I wonder if the Ukrainians have thought of receiving F-16s and hiring people to fly them. Probably a good number of willing pilots are out there to help them out.

The United States should give the Ukrainians all those A-10s they are planning to retire and a few hundred Apache Longbow AH-64 gunships. We have been using all these things, and a number of other things to do shock and awe. The Russians planned for that (well, sort of, or so they — and we — thought) but the planning did not go well, and the execution was much much worse.

Now, it appears, the Russians are throwing in another 100,000 bodies for their meat-grinder tactics. I do wonder when Putin’s madness will end and how many souls will then be alive (and not injured) in his army. The loss of Crimea soon will be the final nail in Putin’s coffin. Then what, will the Russians pick up and go home, back to the 1991 internationally recognized state boundaries for Ukraine?

Who knows, but things seem to be coming to a bit of an interesting point in the history of this war. Maybe the news from Ukraine will continue to be improving for the Ukrainians.

Bill Laffen

Umatilla

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