Appeasing Putin

In January 2020, Jeanne Ives said, "Being a leader means standing up when you should stand up, particularly for our men and women in the Armed Services."

When General Nicholson reported (throughout 2017 and 2018) Russia was arming Taliban fighters with AK-47s and night vision goggles, President Trump ignored it, gave highly classified information to Russian officials in the Oval Office, then praised Vladimir Putin in Helsinki.

When U.S. intelligence reported that Russia offered (and possibly paid out) bounties of $100,000 to Taliban fighters for each American soldier death, President Trump refused to condemn such aggression, invited Vladimir Putin to join the G7 Summit in the United States and defended Russia on national television.

Does Ives believe the appeasement of Vladimir Putin counts as "standing up for our men and women in the Armed Services"?

Jeanne Ives has been silent as President Trump dismisses grave threats to our men and women in Afghanistan. She is politically devoted to a man who used his wealth and connections to avoid putting on a uniform and who then denigrates heroes like the late Sen. John McCain. She highlights being stationed in Germany when the Berlin Wall came down, while shrugging as the president praises a former KGB agent who never stopped fighting the Cold War.

Ives served our country and should be commended for doing so. One has to wonder, though, whether her silence is because she is afraid of losing votes, or because she approves of the destabilization of the West. Neither shows leadership, and neither is standing up for our men and women in the Armed Services. She should not be entrusted to a seat in the United States Congress.

Jackie Eberle

Crystal Lake