Recent Columns by Ambassador Jim Gilmore

The latest Ambassador James S. Gilmore columns, news articles, and statements regarding the war Russia has brutally carried out in Ukraine and threatening the rest of the civilized and free West.
May 2024 -
My trip to Taiwan provided a great opportunity to discuss America's role in the world:
Can a Divided America Lead in a Fragmented World?
The Tension between Internationalism and Isolationism
Opening keynote by Governor James S. Gilmore III at CAPRI 2024 Annual Forum
May 6, 2024 Taipei, Taiwan
Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for the opportunity to address a distinguished group of people here today from the Taiwan community and all the others who are joining us this morning. I'm honored to have been given the opportunity to be the keynote speaker in this very significant conference, and we're all grateful that you're here and that you'll be participating in this and also in public affairs far beyond the conference.

So, we're delighted that you're here and I'm very happy to have a chance to do this. Bear in mind that America is a Pacific nation. Sometimes I think here in this community and communities in Asia we seem a long way away across such a vast ocean. But the truth is that the United States is a Pacific nation, and we have stake in this area, in this part of the world. So, it's no surprise that we would have an interest and I'm happy to be able to underscore that today. So really the topic today is, “Can a divided America lead in a fragmented world?”

Well, look, don't pay too much attention to the divisions in America. Somehow, we always manage to settle all these things. We are a democracy, a republic. We argue with ourselves. We get into real controversies. But the resilience of America is that we can deal with these issues so successfully and overcome them through our own political systems. So, the question is, “Can America lead in a fragmented world?” I'll talk about that, but at the end, I will tell you that the answer is yes. America can provide leadership. We can do that, particularly at this moment in time. It feels to me like we are at a real crossroads right now........

Full transcript here.

MAY 1, 2023
FIVE QUESTIONS with Ambassador Jim Gilmore - 68th Governor of Virginia
Former Governor Jim Gilmore holds forth on the war in Ukraine, the impending threat of Russia and China on the global stage, Kaine's role on debt spending, and more.
SHAUN KENNEY
Senior Editor
The Republican Standard
Read the entire interview here: https://open.substack.com/pub/therepublicanstandard/p/five-questions-with-governor-jim?utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web

