LETTER: Appeasing Putin

Journalists have distinguished themselves reporting from the Ukraine war zone and sharing the voices of citizens there. Ordinary people, regardless of age or position, have trained to defend the country they love. The world is watching these heroic acts.

As Russia surrounds the capital of Kyiv, there is little doubt that, regardless of their preparation, devotion and loyalty to the cause, many of these same Ukrainians who we admire will be taken prisoner and or be killed. That will happen as NATO countries ignore pleas for help, as they are more concerned with their supply of oil or infected with their own lack of leadership and fear that Putin might be offended by our actions. Ukrainian death will come from bombs and bullets as well as from lack of heat, food, water and medicine. That is the Russian strategy.

NATO should announce specific days when its planes will fly over Ukraine to parachute in humanitarian aid. Competent U.S. leadership would figure out a way to get it done. Our government is already planning the financial aid packages to rebuild the country while the genocide is ignored, Putin is appeased and Volodymyr Zelensky tries to save his country. That is leadership.

In the United States, our government measures solving problems by how much money it can appropriate. After the war, those dollars may rebuild some buildings, but our weakness will embolden other nations to develop nuclear capability and exploit the incompetence of U.S. leadership.