Look around and wherever you live in The West you're bound to see some new neighbors. Most of them aren't so bad as far as groups go and they generally seem like nice people. Even if there are certainly quite a few of them. Only, as with every allotment of humanity, some are not so nice.
A person might even say they're combative.
Since the commencement of the Ukraine Conflict we have all heard about the myriad of migrants arriving upon our shores.
Honestly, no opposition to that fact here.
Few decent people want innocent civilians to suffer for the acts of their megalomaniacal government.
Whatever corrupt King Zelensky does it should not be to the detriment of ordinary Ukrainians merely trying to get through their day and live their lives.
To the extent women and children flee to Moldova, Serbia, Russia, America, Germany, Great Britain, or even (gulp!) Poland, to escape bloodshed imposed upon them by the Kiev Cabal it should be supported.
Except, recently is another kind of Ukrainian snooping around our doorsteps in The West and this fellow bears a good deal more watching.
He's here for our money and, to the extent we as ordinary Citizens allow it, he's here to take our liberty as well.
Thus it bears inquiry…
In Great Britain…since last July the Brits have "trained” more than 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers. In fact, that was only the beginning. The stated goal of this scheme was to train 10,000 Ukrainians — every 120 days!
Recently Ukrainian Tank Crews have likewise begun arriving on the isle to do martialing toward fighting. Some are also there doing land mine training as well.
Several more arrived last week to train on military hardware. Suspiciously, no news outlets managed to delineate exactly how many of them showed to drag Brits into their conflict.
In the United States…90 to 100 Ukrainian soldiers are at Ft. Sill in Oklahoma to train on the Patriot missile system. The Pentagon has said this will include "classroom work” as well as a "simulation lab”.
Also, it was announced the U. S. Army would provide "joint maneuvers” training at American bases in Germany. The Pentagon said it expected 500 Ukrainian soldiers to be trained every month.
This includes "live fire exercises” for "squad, platoon and company level” allotments of soldiers. Since April of last year 3,100 Ukrainians have similarly been educated in the art of war.
In Poland…at least 15,000 Ukrainians are being trained to fight as an army. That figure was from some months ago so the amount is likely higher at this time. (Incidentally, every "terror cell” you've ever heard of apprehended in any Western country was around ten deranged lunatics…so 15,000 is more.)
In France…this week it was announced Gay Paree would "consider” training Ukrainian pilots on how to use jet aircraft. Incidentally, those would be French fighter jets. This is in addition to the 2,000 Ukrainian soldiers which the French Defense Minister said he would like to host in France for even more training.
In Denmark…no, really…in Denmark…the Defense Minister was not prone to providing many details on the matter, but he described the Danish Ukrainian soldier training program to be similar to that of England. The Danes had previously sent 130 officers to Britain in assisting that earlier initiative.
(Incidentally, I promise, I am not fabricating any of this as I go along…)
In Canada…launched in 2015 (who knew!) there has been a comprehensive effort to train Ukrainian soldiers which now has as many as 35,000 graduates in battlefield tactics and advanced military skills. The Canadians also sent a contingent of 40 Combat Engineers to Poland to train that little army in exile.
In Finland…Helsinki sent 20 experts to Great Britain to help with training. Since that was not nearly enough to qualify as an aggressor, Finland then offered to host Ukrainian soldiers to train in Winter Warfare.
In Sweden…Stockholm also sent around 120 instructors to Great Britain to help with training.
In Italy…None. Because Italians are not escalationists.
What are the total figures for all nations as of today? Who could say! It is doubtful anyone actually knows them.
All which can be ascertained definitively is that — at minimum — anywhere from 50,000 to 100,000 Ukrainian soldiers have been trained in Western countries the past year. Likely, it is much higher.
While moral to welcome civilians into our homes to protect against random harm emanating from either side during the Russia-Ukraine Conflict, this must be premised on the condition they are indeed civilians.
Anything other than non-combatants will…and does…rightfully demonstrate to Russia the Western governments are de facto engaged in foreign battles being waged of no consequence to our Citizens.
Whether one agrees with the Russian assessment of military men coming to our shores is immaterial — if our government is training Ukrainians to fight, then our government is by definition involved in the fight.
Should the Citizens of any Western nation agree to participation it should at the very least be voted on in a plebiscite, a referendum, a special election or some other means by which to determine the will of The People themselves….with the likely costs in dollars and lives laid out clearly in actuarial tables.
It is too grave a thing for Plutocrats and Bureaucrats to impose upon anyone.
The American People alone must say whether we agree to involve ourselves in any military conflict; and particularly one which shows every indication of being prolonged many years and costing many billions.
Anything less than abiding by the Popular Will is blatant corruption.
There is another dangerous corollary to this condition…
If the choice comes down to allowing the common Ukrainian to stay in our countries or kicking them all out to ensure no military Ukrainians are dragging us into their quagmire — then they all have to leave.
Certainly it would be unfortunate for the innocents in that circumstance, but there is no compromise.
No exceptions.
Because some of us — in fact, most of us — are not willing to get fooled into another useless war.
Americans have only recently gotten out of the two decade Trillion dollar waste which was Afghanistan.
With all due respect — we've had it. Most Americans have had it. And as to being injured, economically or physically, for alleged personal tragedies a half a world away — none of us are falling for it.
No more.
No more "incubator babies” or "our values” or "democratic obligation” nonsense.
No more killed Americans for foreigners…no matter how saccharine is their sob story.
No matter if King Zelensky ordains it.
No matter if the "Rules-Based Order” demands it.
No matter what.
For any reason.
We're broke.
We're tired.
We're done.
Ukrainians can stay if they behave.
If they want to fight or even train to fight?
Back to Ukraine with every last one of them.
Guy Somerset writes from somewhere in America