Posted on 01/20/2022 7:00:39 AM PST by Kaslin
For nearly fifty years, from the end of World War II until 1992 millions of people in Eastern Europe endured the oppression and brutality of Communism, courtesy of the former Soviet Union.
For decades Soviet Russia maintained control over Poland, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, Hungary, East Germany, Romania, the Baltic and Balkan countries, and all of the ‘Stans’ with an iron fist. Tolerating no dissent in those countries, and responding brutally if it occurred. Ask the Hungarians in 1956 and the Czechs in 1968.
In 1956 the Soviet Union sent troops and tanks to crush the Hungarian popular uprising, killing and wounding thousands of Hungarians. Roughly twelve years later when Czechoslovakia’s ‘Prague Spring’ offered reforms and a liberalization of government policies and control, the Warsaw Pact under the direction of the Soviet Union once again asserted their control. And once again crushed a freedom movement taking place in Czechoslovakia, killing and wounding hundreds of Czechs.
The United States and the West vocally protested these actions, but did little else. NATO basically stood idly by and watched both the Hungarian and the Czech freedom movements collapse under the might of Soviet Russia.
In 1992 the brutal communist regime in the Soviet Union finally collapsed. The Russian people, as well as the former Soviet Bloc countries had simply had enough. Following the Soviet collapse the former Eastern European countries who had lived under Soviet control for decades chose freedom and the West over maintaining a strategic relationship with the ‘new’ Russia.
In the years since the fall of the Soviet Union most of those former Soviet Satellites have strengthened their ties with the west, including a number of them joining NATO as member nations.
Ukraine, which shares a border with Russia also began to assert its independence from their former masters in Moscow, and reached out more and more to the West. Openly discussing the possibility of joining the European Union and even NATO membership.
To understand what is going on right now with the Russian threats to invade Ukraine one must understand Vladimir Putin. Putin’s former association with the KGB, the brutal Soviet secret police and intelligence agency is well known. But above all Putin considers himself a Russian Patriot. He was severely stung by the collapse of the Soviet Union and what he perceived as gloating on the part of American politicians and others in the West. Putin set it as his primary goal to get pay-back for what he viewed as the insults that were levied against Mother Russia.
I recall at the time commenting that we needed to tone it down, and even extend a welcoming hand to Russia and help them modernize and become a valued ally. Helping Russia transition from communism to freedom and a market based economy wasn’t just in Russia’s best interest, it was also in our best interest.
But we didn’t. We bragged about how we defeated the Soviet Union without firing a single shot. Ignoring the fact that tens of thousands of Americans died fighting in proxy wars in other parts of the world against the Soviets.
So why does it matter to Americans what happens in Ukraine? It matters to me because as Americans we have always tried to portray ourselves as the beacon of freedom in the world. We’ve been willing to go to war to protect and preserve our own liberties, and have fought to spread the message of freedom around the planet.
Ukraine was listening. Do we turn our backs on Ukraine, just as we did Czechoslovakia and Hungary in years past? Do we stand up for freedom, whenever and wherever it tries to break away and rise up from oppression? Or do we simply throw away the decades and lives we invested in defeating the Soviet Union, only to see it rise once again?
While I am certainly not advocating sending our young men and women in the military off to fight in another foreign war, I believe it’s important that we show Ukraine, the rest of the world, and especially Vladimir Putin that as a nation America is still strong. Still determined to promote freedom. And still willing to stand up to Russian aggression.
There should be no limit to the support we give Ukraine with intelligence and military equipment. Whatever it takes short of boots on the ground to help them defend themselves against Russia, and to make Vladimir Putin feel the pain of any invasion.
Why? Because Ukraine matters. If for no other reason than they stand alone against Russia, and they shouldn’t be standing alone.
I don’t trust a military run by low IQ goose stepping fools like General Austin. Sorry, no sale.
And the white liberal elites running DC? I would trust General Austin more than that bunch of pretentious A-holes...
PROTECT OUR BORDERS BIDEN & COMMIE THUGS RUNNING THE WHITE HOUSE. IF YOU WANT TO ‘PROTECT UKRAINE’ SEND YOUR OWN SONS AND DAUGHTERS, WIVES AND MOTHERS... eff YOU Biden.
America stands for freedom? Has the writer taken a look around here lately?
Good sarcasm is something to be savored.
Thanks.
L
Then the whore mongers and shakedown artists are protected by corrupt FBI thugs... ASK JOE HOW THAT WORKS
NO, OUR PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO DIE FOR THESE ASSHOLES. PROTECT OUR BORDERS...
