U.S. fingerprints all over Ukraine war

To the Editor:

After two months of war in Ukraine, we can draw some conclusions. The wisest U.S. diplomats have said for years that expanding NATO is unnecessary, reckless and provocative. Instead of seeing this as a warning, whoever has been running our country saw it as a blueprint. They apparently thought, “You mean all we have to do is expand NATO, put troops and missiles on Russia's border and they will invade Ukraine? Sounds like a plan.”

And so it went. After the Russian intervention to protect Russian leaning people in Donbas from Ukrainian attack, the recriminations flowed. Aggression is always wrong. One thought is that Russia should have pursued diplomatic solutions. Perhaps their December 2021 draft treaty proposal was just such an initiative. It has also been noted that Russia has been negotiating with the West (i.e. U.S.) for 20 years, all to no avail. Given U.S. intransigence against negotiations before and during the war, is it wrong to ask what alternative Russia had? The debate continues.

When hostilities broke out, the U.S. response was not to initiate diplomacy but to provide weapons to Ukraine, so far costing over $40 billion. Given the developments on the battlefield, this apparently isn't even enough to create a quagmire. And now we learn that mercenary organizations, undoubtedly Pentagon funded and composed of former U.S. soldiers, are fighting with the Ukrainians. Mercenary boots, American feet. This does not bode well.

The U.S. wanted, planned and provoked this war, is acting to continue it and refuses to allow the diplomatic solution apparently agreed upon between Russia and Ukraine. This is a U.S. war. Ending it peacefully is the responsibility of the U.S.

Phil Nichols Sonora