War and Peace

For all of the problems we have in the U.S., and there are plenty, we’ve had it pretty good in my generation. Aside from the horrors of 9/11, the biggest threats we’ve faced have mainly been from each other.

The Russian invasion of Ukraine was tough to wrap my head around. No matter how much Putin has tried to spin it, the reasons for the conflict are obvious to most. Putin wants Russia to reclaim territory and power that it lost during the dissolving of the Soviet Union, and Ukraine is just one of many countries that he wants to take over. The Ukrainian people have the right to live independently as they have for the last 30-plus years, They have the right to live in peace, which is exactly what they’ve done – and in no way have they been a threat or enemy to Russia. On the contrary; they’ve been a peaceful neighbor, and many of them have family in Russia and vice versa.

Putin is a certified power-hungry madman who shares some fanatical DNA as Hitler had. It was bad enough that he decided to invade Ukraine to begin with, but he didn’t stop at simply targeting military assets. He’s openly targeted civilian buildings and the civilian population, which puts him in a specific class of evil.

What Hamas has done to Israeli civilians since their brutal attack last week almost makes Putin look tame in comparison. I just can’t fathom the psychological impact that the atrocities have had on Israelis, and of course Hamas’ goal is to eliminate the entire Jewish race. Sound familiar?

There are certainly two sides of the story and Israel has severely restricted Gaza citizens from having normal freedoms over the years. I don’t know all the complexities as there are multiple layers but one thing is certain – this will get a lot worse.

Tensions are one thing. Military aggression often seems inevitable. But what we’ve seen and heard has been incomprehensible. The carnage, the savagery, is like nothing I can recall hearing about occurring in my lifetime.

The Middle East has always been a powder keg. Prayers for all involved,that civilian casualties can be kept to a minimum, that the hostages can escape harm and be rescued, and that the week-old war doesn’t grow into a wider regional, or global, conflict.