"I don't have to tell you how fragile this precious gift of freedom is. Every time we hear, watch, or read the news, we are reminded that liberty is a rare commodity in this world" — Ronald Reagan, 1983People ask me all the time. Friends, relatives ... all of them.They ask me, why is the US helping Ukraine.Why is it spending so much, to aid in a foreign war, that makes no sense.Why is Canada helping. Why is Europe helping. Why is anyone helping.I'm biased, because I am full-blooded Ukrainian. But I was born in this country, and consider myself Canadian. As Canadian as anyone else, in this day and age.I also have a heritage to honour. On June 6, it will be the 80th anniversary of D-Day.My dad's cousin, Mike Makichuk, died in the first wave of that battle on Juno Beach.I have since been to his grave at Beny-sur-Mer, in Normandy — once with my older brother Jim, and once with my good friend Ben — where I poured Canadian holy water over his grave. I was astounded by how well the graves are tended. And yes, it was a very emotional experience for me, to visit the Canadian war cemetery.To see all those crosses, all those who sacrificed.That was then, and this is now.Mr. Putin, the Mad Russian, has attacked Ukraine without any provocation. Many have died as a result, on both sides in a terrible war of attrition.By chance, my good friend and intelligence source, Mr. Wolf, is in Kharkiv this week, on a mission which I am not at liberty to divulge.He was witness to the carnage of an attack on a shopping mall, a civilian shopping mall, which was struck twice by Russian smart bombs.The estimate was 50 dead, but it might be higher, he said.Imagine, as one fellow said on Linked-In today, if terrorists had attacked a mall in the West, and killed 50 people. There would be hell to pay.I told Mr. Wolf on WhatsApp, get the heck out of there, as soon as you finish your mission.He just said, "I feel bad for the folks who have to stay here, who can't escape it."As we all do, of course..The Russians are only 20-30 km away, and well within range of missiles, rockets and drone weapons.Mr. Wolf is there, because he is paid to be there, to go on missions in dangerous countries. It's his lifeblood and he lives for it.But why are we helping? Why is anyone helping. I have friends who think we shouldn't be helping. And by we, I mean Canada, the US and NATO.First of all, let me say, because it is the right thing to do.John F. Kennedy had a saying when it came to decision-making. On any subject of concern, and there were many in the early 1960s.He said, there are always three or four solutions, put forward by advisors. The big shots who advise the president.Usually, JFK said, you can eliminate two of them, right away.One is the right way, and the other one, looks like the right way, but probably isn't.Jack was the master at decision-making, and usually got it right.Today, we are faced with several possible solutions.Do we let the Mad Russian take Eastern Ukraine and force a ceasefire? Do we keep continuing to pour billions of dollars worth of weapons to Ukraine? Do we make Ukraine a member of NATO?And, the big one, do we put boots on the ground in Ukraine? Whether that is in the rear and in non-combat roles.Remember when F-16s were considered impossible? Ukraine pilots have just finished their training, and the jets will be on Ukrainian soil any day.Ukraine is looking for safe places to put them, as I write this.Giving up land to the Mad Russian is probably not a good idea. Even though the radical Marjorie Taylor Greens of the world, would probably say this is OK.Her big joke was, "Does anyone know where Ukraine is on a map?" An ignorant thing to say, by all respects.And how do we know that Putin will stop there? Who else might he attack? It isn't a coincidence that most of Europe is now arming itself to the teeth.Do we make Ukraine a member of NATO? Or would that just escalate the current war into a new, dangerous phase?And do we continue to pour defence funds into Ukraine, or, do we just walk away and shrug off Putin's nuclear threats, say it's not our problem as some of my friends have suggested.Again, we just can't be sure what Putin will do next. And boots on the ground, is another issue entirely.Although, that could happen too. French President Emmanuel Macron has brought up the subject on more than one occasion, despite getting criticized for it. He has not backed down..I have heard all the arguments, most of them on Linked-In. Some saying it's a manufactured war, an obscure foreign war and we shouldn't be involved.Some blaming the US for it in some mad conspiracy, or NATO expansion for it — bringing the North Atlantic Treaty Organization right to Putin's doorstep.All that aside there is one thing to consider here, and one thing to take into account. And that is, freedom and democracy.The very thing you and your family are enjoying right now.To do nothing is the absolute wrong way to go. To ignore the Mad Russian and ignore Ukraine, is tantamount to cutting our own throats.There are red flags all over those options as history has taught us. Isolationism, is not the way to go.Coddling terrible dictators with power, is never a good idea. Never.US President Ronald Reagan called America, the "Shining City on a Hill."He loved the phrase, and used it over and over again, and perhaps most notably in his 1989 presidential farewell address.Believe it or not, President Donald Trump didn't like the phrase, because it "offended" President Putin. Imagine that.But Reagan knew the meaning of the "Shining City," and respected the heavy responsibility that came with it.Freedom and democracy — what you enjoy every day, when you go to work, the 7Eleven, the daycare, the grocery store — everywhere.Reagan was right — liberty is a rare commodity.This week, I rented a war movie on Apple, called The Heroes of Telemark, with Richard Harris, and an aging Kirk Douglas, whose leading lady was half his age.But that's Hollywood for you.Anyway, it was about how a bunch of British and Norwegian commandos destroyed a heavy water plant, to forestall the Nazis' nuclear program.Just one of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of sacrifices made during the Second World War, to bring peace to the world.Your world, and my world.But now, we are faced with new challenges — challenges that could affect this freedom going forward.Folks, the fact is, we have to stand up to evil, we have no choice. The Mad Russian can shake his nuclear sabre, all he wants. Let him do so.We have a nuclear sabre too, and if we decide to use it, Russia as we know it would cease to exist. And we must keep reminding them of it, front and centre.Recently, during an interview with The Guardian, Polish foreign minister Radosław Sikorski said, "The Americans have told the Russians that 'If you explode a nuke, even if it doesn't kill anybody, we will hit all your targets [positions] in Ukraine with conventional weapons ... we’ll destroy all of them.' "A credible threat, and one that we should stick to — if it is true. No wonder the Americans did it quietly.But in saying that, Reagan also said in his UN address in 1982: "Our foreign policy, as President Eisenhower once said, 'is not difficult to state. We are for peace first, last, and always for very simple reasons.' ""We know that only in a peaceful atmosphere, a peace with justice, one in which we can be confident, can America prosper ..."The US occupies no countries, is committed to self-determination, freedom, and peace — which is the very soul of America, he added."America's strength and, yes, her military power have been a force for peace, not conquest; for democracy, not despotism; for freedom, not tyranny."Reagan had it right. And supporting Ukraine is our only option. Whether we put boots on the ground, or not.Mad Vlad must be stopped. Just as the Nazis' nuclear program had to be stopped. A tough road, for sure, but we can't back down now.
