What should we in America be doing about the war in Ukraine? There are those that say that country is so far away, what does it have to do with us, let’s forget it and spend on [fill in your favorite domestic program]. That may have been a valid argument 200 years ago when crossing the Atlantic was a perilous one-month trip on a sailing ship, but we are now one world connected. Now we have maybe 25 minutes to respond to a nuclear missile launch from anywhere in the world.
We Americans are now connected directly to the rest of the world and have to live accordingly. We have done well to become wealthier and more powerful than other countries, but that does not automatically go on forever. We don’t like war. We like to trade with and visit with people everywhere, but the fact is that at times evil players emerge and spoil what could be a beautiful cooperative world.
Russia is a great country that has contributed greatly to world civilization, but is now tyrannically ruled by an imperialist, expansionist regime. Russia itself is a large country rich in resources but insists on subjugating its neighbors to build an ever-greater empire. It has already humiliated its neighbors Georgia, Belarus, and parts of Ukraine. Now it is committing Nazi level atrocities to humiliate and conquer all of Ukraine.
Now should we just let them do that and then let everything rest? Does anyone think Russian expansion will end there? Next will be the Baltic countries, and Poland, Moldova. They won’t worry about attacking NATO countries because they will have figured out that we will only put up a timid defense. If we let them have those, western Europe is next. This is a severe threat to American security. We need to stop it now. Once it gets to NATO countries, American soldiers will have to fight.
Importantly, Ukraine shows the bud of democracy starting to emerge in a part of the world that was ruled by Soviet brutality for nearly a century. Democracies trade, exchange ideas, and compete, but they rarely shoot at each other.
Our leaders have stood unequivocally with Ukraine’s resistance. But we need to do more. We always seem to ship the weapons they needed six months ago. F-16s should have been there on day one of the war. It is almost as if there is a plan to keep the war going as long as possible until people are tired of it and ready to surrender. The correct answer is to go all out now and win as soon as possible. Yes, it will be bloody and expensive, but much less so than a war that goes on for a decade. We are told we don’t want to provoke escalation. Russia has already escalated. In fact, timidity just encourages more escalation.
The United States should be shipping the most advanced weapons as soon as possible and how about we build a massive base in Poland right on the Ukraine and Belarus borders? Peace is won through strength, not through retreat. If you don’t want to fight, show strength.