A recent writer to The Herald tried to make the argument that supporting Ukraine will lead to war with Russia. He reminds me a little of Neville Chamberlain, the prime minister of the Great Britain at the beginning of World War II. He believed he could negotiate with Hitler to prevent German expansion in Europe. The agreement he signed with Hitler lasted for about a year before Germany invaded Poland; and Chamberlain’s policy of appeasement was proven to be a failure. Appeasement won’t work with Putin and it is a fool’s errand to attempt it again.
History is a great teacher if we let it be. For example, over 200 Soviet pilots died in the skies over Korea, flying MiG-15s against the United States and South Korea. In Vietnam, thousands of Russians helped operate surface-to-air missile systems that shot down hundreds of American airmen; and then bragged about it publicly. We supplied the Mujahideen in Afghanistan with lethal weapons in their fight against the Soviet invasion in the 1980s, including shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles that helped defeat the Soviet Union. The Russians supply modern weapons to many of our adversaries and provide technical and military support; including flying combat sorties in Syria.
None of these situations have led to wider war with the Soviets nor with the Russians. We should not worry about sending more advanced weapons to Ukraine based on the idle threats from the Kremlin. Putin made a grave mistake in invading the Ukraine and has succeeded in uniting and expanding NATO as he commits war crimes against civilians in Ukraine. The Ukrainian people have endured much loss and hardship as they fight back with skill and courage against the Russian invasion. They deserve our support; and all of the weaponry, ammunition and economic support the West can provide to help them survive as an independent nation.
I am thankful that Joe Biden is president during this time. The previous guy was clueless and was happy to side with Putin on multiple occasions. In the end, the decision of whether to discuss an end to the war lies with Ukraine, not the United States. The administration has done an admirable job in uniting our allies in coming together to support a country under siege from an authoritarian dictator.
Kenneth MacDicken
Monroe
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