Ukraine is not Afghanistan.
A growing minority have begun to question how long and how much should we support Ukraine, a democratic ally whose people and leaders have fought off the unprovoked invasion from Russia for over a year now. This extreme in both parties bring up the “Endless War” that we staged for over 20 years against Afghanistan as their being too high a cost for a battle around the world that does not threaten our homeland.
There are many reasons why the Ukraine/Afghanistan comparison is wrong, but the most basic is this: we were the invaders in Afghanistan that tried to bring democracy to a nation that did not want it. In Ukraine, we are welcomed by a government that sees us as a model of how they want to rule.
That is why it was the right move by President Joe Biden to walk alongside Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky in the streets of Kyiv while air sirens wailed last week. It sent the message to Russia President Vladimir Putin that Ukraine and its people have our unwavering support.
That message was not just intended for Russia but others that threaten democracy across the globe. There is a lot of saber rattling with China about Taiwan, as Beijing regards the territory as theirs and has vowed to bring it back under China’s control. The long-standing American policy is clear that any attempt to do so by force would be met with U.S. retaliation.
If we have not been so strong in our support of Ukraine, is there any doubt that Chinese President Xi Jinping would be more aggressive about military action for the small island country in the Pacific?
There have been too many lives lost in the largest ground war in Europe since World War II, including an estimated 200,000 for Russia and another 100,000 Ukrainians, according to American and other Western officials. Plus, there are 16 million Ukraines who fled their homes that are scattered across the globe wanting to return home.
Americans are scarred from our actions in Iraq and Afghanistan at the turn of this century, understandable so. But an overwhelming majority understand that Ukraine is different and our support needs to be resolute. The Biden Administration has not escalated this conflict, working to ensure a coalition of our allies continues to supply Ukraine with the supplies and weapons they need and, as importantly, keeping our troops off the battlefield.
President Biden framed it best last week in a speech in Poland when he stated “When Russia invaded, it wasn’t just Ukraine being tested….All democracies were being tested. Would we respond or would we look the other way? Would we be strong or would we be weak? Would …all of our allies be united or divided?”
The world’s response has been strong, led by America and its President. There are those that want a foreign policy that is isolationist; that is policy that has never worked historically but made us more vulnerable. The world, now more than ever, lives in an era that is more connected and that is not going backwards.
We do not wish to silence those that question our commitment to Ukraine. On the contrary, we want that debate to understand who stands with the American people and democracy versus those who idolize corrupt strongmen like Putin.
Democracy should always be defended by the U.S., at home and abroad. And that is why our support for Ukraine must be unwavering.
This is the absolute truth. We have a lot to lose if Russia wins. Wish Americans complaining about aid would understand this
NSA/CIA started it by putting missiles in their backyard. “It is the function of the CIA to keep the world unstable, and to propagandize and teach the American people to hate, so we will let the Establishment spend any amount of money on arms.”
– John Stockwell, former CIA official and author
Are we installing the perversion of Democracy the USA has where the 2 parties owned by the same people hand pick candidates and the people are not given legitimate choices. https://chomsky.info/20170119/
Putin is evil. The CIA had nothing to do with his being evil. Hitler had American supporters too.
If Noj doesn’t like the NSA/CIA, wait until he learns that Putin was a member of the Soviet Union’s version of those agencies…
Do United States government and people have absolutely no business being involved in any conflict between Ukraine and Russia. United States as a nation is falling apart the government is bankrupt and all the public institutions are failing. The entire Ukraine situation is a giant money laundering scheme for the Democratic Party. The war was provoked by NATO in the Western powers.
This news organization reveals its Fatally misguided ideological biases By even suggesting that American tax money be used to support another European war
It should not be about standing with Zelenski or Putin. We as Americans should be helping those in need with food and meds, not war machines, but looking to foster peace. And we should put our resources where they belong with the US. We have a lot of problems here to work out, we don’t need to look to fix other countries until we can look here and say we’ve fix everything in the YS. My thoughts.
Notwithstanding the question of just how evil Putin might be, I have a simple question: If Russia orchestrated the installation of a puppet regime in Mexico and built multiple bioweapons labs on the U.S. border, what would the U.S. do? Asking for a friend.