Time for Americans to unite in standing up to Putin over Ukraine threats: Scott W. Patton

COLUMBUS, Ohio — I served in the 82nd Airborne Division’s Immediate Response Force. I have been alerted for combat missions.

U.S. troops being deployed today are a part of the best-trained, best-equipped and best mission-prepared forces in the world. They are highly motivated to execute whatever mission they are assigned in response to growing threats to our national security. They are not political. They do not care about political division; they care about the mission and the threat.

They deserve our unified support while deploying to defend our country’s and our NATO allies’ security interests, as Russia prepares to invade Ukraine.

According to a military spokesperson, U.S. immediate response forces are “always prepared to deploy at a moment’s notice to conduct contingency operations in support of our national security objectives.”

These service members and the entirety of the U.S. armed forces exemplify how we can breach the disunion our country faces. Service members work for the good of the country, not party. Today’s military reflects our country’s makeup without the division that would hinder the mission. They see purpose serving a greater cause than their own.

Elected officials from both parties need to do the same as we face off with our sworn Russian nemesis.

Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio, co-chair of the Senate Ukraine Caucus, spoke last week on the Senate floor to discuss the hostile actions taken by Russia that threaten Ukraine’s independence and sovereignty.

Portman also spoke about the recent bipartisan delegation of seven senators that he co-led to the region with New Hampshire Democratic Sen. Jeanne Shaheen.. They were able to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, cleveland.com’s Sabrina Eaton reported, “to discuss boosting U.S. support in the face of increased Russian aggression and increasing aid for use in training and equipping Ukrainian defense forces,” Portman, according to his office, also noted that NATO allies have mostly been coming together to support Ukraine.

The country must buttress and follow these bipartisan efforts in the Senate.

After President Joe Biden last week ordered the deployment to Europe of 2,000 U.S. troops from Fort Bragg, a Pentagon spokesperson said that the president has “been clear that the U.S. will respond to the growing threat.”

Unified support shows our troops and the world that we will not back down from Russian militancy. That we will stand by our commitments. That our word counts. Consolidated support is the best deterrent to a Russian invasion that would further destabilize an already volatile domestic and international landscape.

A clear message of support from both political parties will show Russian leader Vladimir Putin that he will not divide us domestically and that there is a redline in eastern Europe not to be crossed.

Mohandas Gandhi, better known as Mahatma Gandhi, is often credited with the saying that, “For unity to be real, it must stand the severest strain without breaking.” Our country is now suffering one of our “severest strains” in our nation’s history.

A proverb sometimes attributed to Winston Churchill says, “When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” This is a moment and opportunity to break away from our self-induced political strains and division. We cannot give our outside enemies the ability to hurt us. We must not become Russian pawns in Vladimir Putin’s desire to weaken our standing abroad by dividing ourselves.

Putin only understands blunt force trauma. The 82nd Airborne knows blunt force trauma. Russia only understands power. As Russia continues to build up more than 100,000 military forces on the Ukraine border, the deployment of U.S. immediate action forces to the former Soviet bloc countries of Poland, (East) Germany and Romania sends a clear message of power to Putin.

As Russia ponders its next move, this is our moment as a country to be united in this cause, regardless of political party. An opportunity to show Putin that we are Americans — not Democrats or Republicans, but Americans linked in our support of our country’s leaders and our military to stop Russian belligerence.

Scott W. Patton, a member of a Gold Star family and a combat veteran, is a real estate developer in Columbus, Ohio.

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