Readers Write: Ukraine

I'm a pacifist, but I have a question: When a demagogue/fascist/dictator chooses to invade other countries and the rest of the world chooses not to use military force, what's to stop him from continuing?

I'm struggling watching the Ukrainian people fight by themselves. It feels like watching a bully beat up a vulnerable kid on the playground in seventh grade and having a large group of us choosing to stand by and watch.

I understand sanctions are real consequences. It's kind of like sending the bully to detention — the bully is back on the playground the next day. The kid who got beat up is bloody, bruised, emotionally traumatized and fearful. Those of us who stood and watched are guilt-ridden. Our hugs for the victim ring hollow. The victim looked up to see us stand and watch as they got brutalized.

Nuclear weapons are like knowing the bully has an assault rifle at home and has threatened to use it if you get in his way or try to punish him.

I'm struggling with when it's appropriate to use protective use of force or just-war theory. I wonder if every head of state is struggling with the same conflict of values.

I loathe bullies. I loathe the use of violence. I loathe military destructiveness. I loathe our capacity to destroy our planet with nuclear bombs.

I hate being in this paradox. I hate Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Tim Reardon, Plymouth

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As a child-survivor of World War II and its aftermath in England, we "thanked the Yanks" for their eventual support. But why did it take so long for the U.S. to put troops on the ground and engage in the European theater? The continued denial of Adolf Hitler's fascist threat to world order, peace and the global economy, which would eventually impact the U.S., seems to parallel how the U.S. has regarded Putin, especially from one Republican administration to another.

Politics aside, and regardless of the fact that there was no United Nations or NATO until sometime after WWII, in part to deal with future despots and autocratic, militaristic regimes, the lack of international unity to mount paralyzing economic sanctions against Putin's regime and boost cybersecurity as soon as it was evident of his intentions to invade the Ukraine is a sad reflection of the times. And it's a missed opportunity for the U.S. to win a leadership role in protecting global democracy essential for world peace, social justice and economic security. We can all do better.

Michael W. Fox, Golden Valley

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China blames the U.S. for the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

It is time that we stop buying anything made in China. It is also time for our corporations to return to the U.S. or to countries that do not have plans to rule the world.

Russel E. Tordoff, Glenville, Minn.

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An argument is circulating that NATO expansion has pushed Russia to defend itself and its interests. I think this argument is mistaken. NATO was founded during the Cold War to provide a united front against U.S.S.R. expansion, declaring that an attack on any NATO country would be an attack on all. I think that is the crucial issue for Putin: He did not want to see Ukraine get this protection, because he has long had plans to reincorporate Ukraine into the Russian orbit, either as a client state like Belarus or as part of the Russian Federation itself.

I have never heard or read anything implying that NATO has an offensive strategy.

The Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania were anxious to become part of NATO because they have large Russian populations and feared that Russia would attempt to reincorporate them as it is now doing to Ukraine. This expansion of NATO was not part of a Western European or American encirclement strategy. If Ukraine had succeeded in following the Baltics into NATO, all the NATO nations would have been obligated to battle the aggressor/invader.

Putin has been preparing for this invasion for years, quite openly declaring repeatedly that Ukraine is not a real nation but something invented by Vladimir Lenin, historically part of Russia, inseparable from Russia, etc. Over the last two years, Russia has been divesting itself of dollars in its sovereign wealth fund in order to dodge economic sanctions. It has firmed up it alliance and trade with China, which is ready now to replace the dollar with the yuan as the primary world currency. Russia has diligently aligned itself with strongmen around the world like Bashar Assad in Syria, so that it cannot be isolated economically or strategically.

The leaders of these nations do not believe democracy is the best way to govern a country. They have rejected democracy. They believe the will of the majority is a poor way to run a country, that it should be run by a strong elite cadre of military-business interests that really understand world affairs. Former President Donald Trump and many Republicans in this country appear to agree with this assessment. We faced this threat directly on Jan. 6, 2021, and we are now facing it again. The world is divided on this question of governance. We may see, soon, what future will be prepared for our children and grandchildren: democracy or dictatorship (or, more accurately, fascism).

This is a very sad day and a day of warning.

Frank Schweigert, St. Paul

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Trump mocked NATO as irrelevant, cut funding support for it and expressed his desire for the U.S. to leave the alliance. He treated it like a mob boss running a protection racket.

Imagine the world today if the largest treaty alliance in history was not there to stand firmly against Putin's dangerous, impulsive actions toward Western democracies.

David Pederson, Excelsior

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The Russian invasion of Ukraine is a threat to the security of the U.S., and the failure of our democratic allies to respond will embolden not only Putin but authoritarian regimes. Our lack of resolve signals China, which is creating new islands from which to project power, to not only create land but take it. These bullies have insatiable desire to control natural resources, trade routes and human freedom. The decadelong march across Crimea, the South China Sea and now Ukraine may appear slow, but it's steady.

History shows that democracies do not wage war on democracies. But as democratic allies fall, and with them their resources, our false peace from inaction will bring us neither prosperity nor security.

Practical Midwesterners understand that this invasion will be experienced here at home. Ukraine is similar to our Midwest, and loss of their wheat and grain production will raise prices and inflation for American families already struggling to recover from the pandemic. Taking over fuel pipelines will raise costs for European producers of technology and medications we use to cure our sick.

To preserve life and liberty, we must enact crushing sanctions immediately and sustainably to punish the authoritarian leaders, engage in commensurate cyber warfare to truly inform the suffering Russian public of their leaders' crimes against humanity, and our NATO allies must stand up to this attack that could be the Kristallnacht of democracy.

Joel Spoonheim, Plymouth

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The love affair Trump Republicans are having with Putin is confusing. If they think wearing a mask to help control a virus is infringing on their rights, just wait.

Liz Strom Knutson, Minneapolis

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