While Ledger-Transcript letters to the editor overwhelmingly cover local or state issues, and rightly so, I would respectfully posit that the current Ukraine crisis deserves mention in this forum.
From my perspective, the core question regarding Russia’s invasion is “Should we care, and, if so, why?” The answer is a resounding yes and the primary reason can be found in the 1930s, when Adolf Hitler’s Germany went on a similar feeding frenzy in Central Europe, culminating in the eruption of World War II with the invasion of Poland.
We in the United States are deluding ourselves if we think that Vladimir Putin will be satiated with Ukraine. He harbors a deep-seated psychosis to rewrite history to expunge the perceived shame of the Soviet Union’s collapse. Much like Hitler used the tragedy of Germany’s defeat in World War I to fuel Nazi military adventures in the 1930s, Putin is using a similar playbook to reconstitute the Soviet Union.
Barring an unforeseen setback, Putin will continue to test Western resolve and eventually his armies will come knocking at a NATO member’s door. Poland and the Baltic States are all likely in the crosshairs of Putin’s expansion strategy. If that happens, we will have the choice of ceding control of much of Europe to Russia or militarily countering the threat.
While the current Ukraine war will cause America short-term hardships in rising gas prices, a turbulent stock market and additional supply chain challenges, the more-dangerous threats are in the future. Although President Joe Biden is right in not sending U.S. forces to combat Russia in Ukraine, it is only a matter of time before an American president will have to ask America’s sons and daughters to die fighting the Russians in Central Europe.
Robert Beck
Peterborough