"Ukrainians are dying to defend democracy so Americans and other Europeans don't have to do so."

[highplainsdem]

Link to tweet

[David__77]

1. No it's not this country's war.

…

[HUAJIAO]

3. Oh, yes it is !

We are already at war with Russia.

[David__77]

4. If so in a sense then that's been the case for years and years.

Not war as in direct and sustained military engagement- the kind to be authorized by congress.

[HUAJIAO]

6. Russia has attacked 'the West." But Ukraine IS in fact doing all the fighting.

They should not have to be this alone.

[JustAnotherGen]

7. This - and not willing to send

Young folks into a war.

We finally got out of Afghanistan. . . We were there from my 20's onward. All I've known is the effects of war in my lifetime. Born in 73 - dad was Special Forces Army Officer. 1978 when he left - until 2011 when he died - I lived with that god damn Korea and Vietnam war (PTSD). Add in my husband's service in the Italian Special Forces -

Give them everything they want except American bodies.

[Bucky]

5. There's not much of a Lincoln Brigade around this time.

I'm pretty certain there's a great deal of clandestine things going on, either in-theater or in the surrounding countries where aid and supplies are being prepared. This is a great opportunity to strengthen Nato and weaken Russia. But it's a shame that a small poor country like Ukraine has to pay the price.

You should probably know this is at least as much about Ukraine's control of natural gas deposits in the Black Sea (and Putin's desire to remove Ukraine as a competitor) as it is about halting the eastward advance of NATO.


from March 2021:

https://www.atlanticcouncil.org/blogs/ukrainealert/why-the-black-sea-could-emerge-as-the-worlds-next-great-energy-battleground/

Why the Black Sea could emerge as the world’s next great energy battleground

A recent CEPA strategy paper noted that the Black Sea region was not only a frontier between the West and Russia, but also the meeting point of four great forces: democracy in the West, Russian military aggression to the north, growing Chinese financial influence to the east, and Middle Eastern instability in the south.

To fend off rising Chinese inroads and Russian aggression, it said, the West and NATO would have to produce a multi-layered strategy. This would involve helping littoral states build strong economies while encouraging collaboration among them.

Such a vision would consolidate security on NATO’s southeastern flank. It would bring alliance members Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey closer together with NATO’s strongest partners, Georgia and Ukraine.

One element that could underpin these objectives would be the development of Black Sea gas reserves which are being explored in the offshore zones of each littoral state. These reserves could become the linchpin of an integrated regional economy.

[TomSlick]

9. It's not our war as a matter of choice.

Putin's choice was to invade an nonthreatening democratic neighbor. It was Putin's choice to intentionally target civilians. It was Putin's choice to destroy the Ukrainian civilian infrastructure. It was Putin's choice to kill multiple Ukrainians - old people, women, and children - in an attempt to terrorize the Ukrainians into capitulation. It was Putin's choice to move from one atrocity to the next.

It is the choice of NATO and the US to not stand up to Putin but to fight the Russians to the last Ukrainian. It is the choice of NATO to prove to Putin that NATO is a hollow vessel that is unlikely to resist if Putin invades Poland or the Baltic States.

The choices made by NATO and the US will have repercussions beyond Ukrainian deaths.

[HUAJIAO]

2. Very well put.

And the US and the rest of NATO are not showing the courage to really help with what is needed, what Zelenskii asks for.

[Silent3]

8. We won't defend our own democracy, apparently, unless the assault is as obvious as bombs...

...landing on our heads.

And even then, it seems like a large part of our country would be like a large part of Russia, ready to fight FOR the oppressors.