By Elaine L. Orr
Note: I usually write about writing and related topics. I can't ignore my country trying to "make a deal" and "playing cards" with peace.
When Russia invaded Ukraine, they estimated the war would be over in 3 weeks. They told their soldiers the invasion was to combat Nazis in Ukraine – you may remember the television interviews with puzzled Russian soldiers and those Ukrainian civilians whose villages had been overrun.
Statistics as of Late January 2025
12,605 civilian deaths in Ukraine
Ukraine lost about 45,000 troops
Russia lost about 850,000 troops
Damage to Ukraine’s electric grid: Ukraine's power generation capacity, including thermal, hydroelectric, and solar power plants has been decimated.
Buildings Russia Destroyed: 210,000 buildings, including more than 100 hospitals, 109 religious facilities, and 700 schools (all levels, including universities).
47% of homes in eastern and southern Ukraine have been destroyed or damaged.
Are We Watching History Repeat?
We need to remember that authoritarian aggressors do not stop. Remember Neville Chamberlain in 1938?
British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain was proud of the Anglo-German Declaration -- the Munich Agreement, which committed to peaceful methods and was signed by Hitler and Chamberlain in Munich, Germany in September 1938.
World War II officially began in September 1939, with a joint attack on the Republic of Poland by Nazi Germany, the Slovak Republic, and the Soviet Union. I am not a war monger, but I have no problem saying that Chamberlain’s temerity (masked as pacifism) gave Hitler an extra year to prepare for war.
Europe valiantly fought Hitler, joined much later by the United States. Three years being a long time to be bombed. (Yes, we supplied weapons, but Germany benefitted greatly from our delay in defending democracy.)
It's Not Safe to say
"It's Not Our Problem"
To end a war, you don’t ask the aggressor what he wants – can you imagine if we invited Hitler or ISIS to tea? You convince the aggressor to stop fighting.
Americans who think we should look away or “get something” for combatting aggression should look at a map. The Bering Strait separates the Chukchi Peninsula of Russia from the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. Its narrowest point is about 55 miles between mainland Russia and mainland Alaska. Putin can put missiles that close to the USA.
But he doesn’t need to get that close. “Russian portable missiles, like the 9M723 Iskander-M, have a confirmed range of 400 kilometers (250 miles), with some reports suggesting a potential range of up to 500 kilometers (310 miles).”
The more weakness the US shows (meaning the more we do Putin’s bidding) the closer we get to that happening. It’s not the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis anymore, where Russia has to bring huge (not so portable) missiles close to U.S. shores. We can’t threaten him, as Kennedy did Khrushchev (with full nonpartisan support). Putin won’t blink.
If we don’t take a dramatic stand against Russian aggression, they will keep moving against other countries. And it could be us. If you don’t think so, you’re naïve.
Have a look at some before and after photos in Ukraine –Moscow Times.
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