This morning’s New York Times report on the war in Ukraine is a meditation upon the logic of war.

“Stand with you, period”

President Biden, in a passionate speech from Warsaw on Saturday, proclaimed the West’s complete support for Ukraine. “We stand with you, period,” Biden said.

“Not doing enough”

The next day, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelensky, offered a different message: He criticized the West for not doing enough. In a videotaped speech to Ukrainians, Zelensky contrasted their “determination, heroism and firmness” with the lack of courage from Western countries that had refused to send jets and tanks to Ukraine.

War of attrition

The biggest [Zelensky request] is their plea for the kind of equipment that allows a smaller army defending territory to hold off a larger, attacking army.

Because Russia has an enormous military, however, a war of attrition tends to work to its advantage,… Russia can continue to bomb Ukrainian troops and civilians and hope for eventual capitulation.

“The Russians have thousands of military vehicles, and they are coming and coming and coming,” Zelensky said.

Survival vs. wanting…to come…to Ukraine’s defense

Ukraine is fighting for survival, and its people are dying. Its leaders need to try any strategy that might plausibly help. The leaders of the U.S., E.U. and other allies genuinely want to come to Ukraine’s defense, but they are also concerned about their own economies, domestic support for their policies and the risk of nuclear war with Russia.

— excerpt the New York Times

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An excerpt from The Iliad by Homer.  This is a war-prayer, precursor to a ritual sacrifice by the Greeks, which signals the beginning of the assault upon the tall, strong walls of Troy.

‘Force Lord of Heaven,
O dark, Immortal Breath,
Hold back the night until I break
Into Hector’s body with my spear,
Fill Troy with fire,
And give his sobbings to the wind.’

— The Iliad by Homer Book 2 vs 400