National Review Op-Ed: The Need for American Resolve in the Face of Putin’s Aggression
Our leaders must be clear that they will reject the siren song of surrender when the moment calls for courage. By JAMES S. GILMORE III February 17, 2023, 6:30 AM
for the National Review
The United States must remain steadfast in support of Ukraine despite the isolationist elements that are now making themselves heard among Republicans. Russian president Vladimir Putin is attempting to make war among nations in Europe the norm, as it was in the twentieth century — and that poses a threat to America that must not be allowed to take root.
Ever since their invasion began in February 2022, Russian forces have murdered civilians, kidnapped Ukrainian children and deported them to Russia, and committed other atrocities. Sooner or later there must be a day of judgment for these war criminals.
In May 2021, I led a delegation to Ukraine sponsored by the American Foreign Policy Council. We met with many of Ukraine’s cabinet ministers. We traveled to Mariupol, which Russia would seize after it invaded. We visited the line of contact facing the Russian armed proxies in east Ukraine. Every Ukrainian soldier, official, and citizen I met expressed a determination to fight for their country if Russia attacked. When Russia attacked Ukraine in February 2022, we witnessed that resolve.
Americans today face enormous problems at home. Inflation, racial divisions, the national debt, and the southern-border crisis are understandably the main focus of our day-to-day attention. Many Americans are also discouraged by the previous overseas adventures in Iraq and Afghanistan, disappointments that have been easily exploited by neo-isolationists, some in the Republican Party and some on Fox News, who assert that “not another dime” should be sent to support Ukraine’s self-defense.
Every week in Vienna as ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), I delivered a message of American resolve and leadership in the OSCE Permanent Council. The Helsinki Accords of 1976 and their “Final Act” are the foundation of the OSCE. The Accords stand for the inviolability of borders, for the sovereignty of all nations, and for every country’s right to choose its own path and alliances. The “Final Act” stands for open access to information, for human rights and democratic values.
Vladimir Putin’s war of aggression, with its many criminal atrocities, flies in the face of the Helsinki Accords. Putin believes it is his destiny to reassemble the Soviet-Russian empire. Ukraine is the essential first step towards that goal, but not the last. If he prevails, further aggression on European soil is certain.
Putin’s launch of his invasion of Ukraine presented a “zero-sum game” for the West. Once it was launched, any middle ground for resolution of the long-standing conflict disappeared. Even the possibility of negotiations is foreclosed, because any negotiation that rewards Russia in any way will send the message that aggression pays off. Putin is forcing the West to either deny Russia its victory or quit and abandon Ukraine.
In my view, quitting has never been an option. If the United States and the Western allies choose to quit supporting Ukraine, Putin will prevail. Using force to achieve geostrategic aims will then become the new norm in Europe and world-wide. Putin will be on the way to his dream of a new Russian empire, a reality not lost on the Baltic States, Poland, eastern Europe, and our Western allies. If Putin’s aggression succeeds, Russia will have proven that it can attack its neighbors with impunity whenever it wants. Europe will have no choice but to accommodate him, and our alliances will weaken. America must not let that happen.
The outcome of the Ukraine war also has a direct bearing on the decisions of Chairman Xi Jinping in China. Xi has left no doubt as to his goal of subjugating Taiwan. China has no moral or historic right to subject any free people to its totalitarian rule. But the odds of a Chinese attack would only increase if America abandoned Ukraine to Putin and allowed conquest-by-force to become the new normal.
In truth, Putin, and Chairman Xi are counting on Americans to lose interest in Ukraine, and to demand that the U.S. cease its support for the Ukrainians. If America waivers, our NATO allies will follow suit. America is still the leader of the Western world. And no matter what story the mainstream media tells, our allies still wish for decisive American leadership.
America has never allowed either Europe or the western Pacific to be dominated by a hostile power, and it has certainly never allowed both to be dominated by a hostile power at the same time. Any such domination would be an existential threat to the United States. A world controlled by the Putin and Xi regimes would be a world of tyranny, violence, and the destruction of human rights — a world the United States could never abide. Sooner or later, we would be forced to stand up, and we’d have to fight the new world war that neo-isolationists warn about with fewer allies at our side. Saving Ukraine is our last best chance to save ourselves from an expenditure in treasure and blood that will make our present support for the Ukrainians seem trivial.
It is time for a political reckoning in America with those who undermine our commitment to Ukraine. The new isolationism leads America down a path toward the destruction of our way of life, if not of our nation itself. The new isolationists must not be allowed to succeed in turning the frustrations and resentments of the American people against the interests of the nation.
American resolve starts with presidential and congressional leadership. Our leaders must be clear that they will reject the siren song of surrender when the moment calls for courage. Our very lives may depend on the outcome of this crisis. We must do everything in our power to ensure that Ukraine succeeds.
JAMES S. GILMORE III was the U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe from 2019–2021, and the 68th governor of Virginia from 1998–2002.
https://www.nationalreview.com/2023/02/the-need-for-american-resolve-in-the-face-of-putins-aggression/
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Contact email: GilmoreAmbassador@gmail.com - for speech or media requests.
Ambassador James S. Gilmore, III
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe 
(OSCE 2019 - 2021)

Opinion
Former Gov. Gilmore says he’s on a ‘mission’ to drum up support for Ukraine by Dwayne Yancey.
The former governor and ambassador spoke at Ferrum College to warn about isolationism and the need for the West to stand against Russia.
The speaker at Ferrum College on Monday night went after Tucker Carlson.
He blasted The Heritage Foundation.
He ripped into the Conservative Political Action Committee.
And he all but called Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Georgia, a traitor.
What kind of left-winger did Ferrum bring to campus to indoctrinate the students? None at all. The speaker in this case was “a lifelong Reagan conservative” – former Gov. Jim Gilmore and, more to the point for this talk, former Ambassador Jim Gilmore.
Full Column: https://cardinalnews.org/2022/11/16/former-gov-gilmore-says-its-a-mission-to-drum-up-support-for-ukraine/

What's at stake in Ukraine and why the US must care by Ambassador Jim Gilmore
(Washington Examiner August 2022)
The Russian invasion of Ukraine is the first step to reducing America as a world power. Russian dictator Vladimir Putin intends to reassemble the Soviet empire, which would be a permanent threat to all of our allies in Europe. He intends to demonstrate he can demolish Ukraine even if he can’t conquer it. He even plans to eliminate Ukrainians as a separate people.
Full Column: https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/restoring-america/courage-strength-optimism/whats-at-stake-in-ukraine-and-why-the-us-must-care

Russia's war against Ukraine is just America's first challenge by Ambassador Jim Gilmore
(FoxNews.com May 2022) --
On the sidewalk in Kyiv, in front of a key government office is a bronze statue of St. George spearing the dragon. The statue reflects the conviction of every Ukrainian I met. Ukraine is St. George, and Russia is the dragon......
Full Column: https://www.foxnews.com/opinion/russia-ukraine-america-challenge-jim-gilmore
Click here for archived columns from Jim Gilmore on FoxNews.com

