Robert Franklin: “The War in Ukraine: A Solution Ignored.”

Interesting. A key passage:

“So, according to the usual suspects, this is the gravest of crises, one that risks WWIII but whose only acceptable solution is a peace that no one believes is possible. You figure it out; I can’t.

If that’s not enough, U.S. and European observers say that Ukraine’s main problem is a shortage of military personnel. Many Ukrainian men have been killed or disabled, many have deserted and many are resisting conscription, so Ukraine is hamstrung by a lack of combat personnel with which to forestall a catastrophe of unimaginable horror. What to do?

Well, one thing to do is (a) screamingly obvious, (b) reasonably simple and (c) completely ignored. Ukraine has plenty of warm bodies with which to prosecute its war, but is frankly ignoring them. I refer of course to Ukrainian women, many of whom are perfectly capable of shouldering a rifle and stopping a bullet. Currently, only about 65,000 women are serving, all of them having volunteered. That’s about 7% of the total active force. If the main problem is a shortage of personnel and if the survival of the nation, the absorption of Poland by Russia and WWIII are at stake, why leave half the population on the sidelines?

Clearly, the Ukrainian military brass doesn’t doubt women’s ability to serve; otherwise, what are those 65,000 women doing in uniform? And of course other countries, like the U.S. and Israel, loudly ballyhoo women’s ability to do all military jobs. And yet, neither the U.S., nor Europe, nor NATO nor Zelensky has even hinted at doing an obvious and simple thing to avert Armageddon. At the very least, putting hundreds of thousands of additional troops in the field would add hugely to our bargaining power against Putin.

And yet, complete silence, aka, just more of the same.

When Russia invaded in February of 2022, the news brimmed with stories of Ukrainian women, children and old people streaming toward Poland and military-age men streaming toward their nearest enlistment office. Not a word about women in combat, even amid the then-widely-held belief that Russia would overwhelm Ukraine in a matter of weeks or possibly even days. Feminists nowhere took to the streets demanding gender equality, rolling up their sleeves, flexing their bi-ceps and proclaiming “we can do it!”

The end of Ukraine is supposedly at stake but it doesn’t do the obvious to save itself. Strange.

Or maybe not so strange.

After all, when it comes to being slaughtered in war, women’s exemption and men’s disposability are the oldest of traditions. Human history may be a story of constant change, but not when it comes to who fights wars. The only difference between today and the time of Julius Caesar is that now we pretend to embrace gender equality, while happily turning a blind eye to it when it suits us.”

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One thought on “Robert Franklin: “The War in Ukraine: A Solution Ignored.”

  1. Of course. But the Ukraine and their horrible leader Zelensky are infected with the same double standards and bigotry against men that plague the West.

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