War

It is said, and with good reason, that truth is the first casualty of war. Here is a report from the New York Times. Russia’s military casualties, the officials said, are approaching 300,000. The number includes as many as 120,000 deaths and 170,000 to 180,000 injured troops. The Russian numbers dwarf the Ukrainian figures, which the officials put at close to 70,000 killed and 100,000 to 120,000 wounded. Many will read this and say that Ukraine is winning. This is reminiscent of the Vietnam War where daily casualty reports were published showing that for every US soldier killed there were ten Vietcong killed. Somehow in the minds of the American people this was looked upon as good news. US troops were in Vietnam for 8 years and 58,000 died. So far in just two years 70,000 Ukrainians have died. The Vietnam War finally ended in a negotiated settlement that could have been achieved years earlier. Will the world have to wait many more years to get a settlement in Ukraine.