Democratic Values And Freedom At Stake In Ukraine

Like millions of other residents of this planet called Earth, I have been horrified watching the unprovoked and bloody terror unleashed on the country of Ukraine this week by Russian dictator Vladimir Putin’s military forces.

For most of us baby boomers, it was surreal to witness the carnage on innocent lives, including children. Our parents and grandparents have seen this before. Give credit to Adolph Hitler and World War II for their nightmares.

Now, we watch as hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians flee their once-peaceful homeland. These are people who held jobs only days before. Good folks who held jobs and went home after work to spend quiet evenings with their families. In reality, their lifestyles were not much different than middle-class Americans.

That lifestyle has been ripped away. The homes they occupied, if still standing, have been abandoned as the populace flees into the safety of neighboring countries.

We watch as the cameras point to large clouds of smoke rising from residential neighborhoods that Russians have attacked in a struggle to seize power in Ukrainian cities. The watching becomes more difficult as the cameras move in close to apartment buildings and homes that have been destroyed by a savage war.

Like Adolph Hitler, Putin has incurred the hatred and wrath of the free world. He has engineered the battles for one reason and one reason alone: To strengthen his power by expanding the territory Russia holds. His game is to restore the former Soviet Union and its massive territory. In doing so, he’s turned the free world against him.

Still, not all free Americans have joined the global uproar. Some have called Putin “savvy,” “a genius,” “smart.” Sadly, and almost unbelievable, throngs of Americans evidently feel compelled to agree with those assessments, mainly because those came from the mouth of their political gurus. Can you imagine an American political leader using those glowing words of praise for Adolph Hitler during the dark days of World War II?

Good people of Logan County, please don’t go there. Putin is a cold-blooded killer of anyone who tries to stand in his way. He’s proven that in his past and confirmed it today in this bloody conflict that has claimed hundreds of innocent lives. His bombs and missiles have targeted residential neighborhoods on the outskirts of big cities Putin wants to control. Innocent lives do not matter to him; they simply are collateral damage in his war against democracy.

This monster has even hinted at the threat of using nuclear weapons against enemy states that make bold moves to stop the carnage. Presumably, that includes the United States. How’s that for a frightening thought? Think that’s smart? Savvy? Genius?

I’m writing this midweek and no one knows what the immediate future holds. But, in the past few days of war coverage, hints have emerged that Putin is going mad, bonkers, irrational, if you will, and would probably do whatever it takes to control Ukraine. He reportedly is angry and dissatisfied that his massive number of troops assaulting their neighbor has not managed to pull off a “shock and awe” moment.

In large part, the Russian assault has been slowed and crippled by the will and fighting spirit of the Ukrainian people, who emphatically want to continue their lifestyles living in a democracy, a dirty word in Putin’s vocabulary. Credit for the heroic efforts to save their homeland from a Communist dictator must partly shine on its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, who has stood out as the country’s leading patriot and cheerleader.

I’m definitely no scholar of worldly politics and affairs, and I much prefer to write this weekly column on topics that are local in nature. But sometimes I feel compelled to step away from that narrow scope and speak my mind on much larger issues than bumpy streets or the legality of feeding squirrels in your backyard. This is one of those times with an issue I simply cannot ignore.

Vladimir Putin is evil personified, a power-hungry, cold-blooded killer. If he succeeds in overtaking Ukraine, what’s the next country in his sights? You can easily believe his vision to restore the former Soviet Union will not stop at the Ukrainian borders.

Putin’s goals, ambitions, and yes, his threats should frighten all citizens of the world who hold democratic values and personal freedom in high esteem.

Readers Write: Ukraine, the freedom to read

As I've watched the crisis in Ukraine unfold, I've been amazed and heartened by the way it has brought the peoples and nations of the world together to demand a stop to Russia's invasion. Strength isn't just found in tanks and missiles. When we are outraged by a terrible injustice and stand together against it, we have enormous power in our hands.

We see the power of unity: allies standing strong together and using every tool they have to stop Russia. We see the power of compassion, as countries open their borders to welcome the refugees and organizations mobilize to provide aid. We see, too, the power of protest, as all around the world people rise up in huge demonstrations.

Most of all, we see the inspiring power of ordinary Ukrainian citizens who love their freedom and love their country, taking a stand against overwhelming odds.

Don't despair. When we stand together, we have enormous strength.

Heather Jerrie, Wheeler, Wis.

