Marking A Year of Death and Barbarity in Eastern Europe
I've heard a few of my friends (on LJ and otherwise) and associates say that they are essentially indifferent about what's going on in Ukraine. The gist of it tends to be something along the lines of "Russia's bad, but Ukraine is corrupt and (therefore) generally undeserving of aid"- especially to the degree that the US specifically has been providing.
Allow me to present something for your consideration- Exposing the Russian Military Unit Behind a Massacre in Bucha. It's a remarkably well-done piece of journalism by the New York Times, which of itself is a combination of shocking and refreshing. If you find yourself indifferent or even adversarial towards Ukraine or our support of it therein, I'd ask you to take less than 30 minutes to look at what Russia did to a Ukrainian town at the onset of military hostilities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrGZ66uKcl0
Now, keep in mind that this was at the beginning of the war- and that many places elsewhere in the country are credibly believed to have had the same, and in some cases much worse, happen to them since the start of open hostilities.
Russia's government and military can NOT be allowed to continue this war: the New Soviets are unlikely to retreat of their own volition, therefore they MUST be beaten. "We" can beat them now, in Ukraine, without spilling a drop of American serviceman's blood. The entire world, not just Ukraine, will benefit when Russia is no longer able to frivolously wage war against its neighbors- or anyone else- and the interests and well-being of civilized nations elsewhere. In this context, why should we not help Ukraine in making that happen?
Refusing to aid the fight against Russia is essentially saying that everything that the Soviet Union- or Communism in general- has done throughout the world, is acceptable. It's to say that the part they took in the Hungarian, Cuban, and Chinese revolutions, the Korean War, the killing fields of Cambodia (by the Khmer Rouge), Vietnam, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Rhodesia, South Africa, Afghanistan ("part one"), the Russo-Georgian war, the sheer existence of the SMERSH and STASI organizations, and a series of other conflicts and atrocities I can't name off the top of my head, should not have ever been opposed. It's madness to think that protecting Ukraine against the *Communist entity we were in a Cold War with for several decades* is "not worth it," especially given that the Ukrainian people are fighting with everything we can give them- and WERE fighting with everything they could get their hands on before we/NATO/etc gave them any significant amount of support. Considering the number of lives the US lost fighting many of the wars and conflicts mentioned above, the paying of arms and other material support to Ukraine as it's "fighting Russia in our stead" is the DEAL OF THE CENTURY.
Recall also that this war might not have ever happened if we hadn't coerced Ukraine into giving up its nuclear weapons; Obama also coerced Ukraine into having a huge quantity of its conventional weapons stockpile de-milled. I'm not necessarily saying this war is our fault, but I am saying that it's not out of line to say that those actions did embolden Russia- and we are seeing the result of that.
Alright, I have said my piece. I know some of you reading this have legitimate gripes about this (illegitimate) administration, and how its handling of aid to Ukraine is disproportional to how much energy and effort it should be spending on handling the security of our own border, economy, national defense stockpile/etc; in that perspective, I agree with you more than I disagree...but, please don't believe the "conservative" media sources shouting about those things- they are divisively pushing nothing other than a false dichotomy; we absolutely CAN do both (help Ukraine and also devote substantial time and resources to our domestic problems), and we should. How exactly we'd go about doing that, with a legitimate and competent government in charge, is a discussion for another time.
I don't know if I can change anyone's mind on this matter, but if I've at least given you something to think about then I will consider this time well spent.
God is good. That is all.
Allow me to present something for your consideration- Exposing the Russian Military Unit Behind a Massacre in Bucha. It's a remarkably well-done piece of journalism by the New York Times, which of itself is a combination of shocking and refreshing. If you find yourself indifferent or even adversarial towards Ukraine or our support of it therein, I'd ask you to take less than 30 minutes to look at what Russia did to a Ukrainian town at the onset of military hostilities:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrGZ66uKcl0
Now, keep in mind that this was at the beginning of the war- and that many places elsewhere in the country are credibly believed to have had the same, and in some cases much worse, happen to them since the start of open hostilities.
Russia's government and military can NOT be allowed to continue this war: the New Soviets are unlikely to retreat of their own volition, therefore they MUST be beaten. "We" can beat them now, in Ukraine, without spilling a drop of American serviceman's blood. The entire world, not just Ukraine, will benefit when Russia is no longer able to frivolously wage war against its neighbors- or anyone else- and the interests and well-being of civilized nations elsewhere. In this context, why should we not help Ukraine in making that happen?
Refusing to aid the fight against Russia is essentially saying that everything that the Soviet Union- or Communism in general- has done throughout the world, is acceptable. It's to say that the part they took in the Hungarian, Cuban, and Chinese revolutions, the Korean War, the killing fields of Cambodia (by the Khmer Rouge), Vietnam, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Rhodesia, South Africa, Afghanistan ("part one"), the Russo-Georgian war, the sheer existence of the SMERSH and STASI organizations, and a series of other conflicts and atrocities I can't name off the top of my head, should not have ever been opposed. It's madness to think that protecting Ukraine against the *Communist entity we were in a Cold War with for several decades* is "not worth it," especially given that the Ukrainian people are fighting with everything we can give them- and WERE fighting with everything they could get their hands on before we/NATO/etc gave them any significant amount of support. Considering the number of lives the US lost fighting many of the wars and conflicts mentioned above, the paying of arms and other material support to Ukraine as it's "fighting Russia in our stead" is the DEAL OF THE CENTURY.
Recall also that this war might not have ever happened if we hadn't coerced Ukraine into giving up its nuclear weapons; Obama also coerced Ukraine into having a huge quantity of its conventional weapons stockpile de-milled. I'm not necessarily saying this war is our fault, but I am saying that it's not out of line to say that those actions did embolden Russia- and we are seeing the result of that.
Alright, I have said my piece. I know some of you reading this have legitimate gripes about this (illegitimate) administration, and how its handling of aid to Ukraine is disproportional to how much energy and effort it should be spending on handling the security of our own border, economy, national defense stockpile/etc; in that perspective, I agree with you more than I disagree...but, please don't believe the "conservative" media sources shouting about those things- they are divisively pushing nothing other than a false dichotomy; we absolutely CAN do both (help Ukraine and also devote substantial time and resources to our domestic problems), and we should. How exactly we'd go about doing that, with a legitimate and competent government in charge, is a discussion for another time.
I don't know if I can change anyone's mind on this matter, but if I've at least given you something to think about then I will consider this time well spent.
God is good. That is all.