Letters to the Editor: Biden has finally freed Ukraine to defend itself. Too little, too late

To the editor: President Biden is proverbially a day late and a dollar short in authorizing Ukraine to launch U.S.-supplied missiles into Russia.

Why now? A year ago or six months ago, this would have changed the course of the war. I understand the need for proportional responses since Russia invaded, but Ukraine has been fighting with one hand tied behind its back since the beginning.

These delays only reinforce the image of the United States as a losing ally. Iraq and Afghanistan are suffering from our poorly executed withdrawals after years of sacrifice by their people and by our soldiers. Vietnam was abandoned to the communists in the 1970s. Soldiers, translators and women who committed themselves to us were left to grim consequences.

Biden’s war calculus is consistent with generations of American presidents whose low-risk, low-return strategies have created a more dangerous world. The lesson from this is that trusting U.S. politicians can yield the opposite of our desired long-term outcome.

Raymond Roth, Oceanside