As a conservative I'm amazed at some of my fellow conservatives' animus toward helping Ukraine win their war against Russia. The other day, one of my friends mentioned that he had heard that there are a lot Nazis in Ukraine. What? Where did he hear this from? This is the false propaganda put out by the hallucinating Putin, as one of his delusional reasons for invading Ukraine. I've heard similar false fantasies similar to this from other hard-right followers. Few countries have had a more devastating and murderous history than the Ukrainians. If we just go back to World War II, the Soviet leader Josef Stalin starved four to seven million Ukrainians so he could force them into his farm collectivism. Click here for the history of this. After Stalin, the German Nazis came in and invaded the Soviet Union; devastateing Ukraine, killing millions. The Nazis were especially adept at getting help from the local population in killing Jews. In Kiev alone, over 30,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis. The Nazis MO was to surround a big city such as Kiev and starve it to death. A method they repeated in Leningrad. After the Nazis we had 60 plus years of Soviet Union oppression. For a more detailed history of the Nazi invasion of Russia see the book, "Kiev 1941 Hitler's Battle for Supremacy in the East" by David Stahl, Cambridge University Press, 2012.
Many Ukrainian deniers of our day will say such things as what do we have to do with a "border conflict" that does not affect us? What? This is akin to what Neville Chamberlain said when he made "peace" with Hitler over the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia in 1938. When the Ottoman Turks were conquering the world, the Europeans had the same "I don't care" response. It does not affect us so we will ignore it. Well, the Ottomans were not satisfied to conquer the Byzantines, nor the Balkans, they wanted the rest of the world. They finally reached the door of Europe. First in the Siege of Vienna in 1529 and again, the second Siege of Vienna in 1683. So, a war far away from your border is not your problem? Wait until they reach your back door. Europeans today have the same "not interested" attitude. Sure they're providing some weapons to Ukraine, but their heart is really not there. I recently saw an Instagram video by an Italian politician criticizing the NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg for his support of Ukraine. When I commented that I agree with the NATO leader, I got some ad hominem attacks. One (an Italian) responded to my comment that I would be sent to war and then "I would cry for my mommy." I never mentioned that I was a soldier in a war - Vietnam. This clueless person exemplifies the malicious nonchalance of the "if it's not in my backyard, I don't care crowd." This attitude has had deadly effects in history. If the Europeans had been more involved during the Ottoman Turks conquests, Turkey today would not occupy the former Eastern Roman Empire, aka, Asia Minor. I often hear criticism of Americans in regard to our helping others militarily. Europeans owe their life to American help. Without it, Europe would have been under the Nazis after WWII. The French still do not understand this, after being rescued by Americans twice in 20 years. WWII was far away from America, but America responded to save their European brethren, with little appreciation to this day.
If Russia conquered Ukraine, they will demolish, as they have already done, much of the country and slaughter the Ukrainian population in the process. Even if you're one of the "not in my backyard" crowd this alone should awaken you to a moral peril that affects every one of us. Second, Russia will not be satisfied with Ukraine. They will go after Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, the Baltic states and others. When will you awake? When rockets rain down on your city? Third, a Russian victory will embolden China to conquer Taiwan. They will not be satisfied with Taiwan either. Do I have to draw you a map? Was Hitler satisfied with the Sudetenland? Was he satisfied with occupying most of Europe? After he accomplished all of this he attacked Russia. What more examples can I give?
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