To the Editor:

Never again: Reflections on what’s happening in Ukraine

Posted

The time has come that we all prayed would not. The prevailing thought in everyone’s mind is WHY? There are a lot of whys involved in this conflict.

Why was a sovereign peaceful nation invaded with no provocation? Why didn’t the freedom-loving world rally sooner to help defend democracy knowing full well that a megalomaniac couldn’t be trusted? When tens of thousands of enemy troops were amassing on the border of Ukraine why didn’t the world rally to send defensive weapons ahead of time to prevent any invasion? Why does a despot like Vladimir Putin be allowed to control the information to his own people? Why did thousands have to die under the despicable desires of one country while the world watched its people being destroyed?

Why did all freedom loving people allow this to happen at all?

I am sure history will answer the questions in various ways. If anything, we know that history repeats itself and if we ignore history, we are doomed to repeat it. That is why I hope we all replace the single word WHY with two words that I take from our friends from another freedom-loving country, Israel. NEVER AGAIN!

Let this chapter of history teach us that never again shall we allow any nation to invade another peaceful sovereign nation without justification. Millions died under Hitler’s regime, but the millions will never be silenced as the living cry in remembrance, NEVER AGAIN! Never again shall we allow anyone who claims that their purpose to exist lies with the total annihilation of another such as Iran has stated of both Israel and the United States. Never again should we believe or allow a dictator such as Putin who stated emphatically, “It is not my intention to invade Ukraine”, as he assembled his forces for exactly that purpose.

If any good comes from the destruction of our country and the total horror visited upon our peaceful citizens, let it be the price we paid in our lives and land becomes the incentive for freedom loving countries to come together and prevent anything like this from happening again. We must band together, every nation that respects the rule of law and sovereignty to protect that which we all hold so dear against all who would choose to take and exploit our freedom. NATO should be a worldwide group so anyone who attacks one attacks all. That is called world peace.

When one country can take up arms against another peaceful nation without due cause or provocation, the aggressor much realize that they would face the might of a united world who stands together to say NEVER AGAIN!

Bill Janhonen
Siler City