Letter to the Editor: The world is our neighbor

Published 8:00 am Saturday, March 22, 2025

We live in Dalton in a great neighborhood. In the summer I share my garden. My wife, who loves children, shares cookies with our young friends. Often there is a neighbor at the door offering help or with something delicious. We’ve lived here for 40-plus years and could not be happier with the experience. Dalton is a great place to live. I expect your neighborhood is just as nice.

I am well over 80 years old. I served in the Air Force and my son (is) in the Navy. I remember well World War II. When the war was over Europe recovered through the Marshall Plan. With trade and trust we have all benefited, enjoying peace with our neighbors and our old enemies alike. The U.S. Marshall Plan, the European Union and NATO are models for ensuring enduring relationships.

Can you imagine someone taking my garden, fencing it and placing a vicious pit bulldog to keep me out? There is a war between Russia and Ukraine that resulted when Russia invaded Ukraine three years ago. Russia has killed more than 1 million Ukrainians and systematically destroyed the Donbas (Donetsk Oblast) that was once the most populous area of Ukraine.

Russia has taken civilians hostage, adults and children, and occupied the Donbas that is rich in iron and coal and rare earths. Russia for years has envied the Steppes of Ukraine for its great wheat growing capacity. Of course, peace is a desirable endpoint, but not to be negotiated between our previous adversary Russia and the U.S. with Ukraine being ignored and disrespected. Our government is now bullying and coercing in a manner not unlike blackmail to make Ukraine accept terms negotiated principally by Russia and the U.S.

I have traveled in Ukraine and Russia. I have studied the history of both countries and kept up with the relationship between the two over the years. Ukrainians are peaceful. Historically, relations between Russia and Ukraine have been difficult at times, but it has always been the Russian aggressor taking from the smaller neighbor Ukraine.

You are aware that the U.S. policy toward Europe in recent weeks has taken a nosedive. We are isolating our country as we place tariffs on our friends. It has been free trade and mutual respect that has kept the peace and the very life for which we are grateful. What does the future hold if this continues?

Peace is what we all desire but not at the cost of giving support to our arch enemy Russia. It is Russia who has been the predator. Under every international code and moral obligation, the integrity of Ukraine’s borders must be respected. Our country is coercing and bullying Ukraine to accept its loss for peace. “The Prize is the Garden” … the wheat fields and the Donbas. Is the world not our neighborhood. For purposes of illustration only, it is like one of my neighbors taking my garden. Would I not have every right to bring pressure to recover my garden?

The current presidential administration has recently exploded a sense of outrageous attempts to divert our attention from the main two issues:

1. Loss of support and respect for our overseas neighbors, especially Europe and Ukraine.
2. Respect for the rule of law.

If you agree with my position, contact our representatives in Washington and use every possible influence to halt this senseless disregard for what has taken us 80 years to build. Our Constitution begins with “We the people.” We are the people and we must speak up and demand that we not destroy what has been accomplished over our lifetime. It is for our children and for those who have given their lives to secure our republic.

Drayton Sanders 

Dalton