A column in Foreign Policy Magazine before Russian President Putin pulled the trigger and invaded Ukraine:
A New Cold War to Decide the Future of Europe -- And the World by James S. Gilmore
Trump’s ambassador to the OSCE says a Russian invasion of Ukraine is an attack on “all of America’s allies.”
Full Column:  https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/01/21/russia-ukraine-invasion-nato-future-europe/

Brief Statement regarding Tucker Carlson & Sen. Josh Hawley (Feb. 3, 2022)
Tucker Carlson and Senator Josh Hawley are wrong on Ukraine. Both have said that in the current Ukraine crisis that Putin is merely trying to secure Russia's security, and the U.S. has no stake in Ukraine's sovereignty. They are wrong. As I said in my recent article in Foreign Policy Magazine, the entire structure of European security and safety is at stake in this crisis. Putin is not concerned about Russian security. Putin's statements are a pretext for Russian aggression.
Such statements by Carlson and Hawley are dangerous because it communicates to Putin that America is divided, and we should not be divided. We should communicate resolve for Ukraine’s independence, and the safety of the rest of Europe also. We don't need these statements of uncertainty from "Vichy Americans".

Virginia should not be making money on the deaths of Ukrainian patriots.
"Former Governor and former Ambassador to OSCE, James Gilmore, urged that Virginia's Alcohol Control Board cease immediately selling Russian vodka in their ABC stores. Further, Gilmore urged Virginia to remove Russian vodka from the shelves of the ABC stores statewide and to place no more orders for Russian vodka. This action would show Virginians' solidarity with Ukraine which is under invasion from Russia. Virginia should not be making money on the deaths of Ukrainian patriots. Using Russian vodka in your martini is like pouring Ukrainian blood in your cocktail, Gilmore said. Virginians should not be drinking with war criminals.
https://twitter.com/SecretsBedard/status/1497991662378782721

Paul Bedard on Twitter
“Virginia ABCs ban Russian vodka, Ohio, NH, Tex. too Ex-Va. @gov_gilmore 'Using Russian vodka in your martini is like pouring Ukrainian blood in your cocktail. Virginians should not be drinking with war criminals.' Gov. Youngkin reviewing other products. https://t.co/h23Cbb8KnI”

Virginia ABCs ban Russian vodka
www.washingtonexaminer.com
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/washington-secrets/virginia-abcs-ban-russian-vodka

Virginia ABC Bans Russian Vodka From Shelves | The Republican Standard
More popular Russian vodka brands such as Stolichnaya will not be part of the ban. Despite being instantly identified with Russia, the mainstay of Russian vodka is produced in NATO-allied Latvia — a holdover from the old intertwining Soviet era.  www.therepublicanstandard.com
https://therepublicanstandard.com/featured/virginia-abc-bans-russian-vodka-from-shelves/cicero/2022/02/


Former Gov. Gilmore says West must stand up to Putin | Govt-and-politics | richmond.com
Former Gov. Jim Gilmore considers the Russian invasion of Ukraine “the most serious crisis” in Europe since the Soviet Union divided and walled off Berlin more than 60 years ago.
richmond.com
https://richmond.com/news/state-and-regional/govt-and-politics/former-gov-gilmore-says-west-must-stand-up-to-putin/article_38d8967d-7e25-577c-bb84-1e37c625f585.html


'Real war is coming.' In an exclusive interview with 7News reporter @NickMinock, former Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, is warning Americans they need to pay attention to what is happening on the Ukraine border right now. WATCH the interview here: https://wjla.com/news/nation-world/exclusive-former-va-gov-jim-gilmorerussia-ukraine-organization-for-security-and-cooperation-in-europe-osce-

Statement regarding the situation in Ukraine:
"Today Russia dropped its pretense that the"separatists" in Donbas and Luhansk are acting independently of Russia. Russia has invaded sovereign Ukrainian territory. Putin's "recognition" of these provinces is preliminary to a new annexation, following the Crimea pattern. Do not overlook the Russian position that even those parts of Luhansk and Donbas still in the hands of the legitimate Ukrainian government do not now belong to Ukraine. This is preliminary to attacking the Ukrainian line of contact directly. Also, Foreign Minister Lavrov repeated the lie that Ukraine has no right to exist, attempting to legitimate a conquest of all of Ukraine in the days ahead.
President Biden should impose every possible sanction on Russia as he promised, and find more. President Biden cannot threaten sanctions for months and then hold back. No commerce of any kind should be conducted with any Russian entity of any kind. Any such commerce by any American should be recognized as aid and comfort to the Russian aggression. No citizen of an American or NATO ally should conduct any commerce with any Russian. Finally, the Russian people cannot be absolved from this crime of aggressive war. It is their sons that populate the Russian army of aggression. No overseas Russian bank account should be usable. No travel visa should be granted or extended to any Russian citizen until their country returns to the society of civilized peoples." As to the proposed meeting between Secretary of State Blinken and Foreign Secretary Lavrov scheduled for this week, this meeting should not occur until all Russian forces withdraw back into Russia's own country. Diplomacy cannot be conducted with a gun to the head. What demand could Foreign Secretary Lavrov make that the western democracies could agree to?"

