A Way To Help Ukraine

 Over the past month we have seen the courage and the strength of the Ukrainian military as they have fought for their homeland and pushed back the much larger Russian military.  

We have seen the brutality and the crimes against humanity by the Russian invaders. 

We have watched President Zelensky inspire his nation with daily leadership and encouragement and we have heard his pleas to the world to give him the sophisticated weapons he needs to continue to repel the invaders. 

We have shed a tear as Ukrainian women and children by the millions have been separated from the men and forced to endure Russian bombs and rockets as they escaped to safety into welcoming NATO neighbor states. 

Now that Russian forces have been forced back and the towns north and east of Kiev have been liberated by the Ukrainians, we have seen destroyed tanks and armored personnel carriers littering the streets and highways, and we have been appalled and disgusted by the bodies of civilians executed and left where they were shot on the public streets of Bucha or thrown into mass graves.

We have heard President Zelensky’s appeal to the United Nations and his many appeals to the legislatures of NATO countries to do more to help him defend Ukraine because this is not just an attack by Russia against Ukraine, it is an authoritarian attack on Western democracy and if authoritarianism wins it sets up other nations to be the next to fall.  This is a proxy fight in which Ukraine is fighting on behalf of the free nations of the world and if we do not defend freedom here then we are that much closer to losing our own freedom.

We feel like we should be doing more.

NATO is standing on the sideline, fearful that anything more than providing defensive weapons could be seen by Russia as an escalation of the conflict and an existential threat to Russia that could become a rationale for a nuclear response.

I agree with that concern.  No one wants nuclear war, certainly not me.  I have been a peace proponent and activist throughout my adult life.  However Russia has become an existential threat not just to Ukraine but to democracy.  The West needs a stronger response than wringing our hands in despair that there is nothing more we can do that will not involve us in an escalation.

So, I propose a strategy.  There are two humanitarian issues that are a direct challenge to NATO that have created a need and an opportunity for defensive involvement under the UN or NATO banner. 

First, Ukraine is the bread basket of Europe and the world. It is the second largest exporter of wheat, behind Russia.  Odessa is the port city from which that grain is exported to the world.  It is not only Ukraine’s outlet to the world, it is an essential port for their grain to get to the Middle East and Africa.  We need to defend that port in our interest.

Second, Russia is not just fighting a war, they are attempting to exterminate the Ukrainian people.  They have created a humanitarian crisis in Eastern Ukraine, refusing all attempts at humanitarian aid by the Red Cross, destroying hospitals and medical facilities, denying humanitarian corridors and attempts at rescue.

There is a defensive strategy that has a reasonable chance of working if presented carefully.  Make it clear to the Russians that we do not want a conflict with them but there are vital human issues here that go beyond Ukraine and we are prepared to defend them as essential interests by any means necessary. 

First, declare that we (the West) will defend the port of Odessa as essential to our food supply.  There is precedent for that approach.

Second, declare a humanitarian corridor along Ukraine’s southern border that will be defended by the West.  This will allow food, water and medical aid to reach the civilian population, and provide an avenue of escape.

There are risks to this approach.  But it seems unlikely that Putin will launch a nuclear war over a carefully limited defensive posture.  If we are not willing to take some risks we will be unable to maintain and defend democracy against authoritarian pressures.  We cannot constantly walk away from fights out of fear that bad things will happen.  If we don’t defend democracy we will lose it.