trying to take additional territory, but neither the Moscow autocrat, nor Zellensky, seem willing to settle on a permanent division territory. And of course, no one should trust Putin.

With ongoing Russian movements and more than 15,000 war crimes, returning to status quo seems the very best Ukraine can hope for, yet a ceasefire doesn’t mean Ukraine lost; it means that reality and necessity have prevailed, and we must ensure any future Putin incursion never happens.

That also means the White House gives Ukraine enough military materiel to halt any future Russian assault. It should not mean that the White House chief of staff gives away the game plan, instead of evolving our plans based upon what circumstances arise.

For the sake of suffering civilians and soldiers, however, and with the stunning loss of Ukrainian wheat exports — a huge blow to the global food supply — we must consider realpolitik.

Is that bittersweet for Ukrainians? Yes. But the war of attrition has been so costly that, according to experts, "Russia faces serious difficulty achieving anything meaningful on the battlefield without committing much more manpower than it currently has available."

Simultaneously, Putin is now a permanent pariah across the free world. Couple that with crushing sanctions and mobilizing previously-neutral or recalcitrant European countries to now increase their defense budgets and align with NATO against Mother Russia, there are silver linings.

A.J. Kaufman is a senior columnist with Alpha News. He taught school and served as a military historian before beginning his journalism career, where his writing has since appeared in numerous print and digital outlets. The author of three books, he also contributes to Israel National News, The Lid, and is a frequent guest on various radio programs and podcasts. A.J. currently resides in the Upper Midwest. This article was written exclusively for Arutz Sheva.