Former ambassador to the Organization for Security & Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) says a Russian invasion of Ukraine is an attack on “all of America’s allies.”

From Foreign Policy Magazine A “New Cold War” to Decide the Future of Europe—and the World 
By James S. Gilmore III
".....Russia invaded Ukraine once before, in 2014, leaving behind proxy forces in eastern Ukraine. 
It annexed Crimea, a recognized territory of Ukraine, which is now being used as a military staging area against its own country. All of this followed Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia and occupation of Abkhazia and South Ossetia and its staging of soldiers in the Transnistria region of Moldova against the wishes of that country’s government.

Putin has alleged that NATO is getting too close to Russia. He wants Biden to agree not to allow Ukraine to become a part of the Western alliance. He also demands that NATO withdraw its forces from the group’s sovereign members in Eastern Europe. In short, Putin effectively demands that NATO become a shadow alliance"..........
Click here to read the entire column in Foreign Policy Magazine.

Statement from former USOSCE Ambassador Jim Gilmore:
Tucker Carlson and Senator Josh Hawley are wrong on Ukraine. Both have said that in the current Ukraine crisis Putin is merely trying to secure Russia's security, and the U.S. has no stake in Ukraine's sovereignty. They are wrong. As I said in my recent article in Foreign Policy, the entire structure of European security and safety is at stake in this crisis. Putin is not concerned about Russian security. Putin's statements are a pretext for Russian aggression.
Such statements by Carlson and Hawley are dangerous because it communicates to Putin that America is divided, and we should not be divided. We should communicate resolve for Ukraine’s independence, and the safety of the rest of Europe also. We don't need these statements of uncertainty from "Vichy Americans".
On another matter, former Ambassador to Ukraine William B. Taylor, Jr. testified before the Congressional Helsinki Commission that Putin "will blink". This also is a bad statement and Ambassador Taylor should keep quiet. That remark may be interpreted by Putin as a taunt and cause Putin to make a stupid decision to invade Ukraine to refute such reckless taunts.
President Biden invited this crisis by a series of unwise actions relative to Russia. Biden is now playing "catch up" to deter Putin from invading Ukraine. He is right to put our troops on alert, and right to stand up for NATO independence and the principles of the OSCE.
Ambassador James S. Gilmore, III
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
(2019 - 2021) 
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ICYMI: Virginia Gov. @GlennYoungkin tax relief plan includes:
-Eliminating the grocery tax
-Suspending the recent nickel gas tax hike for one year
-Doubling the standard deduction
-Stop taxing veterans 401K plans

Watch the WJLA-TV (ABC) News Story: https://wjla.com/news/political
.......Former Gov. Gilmore also told @7NewsDC (WJLA-TV) that the car tax should be eliminated. 
You can watch the full @nickminock interview with @gov_gilmore here: https://wjla.com/news/political
/eliminating-virginias-vehicle-property-tax-isnt-part-of-glenn-youngkins-tax-relief-plan

“The Federal government has been flooding the system with money, just flooding it with borrowed money,” said former Republican Governor Jim Gilmore. “This flood of money is resulting in high inflation.”

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@gov_gilmore 
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The latest columns on car tax relief for Virginians, U.S. Pipelines, and U.S.-China Relations:
OPINION: James S. Gilmore III in the Washington Times
Gen. Milley Must Go: He acts more like a politician than a general....
The recent investigations and hearings surrounding the activities of Gen. Mark Milley, including his testimony before the Senate and House Armed Service Committees, make it clear that Gen. Milley must resign or be removed from his office as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.  
One of the most inviolate rules of our American republic is that the military of the United States will not participate in the politics of our country.  Since the beginnings of our republic, the U.S. military has been subordinated to civilian authority.  This is how America addresses the simple reality that a coup d’etat is possible only with the initiative or complicity of the military.  History is replete with examples of military take-overs by military leaders who believe only they can protect their country from internal threats. The American military defends our country.  It is also the only institution that can extinguish our republic.  
Read more: https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2021/oct/13/gen-mark-milley-must-go-he-acts-more-like-a-politi/

