On Ukraine, My Involvement and Why You've Been Mislead

Since March, I have made four separate trips to Ukraine. A quick count shows that I have 33 stamps in my passport, all of them between Poland and Ukraine. The oldest, at the Medyka crossing, is dated March 7th, 2022. The last October 13th. Since Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24th, 2022, I have spent a total of 77 days in Europe. 

Many of my friends understand entirely, but I also lost a lot of friends along the way. At first, this was deeply troubling to me. I did not understand how it was that so many people quickly believed the nonsense and propaganda about Ukraine. NATO Aggression turned out to be the most hilarious excuse, as now there are two new NATO member countries. Corruption in Ukraine is hardly a reason for invasion... or else California should have been invaded years ago. Still, pro-Russians have pushed this for a justifiable reason for invading. "Nazis in Ukraine" has been a major propaganda piece by the Kremlin. Ironically, Ukraine elected a Jewish President (Volodymyr Zelensky), has several holocaust memorials, and of those Ukrainians that had legitimate Nazi sympathies, the vast majority were ousted by the Pro-Russian government in 2014. Today, I would go all-in on the bet that Little Rock, Arkansas, has more Nazi sympathizers than the entirety of Ukraine. Regardless, the name-calling is insane. After all, I am a "domestic terrorist," as San Francisco City Council voted for labeling the NRA and its members. Maybe that is a justification to invade a nation. Right? A ludicrous claim that isn't substantiated, never verified, and repeated around 33 times in Putin's September speech is hardly a reason to invade. Ukraine has already won. They've overcome so many odds, and they have done it with the hoards calling them erroneous names. Most "experts" agreed with Kremlin sentiments that Kyiv would fall in 72 hours.   

I lost several friends who decided to believe Russian propaganda over me. That is okay. Those are not friends anyway, and they did me a favor. I digress. In February, I saw it coming. Before the invasion, I was watching the build-ups, the aircraft, and more. I was sure that Russia would launch their invasion and the worst would happen: genocide. It did. It makes me sick. One of my friends was investigating war crimes and genocide when I visited him in July. Horrible. We all watched the evacuation of Afghanistan in 2021 and I made up my mind that I would not sit on the couch watching TV. I decided to go. 

Four trips later, I have seen what needed to be seen. I know what propaganda is and how Russians continually use it. I know Ukrainians, I love Ukraine. It is an amazing nation with some of the most amazing people you'll ever meet. Meanwhile, Russia, now crippled with catastrophic losses, is sending its absolute worst people and conscripts. I've seen it, and I have, unfortunately, seen Ukraine lose many of its best. One of my friends lost his father. Another his brother. Unlike the keystroke propaganda, real people with real parents, real kids, and real loved ones are dying. For what? Of all the excuses that the Kremlin has made, is there a single one that justifies this murder? Today, Russia is not able to continue its offensive. They are entirely defensive. They have lost more than 70% of the land they had captured since the start of the invasion. And they'll lose more and more. 

The propaganda is shifting. While it largely remains stuck on old points, the recent propaganda is that Russia has nuclear arms (so scary). Russia, in its 6.6 million miles of land, is somehow "cornered." Now we're hearing a pre-midterm cry of us paying too much money to Ukraine. I have to address that right now because that is the dumbest, most ridiculous "REEEEE" cry on God's green earth.

The same folks who oppose sending more aid to Ukraine are the same who will spend 100,000,000x more money for military programs that would accomplish what some poor Ukrainian farmers are actively doing as I type this. Now, please do not misunderstand. I am not a liberal democrat, and I lean conservative; allow me to elaborate.

First, the US government has largely given Ukraine tools and equipment that have a monetary value. A current (often updated) report lists that equipment and monetary value can be viewed here. Obviously, there is money that is also sent, but this is often the sole focus of propagandists. History on the subject: The Obama administration allowed Russia to get away with the invasion of Crimea and Donbas and only gave Ukraine non-lethal aid. Trump's administration reversed that and allowed lethal aid to Ukraine. The non-lethal aid was garbage, in my honest opinion. One might surmise that the Obama administration supported Russia, then. One of the most prolific things that the Trump administration allowed into Ukraine was the Javelin anti-tank missile. Back to the topic at hand:

The US has supplied Ukraine with "more than $20.3 billion in security assistance." A lot of people are losing their minds about this number because, frankly, they're morons. They're idiots. Hell, Elon Musk bought Twitter for double that amount and then some. Chump change. It is embarrassing. It is even more embarrassing for Russians who are excusing their military defeats because of this. Look, a single B-2 bomber is worth a little over $2 billion. So, we have given them the equivalent of 10? And now "wE hAvE gOt tO sToP" sending money for the purpose that we spend more money. The F-35 program costs $1.7 TRILLION, you goofy morons.