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The other day I stumbled on a YouTube channel where pro-Putin apologists opined that military aid, even for self-defense, spurred violence. I watched in shock as one woman called on Americans to join her in opposing arms shipments to Ukraine. Imagine the following scenario: an armed and dangerous intruder is entering your home. He has a shotgun, he is angry, and he even took over your neighbor Jeffrey's house as a launching pad for the invasion of yours. You thought that all he wanted was to live in your basement, but in reality he wants your whole house, and even worse, he wants you to live in the house with him as he gains full control. The intruder plans to do the paperwork so that he owns your home, even though you paid for it in full over the past 30 years, and he wants you to clean, maintain and remodel your home to his specifications as he gloats over everything you had built that he wants to possess for himself. Your neighbor on the other side is John. So you call John and say - my man, I've got this problem, the intruder is at my doorstep and he is shooting at my front door. Johnny, you know me, please help, because if he gets past me, your house and your family are next - I mean, he has already taken over Jeffrey's house and made him an accomplice to his raid. Now let's imagine that you are Johnny, the neighbor who is not yet affected by this, and taking up arms against a deranged shotgun-armed man is not really your thing, but you have your dad's M16 lying around from years back. Would you not want your neighbor to have it so that he can fight off the gunman before your house falls next? If a conflict was roiling your neighborhood, most of you would be calling the police, asking them to save you. Ukraine called the police, which is the international community. The international community reacted with sympathy but refused to stop the Russian monsters who barged into a sovereign country, took people hostage and murdered and raped - children included -- and stole washing machines and hairdryers. This is not representative of a country. These are gangsters, 200,000 of them, who think they have the right to break into Ukrainian homes and maim and slaughter civilians, people who just want to live their lives, go to work, and raise their children and grandchildren. Now, imagine that you call the police, and they tell you the only way they can help is to give you a gun so you can fend off this crazy gunman. You say okay, any help will do. The police say they must wait for approval from their commanders, and then they'll mail you the gun. You ask when the gun will be delivered - a gun against a shotgun, but it's a chance for survival, nevertheless. The answer comes back: tomorrow, or the day after, or maybe next week. You go to your bedroom and get your grandpa's old musket, which may or may not fire, but so far it is your only hope. It shoots but doesn't do damage. Once again, you call the police and ask, When will this gun arrive, FedEx can't be that slow? The answer from the other side is still uncertain, because one of the paper pushers is concerned that this gun might be stolen by the delivery man. He also worries that your credit card will be declined because it looks like you have no money in your bank account. This is the situation in Ukraine right now. Our soldiers will take back all our land in due time. Ukraine just wants to defend itself and will do so one way or the other. If no weapons are forthcoming, Ukrainians will fight with forks and spoons once the knives are gone. Supplying Ukraine with weapons not only saves civilian lives but also allows civilians to remain civilians instead of being forced to join the battle. Serge A is of Ukrainian descent, grew up in Brooklyn and is volunteering in Ukraine as a legally armed member of a Territorial Defense Group. He was a columnist for the newspaper at Pace University which he attended as an undergrad.
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