Taxpayer relief: Time to reinstate the car tax cut
By James S. Gilmore III (Richmond Times-Dispatch)
Gov. Ralph Northam called the General Assembly back into special session on Monday to allocate spending on a torrent of federal money coming to Virginia through President Joe Biden’s American Rescue Plan. The so-called “rescue plan’’ is the first piece of the president’s proposal to spend more than $7 trillion on domestic projects and welfare benefits in several successive phases and several congressional spending bills. The first spending piece of the Biden “rescue” program amounts to $1.9 trillion nationwide and was sold as a recovery program due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
This enormous spending plan was passed this past March, entirely by the Democratic majorities in Congress, with the votes of both of Virginia’s Democratic senators, Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, and all of the Democratic members of the House of Representatives from Virginia. Virginia is getting $4.3 billion from this federal spending. Needless to say, this is not free money. This federal money is your money, paid to the federal government in your annual tax payment to the IRS. This is your money, and that is why the spending decision is put to our Virginia state legislature.
I have a modest proposal: We should use this windfall to restart the car-tax cut in Virginia, which was enacted in 1998, and then stalled in 2002 after I departed the governor’s office. At that time my administration advanced the car-tax cut to 70% off, with plans to do a complete phaseout and abolition over the next several years. That phaseout of the car tax never happened after my term in office was over.
Full Column here: https://richmond.com/.../article_a60b8ed8-5d68-5307-ba76...

Critical U.S. Pipelines Remain Stopped, As Russian Pipelines Are Greenlighted
By Ambassador James S. “Jim” Gilmore III (Real Clear Energy)
In light of President Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s meeting recently, it was clear the two leaders continue to remain on opposing sides of Russia’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline. During their joint press conference, President Biden said, “My view on Nord Stream 2 has been known for some time. Good friends can disagree, but by the time I became president, it was 90 percent completed, and imposing sanctions did not seem to make any sense.” In May, the Biden administration announced plans to waive American economic sanctions on the Russian Nord Stream 2 pipeline, allowing the Russian energy project to move forward, a decision his own Secretary of State has criticized. Unfortunately, the administration’s decisions have a wider impact than domestic jobs. They also send a clear, worrisome message to our geostrategic friends and rivals.
Full column here: https://www.realclearenergy.org/.../critical_us_pipelines...

Office of Jim Gilmore
Statement on the Deterioration of Relations Between China & The United States
(Richmond, Virginia) -- Fareed Zakaria on his CNN Sunday (August 1, 2021) show, Global Public Square, expressed regret over the recent deterioration of relations between China and the U.S. He said how bad it was that relations were “spiraling down due to a turn toward nationalism in both countries”.
This is a statement of moral equivalency between the world’s leading democracy and the world’s leading communist, authoritarian country. The assertion of joint responsibility is a terrible message but has the effect of working on the minds of Americans who will need the resolve to stand up to the aggression of this terrible Chinese government.
The American left-wing continues to use the so-called “mainstream media” to carry its message that America is no better than any other country. This is a dangerous falsehood. What is at stake in the Pacific is the freedom and sovereignty of billions of people threatened by Chinese aggression. History goes the wrong way if the U.S. determination to stand up for freedom is undermined.
No one wants a war between China and the U.S. However, China seems ready to start a war unless they are deterred by the certainty of American resolve. Zakaria sends a message of American lack of certainty.
The President of China just this week said anyone who “bullied” China would have its head bashed in. This is a direct threat to the UK for sending its ships into the South China sea. It is a direct threat to Taiwan, who we are pledged to defend against the Chinese threats of invasion, a conquest that would wipe out a budding democracy that stands as a rebuke to Communist China. It is above all a threat to the U.S. which with allies provides the only check on Chinese aggression.
China today is guilty of genocide against the Uyghurs in Xinjiang. China today is guilty of breaking its promise to respect the freedoms of the people of Hong Kong. China is guilty today of controlling their own billion people through labor camps, faked-up laws, and courts, and their “civil scoring” that denies basic rights to Chinese citizens who don’t knuckle under Communist authoritarianism
As a liberal, Mr. Zakaria is not capable of understanding what he just did, and the harm he does by asserting a moral equivalency between the U.S. and China. Zakaria should not be trying to weaken the resolve of Americans as we engage once again in this struggle between liberty and the new fascism emerging in the world today.
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