To Be Wary, and Clever

To the brave defenders of Ukraine, to their supporters, to those who languish in captivity, and all of their loved ones, I am embarrassed.

My country is apparently proposing harvesting ‘rare earths’ from Ukraine in exchange for assistance. The mercenary nature of this proposal is troubling to me, as I recognize each of you as ends unto yourselves.

It brings to mind a promise of security for a young lady in the neighborhood, and after she is attacked, and we have begun to render assistance, we suddenly ask her for her credit card.

And while we are at it, astonishingly her attacker is still here. He has plunged a dagger into her side seven inches, and now he pulls the blade out by three of those inches, and expects to be rewarded. Disgusting.

The attacker should be destroyed, not bargained with. And certainly not afforded the opportunity to benefit from stolen Ukrainian land. Our first inclination should be making Ukraine whole.

The United States of America has a self imposed duty to assist Ukraine. We promised the Ukrainians that we would help them if they were attacked when we encouraged them to give up their nukes. They were attacked after disposing of those weapons. Ukraine relied upon our assertion and now we must make good our word.

But our minds must be plastic to reality.

A deal securing such ‘rare earths’ could possibly solve a core problem that seems to be emerging for the alliance of Ukraine and the United States. As we recognize the mercenary nature of the offer, we must recognize the mercenary nature of the offerer. One frequent problem I see in my imaginings is the limited number of interests that can be readily named, that were important to President Trump and located in Ukraine. It is conceivable, these ‘rare earths’ represent something worthwhile for the mercenary in chief to defend.

However, this potential solution comes with a caveat. Across the United States, there are many places where, during his first administration, President Trump said something would be built, but there is nothing there now.

I take comfort in the fact that I can rely on Ukrainians to be wary, and to be clever.





Please find the blurb above, read by me below.  In this digital world of make believe, the words are always my own.

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