Trego's Mountain Ear

Most of the comments I see about the war in Ukraine are from people younger than I.  It kind of makes sense – most people are younger than I.  Still, there are some friends posting comments about standing with Ukraine that I can recall protesting the VietNam war.  I don’t believe I have changed – I’m opposed to US involvement in Ukraine for the same reasons I was opposed to VietNam.

Still, most people are younger than I – so let’s look at the reasons.  First, there’s a big ocean between us and them.  VietNam didn’t have enough seapower to make a landing on the North American Continent – and the last Admiral of note that worked for Russia was John Paul Jones.  Nothing personal – but it doesn’t make sense to cross the Atlantic or the Pacific just to get into a fight that can be avoided by staying home.

The second reason is that we don’t have a good record for getting out of these overseas wars.  I might not be particularly proud of the way Biden ended the war in Afghanistan – but maybe, had someone asked how we were going to end it before we sent troops over there, we might have had more acceptable results.  In VietNam, American soldiers and marines essentially won every battle -but that had nothing to do with winning the war.  Nothing personal – but if we send people into a foreign war, we need to send them into a war where they have at least some chance of victory.

I should have a soft spot for Ukraine – my mother-in-law came from there.  She grew up after the Russian Revolution – at the time of the Holodomor.  Her father was classified as an enemy of the revolution.  Then, a few years later, the Nazis marched in and she spent the second world war in Hitler’s camps.   Never seemed like she saw a lot of difference between Stalin and Hitler. 

It’s kind of like Gaza.  If I recollect my bible correctly, Gaza was a problem area back in Samson’s day.  History says it’s a good place to avoid.  Same thing with Ukraine -I don’t know who struck the first blow, but these guys have grudges that are older than our country.  It’s a good place to avoid.

Before the US got involved in VietNam, the French were there.  As they fought the Viet Minh, their goal was to get them committed to one big fight, where the Viet Minh couldn’t run away.  The place they selected was called Dien Bien Phu.

I don’t have the moral clarity of a pacifist.  I just don’t see any purpose in signing on for a war that doesn’t offer a way to win.  And the Russia-Ukraine war is a family squabble – both sides figure that they’re descendants from the Kievan Rus.  It’s a good idea not to step into the middle of a family fight.