An recent letter writer wants the U.S. to stop supplying arms to Israel and Ukraine. Good idea or a bad mistake? Israel is not looking good in its war with Hamas because of the heavy loss of civilian life, but anyone with a modicum of knowledge about the Middle East knows that Israel is in a fight for its existence as it has been since 1948 when it became a nation.
The current fight in Gaza with Hamas is but one of 16 wars or incursions that have plagued Israel since then. Since 2001, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad, and Hezbollah in Lebanon, have launched tens of thousands of rockets and missiles into Israel according to Wikipedia. Then, last October, Hamas launched a sneak attack into southern Israel and killed 1,200 Israelis including some at a music festival. Israel says that Hamas still holds hostages and Israeli bodies from that invasion.
As for Ukraine, what more needs to be said. A huge neighbor with vastly superior weapons and military might simply wants more of Ukraine. They’ve already annexed Ukraine’s Crimea in 2014 and parts of Ukraine that border Russia. Should the world just ignore it? Where will Putin stop? The answer is that nothing will stop him until the cost is too high and for that Ukraine needs our help. It’s the only way that the autocratic Putin will stop his invasion. We should have learned this lesson long ago.
Don Curtis
Stanwood
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