Letters: Throughout history, Ukrainians have had endless experience with war

Letters to the Editor
·2 min read
Smoke and flame rise near a military building after an apparent Russian strike in Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24, 2022. Almost a year later, Ukraine continues to resist the Russian invasion of its country.
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Ukraine suffers the tragic misfortune of being located in one of the most viciously contested regions in the entire world. People in Ukraine have had endless experience with war throughout recorded history, and doubtless before that.

They’ve never had a war that did not include the violent death of innocent civilians on a massive scale.

Motivated by religious/nationalist fantasies and perceived grievances, Vladimir Putin is launching a pointless, unprovoked war against Ukraine. The heartbreaking reality is that there is nothing we can do to stop him. But the very least we can do is to vigorously denounce any Republicans and Fox TV personalities who support Putin in this war.

Dave Coyne

Goshen

Why hurt them?

I'm writing to ask the St. Joseph County Commissioners to please reverse their decision to veto funding for the Motels4Now program. The decision was a mistake and shortsighted. It hurts the people in our community who are the most vulnerable and already hurt. Why hurt them more?

The program they vetoed funding for was approved the previous week on an 8-0 vote by our County Council. The Motels4Now program proved to be working. It proved to be an efficient, collaborative means of providing a low-barrier, housing first model of respecting and serving men, women and children most deserving of our city and county help. It was a creative and successful response to an issue that had been festering in our community for decades.

The justification that some commercial property owner was deceiving the city/county about how he used his building and collecting rent dollars from Motels4Now graduates did not justify rejecting the County Council’s unanimous vote to fund the Motels4Now program for another year.

Please reinstate the necessary and previously approved funding to support the Motels4Now program for another year. Give the workers in this program a chance to continue their work in supporting citizens whose only hope is to regain their place, respect and participation in our community. The Motels4Now program worked liked none before because there was none before.

Mike Coman

President, Monroe Park Neighborhood Association

South Bend

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: This is a pointless, unprovoked war against Ukraine.