Tag Archives: Ukraine

Ukraine

I always say that I need to know where people stand on two issues to know everything I need to about them. Issue one is Israel – do they support its right to exist as the Jewish state? – and issue two is Ukraine – do they understand that the Ukrainians are in the right to keep fighting, to not want to give up an inch of territory? Which brings me to this remarkable, eye-opening article about Ukraine. What it describes is not something you will read or hear much about in the Western media (and I don’t just mean conservative media, although they are the worst offenders), sadly: it shows us a Ukraine that is inventive in the face of Russia’s aggression, it shows us Ukrainians recycling weaponry and rebuilding cities. It shows us a visionary Ukraine – innovative and clever. There are insights throughout the piece on what will happen if Ukraine wins and what might happen if – God forbid – they lose.

Canada is useless – we can’t/won’t meet our NATO responsibilities and we have next to nothing to offer Ukraine. We are in no position to criticize the United States on this matter, but I do wonder why the US is refusing to give Ukraine any F16s, and why they are so slow on sending the Abrams tanks they promised. I sometimes think maybe we’ve reached a point in history where we prefer murky endings to wars, no clear victor, attrition, stalemates. Are we afraid of what a change in geopolitics it would represent if Russia lost? Do we just like to reflect and ponder too much?

Casualties of War

I feel sorry for this kid, sentenced to jail for life, as I feel sorry for his victim. And no, not making a moral equivalence between an invading force and a civilian victim of that force – I just feel pain for both of the men in this story, and for both of their families. It should be Putin up there on trial. And you know that this young man’s mother has no clue what is happening to him – she likely only gets to hear a highly-edited version of events. A tragedy all around.