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From guest columnist Diane Petryk
Should We Withhold the
Price of Freedom? Consider this alternate history. In the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis, President John F. Kennedy admires Soviet Union Premier Nikita Khrushchev and wishes he could have his type of power. In fact, he thinks Khrushchev's placing missiles in Cuba is genius and savvy. Advised to blockade Cuba and demand no more missile parts be delivered, Kennedy demurs. He doesn't want to anger the man he can call on the phone and bromance. There is no blockade and nuclear missiles remain just 90 miles off U.S. Shores. All our country's future political moves are made with the knowledge that Khrushchev has this threat hanging over us. Switch out of alternate history. Presently, presidential candidate Donald Trump thinks Russian President Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine is “genius” and “savvy.” If re-elected he can be expected to let Putin succeed in taking part or all of Ukraine. Trump may not be able to change the minds and hearts of Europeans who live closer to the war, but he can withhold a major portion of the arms, ammunition, tanks, planes and funding Ukraine needs to keep fighting. Even if Congress votes to send those arms, a president can withhold funding, as Trump did when he tried to force Ukrainian President Zelensky into a quid pro quo – first getting him some dirt on Hunter Biden. Congress had already approved $391 million in military aid to Ukraine in the 2019 federal budget. It was meant to bolster Ukrainian forces and included money for arms and radar systems as well as funding for naval forces and NATO aid. Trump withheld it for 55 days. I think 55 days would seem like a very long time if I was fighting for my homeland and my life. The money was only released, according to Vox news, because Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) threatened to block $5 billion in Pentagon spending for 2020 if the aid wasn’t sent. Growing up, my experience was that few people knew much about Ukraine or even heard about it. I knew that because when they asked me where my parents were from and I said “Ukraine” they stared blankly. Here are a few essential facts about my ancestral homeland. It is slightly larger than France, home to about 42 million people and has long been known as “the breadbasket of Europe” because of its fertile soil and industrious farmers. It now feeds much of Africa and other parts of the world as well. It is also rich in coal, natural gas, oil, and iron and manganese ore. Ukraine holds the largest titanium reserve in Europe and 1.8 percent of the world's uranium, with 45,600 tons in reserve. Its other resources include graphite, mercury, potash salt, gold, ornamental stones, building materials and hydropower. Ukraine was a key contributor to the economy of the former Soviet Union. It is a rich prize if Putin can claw it back into Russia. It is not, as Putin has claims, really just Russian anyway. Ukraine has a unique culture that predates any thought or culture emanating from Moscow. Ukrainian Taras Shevchenko (1814-1861) was a writer, artist, public and political figure, folklorist and ethnographer and as a poet thought to be on par with Shakespeare. A remarkable Ukrainians list would be long. The real Cuban Missile Crisis, 13 days of terror that gripped the nation in 1962, is still in my mind, although I was only in junior high school at the time. It could have been the final war, but wasn't. President Kennedy did not have a bromance going with Khrushchev, didn't think the missile placement was genius or savvy. A blockade of Cuba was set up and everyone held their breath waiting for the first Russian ship to arrive. Here are excerpts from what Kennedy said in a speech to the nation that night, October 22, 1962: “This government, as promised, has maintained the closest surveillance of the Soviet military buildup on the island of Cuba. Within the past week, unmistakable evidence has established the fact that a series of offensive missile sites is now in preparation on that imprisoned island. The purpose of these bases can be none other than to provide a nuclear strike capability against the western hemisphere.” Kennedy went on to describe the missiles as two types: medium range ballistic missiles capable of traveling 1,000 miles, and intermediate ones, not yet completed, that could go twice as far, or to most of the major cities in the Western Hemisphere, as far north as Hudsons Bay in Canada or as far south as Lima, Peru. Kennedy chose blockade, over his advisors who backed everything from bombing to invasion. “The path we have chosen for the present is full of hazards, as all paths are,” he told the American people, “but it is the one most consistent with our character and courage as a nation and our commitments around the world. The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose is the path of surrender or submission. Our goal is not the victory of might but the vindication of right. Not peace at the expense of freedom, but both peace and freedom, here in this hemisphere and we hope around the world.” Khrushchev withdrew the missiles. The 1930s taught us a clear lesson. In 1938, UK Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain tried to trade a portion of Czechoslovakia for peace with Germany. Adolf Hitler was only emboldened to invade Poland in 1939 and march into country after country thereafter. If Putin wins all or part of Ukraine no one could expect him to stop there..... Appeasement always fails. Aggressive conduct, if allowed to go unchecked and unchallenged ultimately leads to war. No bombs fell on children like me in 1962, or our parents, or the rest of Americans. But today bombs are falling every night on Ukrainian children, their families, hospitals, homes and schools. The 1930s lesson is lost on no one, with one exception. Author Diane Petryk can be reached at bloomplanet@gmail.com.
Send comments, questions, and tips to stevenrharry@gmail.com or call or text me at 517-730-2638. If you'd like to be notified by email when I post a new story, let me know.
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