Hello 'President' of the Untied State and his filthy traitor son Hunter Biden and all his private school DC buddies... doing the same.
Don’t
Care
Stay
Out
So you believe the Zimmermann Telegram was a phony ?
I learned that from the anti Vietnam war protesters.
I don’t know any neo-cons, personally, or of any that were agitating for war against Russia. If you’d give me a name of one of them, other than Straw-man McGee, we could talk about it. Good on Russia that they defended the Christians against ISIS.
The notion of one nuclear power going to war against another is a very very bad idea. Instead, what we’ve learned to do is back proxies in contests over spheres of influence. Back in 1967, Israel proved its worth as a proxy for America by beating Soviet proxies Egypt, Syria and Jordan in just six days, making the Soviets look foolish. Prior to that, in 1956, Israel, in partnership with UK and France, made short work of Egypt, but Ike was having none of it, and ordered them to back off, or he’d step in and do the work of making them back off, rather than have the embarrassment of Russia stomping on them. Israel not a proven proxy then, and UK and France reasserting their imperial ambitions of yesteryear was not welcome with Eisenhower. They all three backed off.
So, too, with Ukraine. It’s a proxy for the West generally, and that means America as the head. It can duke it out with a diminished Russia as a proxy, and the West should help them. But for America to step into the conflict would be a bad idea. instead, give them weapons and intelligence, and other good stuff, and wish them luck. Russia reasserting itself now is as bad as the UK and France reasserting themselves in 1956.
Like it or not, the United States is a world player, but it’s the biggest world player, and da’sn’t go around stomping all over the globe, getting stuck in morasses. Instead it should support proxies to deal with local bullies such as Russia and China.
Would Miyagi step into Danny Russo’s tournament and fight for him? No. Just train and coach him, heal his booboo with his hand clap thing, etc. Same deal, except it entails anti-tank missiles and other goodies.
“You need to learn about logistics”
I’m trying hard to forget.
bump
“Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz, Jeb Bush, Kasich, Chris Christie, Lindsey Graham, and many more all wanted the defense of Christians to be stopped immediately and for the USA to use our military to prevent the Russians from defending the Christians.”
Well, then, buck the lot of ‘em. Russia, while often evil as they come, is also an empire that stands for something. And what it stands for is sometimes constructive and good. And there’s nothing wrong with that. I was unaware that those lot had such a horrible attitude. That’s not only stupid, it’s plain unjust and wrong.
The British empire likewise did great things and horrible things, just like the Russians, the Chinese, the French, the Romans and Greeks. America is also not blameless throughout its history. It is on a straighter, more consistent path towards perfecting itself than any prior empire, but there’s no denying the facts and past atrocities.
You can’t go with absolutes. Then you end up like those twisted f@#$s teaching CRT. “America had slavery once. And massacred Indians. Therefore, it’s totally evil and has to be replaced with real communism, which has never been tried before. Tear down all the statues and start over again.”
There are Maronite Christian schools in northern Israel that teach Aramaic (second to Arabic and Hebrew, of course).
The Greek Orthodox in Israel do not like the increasingly pro-Israel attitudes among Aramaic Christians.
So why does it matter to Americans what happens in Ukraine? It matters to me because as Americans we have always tried to portray ourselves as the beacon of freedom in the world. We’ve been willing to go to war to protect and preserve our own liberties, and have fought to spread the message of freedom around the planet.
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That America no longer exists. That America died back in the 90s. When Clinton was president.
And Clinton’s, Bush’s and Obama‘s war in Afghanistan has only served to drive home the point that America is not the worlds policeman. We can’t even solve our own national problems. Certainly not able to deal with international concerns.
Wilbur ... CIA.
Townhall publishing this says too much about Townhall
USA will do nothing because no one is going to dare to put American boys in trenches in the middle of winter on the Ukrainian/Russian front. Putin will take advantage of it. Ultimately, I don’t think he’ll do that much other than to annex Russian speaking provinces in Ukraine. The government in Kiev will remain intact, the country will just become smaller.
Comrade, when you ask about reading the Budapest Memorandum, you can’t mention Paragraph 4 because everyone on FreeRepublic then knows to read Paragraphs 1, 2, and 3. I’m sure you know what they say.
As rivals Russia and the USA can make each other strong, but if you take Ukraine who will stop Poland from becoming a Nuclear state? That isn’t our problem. Ukraine matters because neither Russia nor the USA control all of the potential consequences.
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