Let the globe, if nothing else, say this is true:
That even as we grieved, we grew.
That even as we hurt, we hoped.
That even as we tired, we tried.
That we’ll forever be tied together, victorious.
Not because we will never again know defeat,
But because we will never again sow division…
— Amanda Gorman
Hurling insults and spreading false narratives about Ukraine, as published in Mr. Beatty’s op-ed, “Another War America Cannot Win?”…
“…President Biden, decided to go to war with Russia…”
…is divisive and irresponsible.
No, the last president didn’t start a war, but two of his notably, recent predecessors each did. And, like most of the last presidency, this opinion is full of irrelevant, contradictory, and meaningless mud-slinging about the current president and previous wars.
I’m also a proud veteran, but regardless of veteran status, I consider most Americans to be humble, patriotic and anti-war. And, military men and women have been protesting wars for a long time. This is not ironic; Mr. Beatty is not a special-case. Most people don’t want to go to war.
Russia and Ukraine have a long history of war. War itself has a long history of war, without any of us.
It seems foolish to allow someone to bang the war-drum about long-standing boundaries and current situations they know nothing about; placing blame on future events like some kind of lopsided spiritual navigator.
In 2016, the United States lost 20,360 children and teens — 60 percent of them to preventable injuries.
Was Mr. Beatty trying to make a point about kids?
In it together…
Kevin Thomas
Euless, Texas
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