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Assuming that Russians eventually overtake Ukrainian forces, what happens next? Has an autocratic government ever tried to subjugate a democracy of this size before? Maybe China has had some success with Hong Kong, but Ukraine is larger by magnitudes. If average Ukrainian citizens are willing to stay and throw handmade weapons at encroaching tanks, will they stop fighting once Russia comes through the gates? Would we? The only way an autocratic government can ride herd on a large group of people is through manipulation of a few higher-ups and intimidation of the rest. I wonder if people who have had decades of life under self-determination can be intimidated into accepting less. Herding cats come to mind.

Connie Clabots, Minneapolis

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"Any fool can start a war, and once he's done so, even the wisest of men are helpless to stop it — especially if it's a nuclear war." Those words of Nikita Khrushchev are as appropriate today as they were during the Cuban missile crisis. Russian President Vladimir Putin's threats of nuclear deterrent will leave no one a winner.

Bruno Gad, Mankato, Minn

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It's amazing to me how easy it is for the New York Times to gaslight Democrats into thinking former President Donald Trump, and by association, the Republican Party is rooting for Putin. The New York Times quoted Trump as saying, "Putin is now saying, 'It's independent,' a large section of Ukraine. I said, 'How smart is that?' And he's going to go in and be a peacekeeper. ... Here's a guy who's very savvy." The article ended the quote but continued to "explain" how complacent Trump had been with Putin. However, had the Times printed the full quote, Trump then said: "And you know what the response was from Biden? There was no response. ... It's very sad."

Here are some inconvenient facts:

1. President Barack Obama said in 2012 that his red line with the Assad regime in Syria (backed by the Russians) would be the use of chemical weapons. Later that year, Assad's forces killed nearly 1,500 people in a chemical-weapons attack, with no response from the Obama/Biden administration. At that point, Putin knew who he was dealing with. In February and March of 2014, Russia invaded and subsequently annexed the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine. Although the Ukrainians begged the U.S. for weapons, the response from Obama/Biden was to offer blankets and other supplies.
2. In 2018, Trump issued his own red line to Assad and his Russian backers against the use of chemical weapons. The Syrians and Russians thumbed their noses at Trump. Trump responded by ordering airstrikes against Syrian facilities while dining with Xi Jinping. Now Putin knew he was dealing with a very different American president, as Trump armed Ukraine with defensive weapons. There was no thought by Putin to take Ukraine during the Trump years.
3. When President Joe Biden took office, Putin already knew the mettle of the man, but that was fortified with the disastrous exit from Afghanistan. Putin knew it was time to strike and immediately began to build forces on the Ukrainian border. Biden's response? He waived sanctions on the company behind Russia's Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline to Germany, after ending construction on our own Keystone pipeline. Crippling our own oil and gas industry while encouraging Russia's oil production helped convince Putin that he was dealing with a feckless idiot.
4. When trying to avert the territorial ambition of tyrants, strength and decisiveness deter, while weakness and placative responses only encourage. Up next? Taiwan. I pray for freedom-loving Ukrainians and freedom-loving Taiwanese because that's all they will get from us with the current administration in charge.

Gary Carter, Edina

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While I appreciate the Star Tribune has plenty of reader letters to choose from, the selection published on Saturday ("Where will Putin stop?") is illustrative.

Across one editorial and seven letters from readers, I counted no less than the following: three references to Trump, three references to Republicans or Republican administrations, and two references to the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. One of those latter references shows up in the context of a Freedom House report about the "The Global Expansion of Authoritative Rule," despite the news we learned on page A3 about how those criminals have been appropriately punished ("Pelosi podium poser gets 75 days"), as the judge noted that behavior "that undermines the fundamental fabric of this society" will not be tolerated.

The Star Tribune has published numerous analyses over the past year refuting the notion (usually promoted by right-wing fanatics) that somehow the 2020 presidential was stolen. Unless I missed something, isn't Biden our current president, and isn't the Democratic Party in control of both houses of Congress? The words "Biden" and "Democratic" showed up zero times in the analysis of how the U.S. should respond to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Matt Loucks, Edina

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Throwing stones at Russian businesses in the U.S. or pulling Russian vodka off store shelves is not the way to show your opposition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Instead, consider showing your support of the Russian people who are risking arrest, detention, and possibly their lives by protesting Putin's war in Ukraine. The Russian government has impaled its own citizens upon its criminal code, falsely accusing political opponents of violating the law when they criticized Russia's territorial aggressions into Crimea. Even the posting of an article in Russia entitled "Crimea is Ukraine!" has been a punishable crime in Russia. Even now, the Russian government targets any citizen who demonstrates the smallest iota of disloyalty to the regime such as reposting an anti-Russian article on Facebook.

Ukrainians in Ukraine and throughout the world need our support and solidarity, as do Russians in Russia who have the courage to voice their horror and disgust at Putin's egregious acts in Ukraine.