Gongol.com Archives: June 2025
June 4, 2025
The principled reason for the United States to furnish support to Ukraine -- generously, not stingily -- is that Ukraine is a fledgling democracy still emerging from the dark history of its 20th Century subjugation by a powerful neighbor. If Russia can storm in and take Ukrainian territory and people by force and attack civilians at will, that should offend anyone who believes that people have an inherent right to self-determination and a right to pursue their own development interests in peace. ■ The legalistic reason for the United States to support Ukraine is that the US agreed in writing that a post-Soviet Ukraine was guaranteed independence and sovereignty in exchange for surrendering its nuclear weapons. Any such agreement either has to be sustained in perpetuity, or it and any other agreement like it is worth nothing more than the personal honor of the individuals who signed it. ■ The purely self-interested reason for the United States to support Ukraine is that skilled allies are a tremendous resource, and Ukraine's audacious attack on Russia's bomber fleet shows that its military is among the most ambitious in the world. The combination of complexity and innovation involved in the attacks is notable -- not to mention potentially destabilizing. If alliances like NATO required tryouts, this one would have been a clear success.
