My Dad was, for a lack of a better term, a Cold Warrior. He retired from the United States Air Force in the early 1970’s after serving in World War II, Korea, and Vietnam. He also served as a command pilot on both nuclear armed B-47 and B-52 Bombers while with the Strategic Air Command during the Cold War. This was in a time when the military doctrine of “mutually assured destruction” held sway.
He was not so much, though, a military man as someone who believed in standing up for what is right and doing his part to try to secure all of our freedoms. He lived long enough to see the fall of the Berlin Wall and the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991, and I think these events filled him with a great deal of hope, not only for the people of Eastern Europe and others under Soviet domination, but for all of humanity.
Like many throughout the world, I was dumbfounded and greatly saddened by Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
I feel very confident that if my Dad were alive today he would see Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as not only a step back in time, but a great leap backward, a return to a dark and foreboding time when the threat of nuclear war menaced not only those in Europe, but the whole World.
For all those who love freedom, the ability of people to live their lives as they see fit, this is a very critical time. To put it succinctly, Ukraine must win this war with Putin’s Russia. But not only must Ukraine win the war, Ukraine must win the peace. Ukraine must be rebuilt. A Ukraine left desolate and destroyed would be a victory for evil and an invitation for others like Putin to follow his example.
Everyone who loves freedom and wants to see freedom spread throughout the world, instead of be rolled back, has an interest in Ukraine winning this war and as importantly winning the peace afterward. For this to happen, Ukraine will have to be rebuilt, and as quickly as possible. And this will require the freedom loving peoples of the world to work together.
We all have an interest in rebuilding Ukraine together.