Why fund the military when we can make Oscar worthy films to solve world problems?
Hint: that's sarcasm
What's going on now in Ukraine right now is clearly wrong. The Russian invasion is a Rwanda, a Balkan peninsula, a Cambodia with the Khmer Rouge, redux. It's the worst of man's inhumanity to man. And it’s within our power to stop.
A few outliers aside, nearly everyone sees what is happening in Ukraine for what it is. I understand where the outliers are coming from even if I don't agree with them (which I absolutely do not). The media has such a poor track record of dispassionately covering major events that I can't fault anyone who doesn't completely believe what they see, read or hear from the media.
The Russian invasion of Ukraine, which is taking place to satisfy the wishes of one man (among a human population of billions), is completely illegitimate in any realistic sense. And the Russians have articulated their nonsensical invasion cruelly and irresponsibly by targeting civilian non-combatants and nuclear facilities. No matter how bad the media is with distortion and exaggeration, this is real. It also cannot go unanswered. Sanctions are a step, but we probably aren’t going to be successful stopping there.
Fortunately, the Ukrainians may well have the best fighting force in Europe right now. They are absolutely handing the Russians their butts. They are more than capable of solving this problem for the world. But they can't hold out forever without some help.
I'm all for giving Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Ukraine's president and unquestioned leader, whatever he wants to fight the Russians. If he wants MiGs, give him the MiGs. I'm tired of hearing talking heads on TV, with no skin in the game, talk about how some of what Zelenskyy wants is not what he actually needs - and would offend the Russians if he got it.
I don't particularly care what the Russians think about our response. It's outrageous, to me anyway, to tip-toe around what the Russians will and won't tolerate after their conduct in Ukraine. I know that they are a nuclear power and I know that we'd like to avoid direct confrontation with them. I get all of that.
I’m for a graduated response, but I’m not for taking anything off the table. Especially when in this case we don't have to confront Russia directly. The Ukrainians are more than capable - with the right support.
As for what Zelenskyy wants, given his track record, I’ll put my money on him over virtually any bloviating non-military expert in the media. I have not seen any of the media talking heads lead an entire nation in such a successful uphill battle.
We should, at the very least, have the stones to assist the Ukrainians in sending the Russians who occupied Bucha, or who attacked the train station in Kramatorsk, straight to hell. This is not a case of deciding which side of a conflict is the least awful. That's easy to discern here.
Unless, that is, you are CNN.
Last night I just about had a come apart while watching a news report on CNN about a potential war crime committed by Ukrainian soldiers against a Russian Tank crew. It's alleged that the Ukrainians executed the Russians after capturing their tank. If this is true, it's terrible and absolutely should not have happened. But CNN spent the better part of an hour calling for this to be investigated as a war crime.
This is the very definition of a false equivalence. Depending on how true the allegation is, it represents a breakdown in discipline, a lost opportunity to gather intelligence and perhaps a war crime. But compared to what the Russians, who are unquestionably the aggressors here, have done in Ukraine, it's incredibly misleading to spend an hour equating this to the deeds of the Russian invaders.
If this is indeed true, I don't agree with what happened – but I understand it.
Imagine your country being invaded and people that you know, care about and perhaps love, being massacred for no good reason on earth other than satisfying the ego of one man. In their shoes I might not have been able to muster the strength of character to not shoot the SOB's myself, at least in the leg. Something that I hear a lot of Russians are doing to themselves.
If we do little to nothing in response to Ukraine I have to question why we spend so much on defense when we could be making Oscar-nominated films about allowing war, murder and violence that could have been prevented. We can always make another “Killing Fields,” or “Hotel Rwanda” so that everyone who didn't step up can, instead, exorcise their guilt later with a good cry.
Idaho Club award-winning columnist Martin Hackworth of Pocatello is a physicist, writer and retired Idaho State University faculty member who now spends his time with family, riding mountain bikes and motorcycles and playing guitars. His commentary may be found on Substack (martinhackworth.substack.com) and his video blog: “Howlin' at the Moon in ii-V-I” may be found at https://www.facebook.com/HowlinattheMoonin251/ and https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC6C9D1ueAe_7HB55uhdPDhg
I saw a photo of a young mother carrying her baby while she walked past the bodies of her brother and husband who had been executed by the Putin’s russian troops. Possibly or probably the Ukranians that executed the tank crew had experienced something similar. As I’ve told you before, I’ll hold your coat.