Arizona Congressional Candidate Walt Blackman Warns Against Military Involvement in Ukraine – Opinion

Arizona Republican State Rep. Walt Blackman is running for Congress in Arizona’s new 2nd Congressional District. He shared his views on all things, including inflation, Veterans Affairs, and border security.

Blackman said that high oil prices are due to poor energy policy by the Biden Administration. He suggested using military tactics from Middle East experience at the southern border. And he expressed his disapproval of the $40 billion federal spending package to help Ukraine. The representative frequently cited his background as both a veteran and a state legislator when discussing solutions to America’s most pressing issues.

Note that the interview was edited for clarity, grammar, length and clarity. 

Cameron Arcand:Do you believe the greatest problem facing our country is right now? If so, how will Congress tackle it?

Walt Blackman: My biggest problem right now is inflation. The costs of milk and bread are increasing, as well as the cost of fuel. Fuel prices are a major factor in our supply chain. You know that fuel costs drive everything. If truckers cannot afford to put fuel in their trucks, they’re making sure they’re making fewer trips thus slowing down the supply chain. It’s already slow, but it doesn’t help it. The answer is simple: continue building the Keystone pipeline, and continue drilling in Alaska. It’s not going to stop the inflation as quickly as we would like, however it will help […] That’s a way we can curb our inflation costs.

We also pay our debts between Japan and China. The two countries own about 45% each of our debt. If we pay at least one of those countries off, that’s going to bring up trillions of dollars of interest alone that we can put back into our general fund. We need to streamline our departments. The government employs Lean Six Sigma processes, which I am aware of. This can be increased and made more rigorous on the processes. Get rid of any wasteful or inefficient processes and streamline your systems. That’s going to curve some of the costs down as well.

CA:One thing I discovered when researching your background to this interview was your military experiences. I would love to hear more about your military experience and what you think the government should do to support veterans.

WB: So you know, my background, I’m sure you read this up. My active duty service in the United States Army lasted twenty-five years. When we’re talking about border security, we did a lot of work in Iraq guarding the Northern border. Intuitive action patrol was a key part of my early career. We guarded the Kuwaiti border with Iraq from 1995 to 1996. International experience is a huge asset to me. I know how to secure a border. How we can shut it down so that people can’t get in, and the good guys can stay out. It would be a great honor to learn more about what our country can do.

We can use ground surveillance technology to ensure that tunnels are sealed up from Mexico. From California to Arizona all the way down to Texas. Employing surveillance– I’m not just talking one of those small remote helicopters, but we can deploy balloon type of technology, the same type we use in Afghanistan to do surveillance. These methods are tied to Homeland Security and U.S. Department of Customs [and Border Protection] we can slow down some of that traffic it’s coming through. Then we can’t forget about the ports and what’s coming in through our air traffic.

It is important to make sure that everything else is secure. Human trafficking is a problem. The problem with human trafficking and drug smuggling is a major concern. They’ll leave firearms that you really can’t use on the street like Bazookas. We can still capture them and take them into our custody if all of our resources are available not just at the border, but here as well in the ports.

What I would do about the Veterans Administration, number one I would allow veterans, I would like to see veterans be able to pick their doctor, particularly those veterans that don’t have Tricare, have a retirement medical program.

I have Tricare and I’m able to pick my doctor. I feel that my care has improved in this capacity. I would like to see the veterans at the administration be able to actually do a memorandum of understanding, give a veteran a card that says that they’re a veteran that’s receiving these benefits, and be able to pick their doctors regardless if it is 30 miles or less within their home. A veteran must first get permission to be referred if they want to obtain a referral. Therefore, I want to see veterans have more choice and freedom to choose the doctor they prefer.

I’d like to see more counselors for veterans. The choice is for the veterans, not VA counselors. Every day, 22 vets commit suicide. What we’re seeing now is the Iraq-Afghan War. Veteran are either leaving or returning to the military. They are also suffering more from PTSD, combat injuries and other mental health issues. They aren’t receiving the care they need because their disability ratings don’t reflect what they ought to be.

CA:Just recently, we just sent a package of $40 billion to Ukraine. What’s your stance on that? Many Republicans have a split opinion on this issue.

WB:Our history needs to be examined closely. If we started sending military assistance to countries that were experiencing internal violence, it was a common occurrence for us to have troops there. We look at Vietnam and the beginnings of Vietnam and the late fifties we were sending aid during John Kennedy’s administration. The money was sent from the beginning and then it became a graduated aid program under Johnson. Their troop increased and they continued to send money through Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, and others. This is the history we have in this country. We started out sending military aid, in the form supplies, money and firearms equipment. However, it eventually evolved to troops on ground and the slippery slope. I don’t recommend that happening. I don’t recommend that we send, at least, that large of a package to Ukraine.

It is true that Ukraine wants independence. We need to trust. […]At this stage, the United Nations receives aid from them. Should it reach a stage where troops are required, troops can be sent in only as peacekeepers and not as combatants. Something similar to the actions we took in Bosnia and Kosovo. We need to be able to replicate what Clinton did in Bosnia to reach an agreement. That is before any additional money can be sent or any troops are deployed.

CA:Are there any other topics you’d like to share with our readers?

WB:It is vital that we elect the person who can get to the ground and finish the job. Two years goes by pretty quickly and if we are electing someone who doesn’t understand the process, and doesn’t know how to write a bill, and doesn’t know how to legislate and has never done that– They are going to spend six to seven months just learning that process. We don’t have that time to do that because while a person is trying to learn that process, particularly what’s going on with the economy […] it’s going to hurt the state, it’s gonna hurt the district.

Number two, the person will be at the bottom of the power curve as they learn how to do the job. What I want readers to know is that on day one I’m able to hit the ground running. Hence, I’ve already been working with other legislators or other folks that are already in Congress for ideas to further protect our roads, further protect our forestry here in Arizona to come up with legislation, to be able to release some of the forestry back to the state of Arizona, so it increases revenue, we have more land and property, we have more land to turn it over to private property so we can — so the state of Arizona can pay for K-12 funding efficiently. If you don’t know how to do that, if you haven’t had these types of discussions, it’s gonna be pretty hard for whoever to go up there with the exception of me to actually do a job and get it done and then have results.