At the dinner table last weekend, talk naturally turned to the topic of Ukraine. Since Russia’s February 24 full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor, most Americans have thrown their support behind Ukraine. According to a March survey from Pew Research Center, approximately one-third (32%) of Americans say the U.S. is providing the right amount of support for Ukraine, and a larger share (42%) say we should be providing even more support. Interestingly, both parties (51% of Republicans and 50% of Democrats) consider Russia’s violence a “major threat” to U.S. interests. Why?

The war is thousands of miles away, but it’s hard to ignore the images and videos coming from Ukraine. The atrocities – hospital attacks, theater bombings, sexual violence, property looting, summary executions – truly are unimaginable. Try to picture tanks rolling through Thompson Falls or Plains, crushing buildings and destroying our landscape. Imagine encountering mass graves of brutalized and tortured bodies with faces of family, friends and neighbors. Envision leaving everything behind except what can be carried, and struggling to find food and shelter every day. Difficult to picture? Indeed.

But this is Small Town, U.S.A. Beyond daily complaints about gas prices, what is our interest in one country’s attempted takeover of another halfway around the world?

First, a threat to democracy in any nation is a direct threat to every other democratic institution. If we as a nation vow “never again,” then we mean never again. We cooperate with all democratic countries and send the message that discussion, not intimidation and violence, is how we solve international issues.

Second, we must take interest in our immigration policies. As thousands of Ukraine’s nearly 5 million refugees arrive at our borders and we fast-track them in, we should ensure we are doing the same for all those seeking asylum in our country. Have we opened our towns, our schools, our hospitals and our arms to Haitians, Central Americans, Somalians, Sudanese and others in peril with the same urgency as we have Ukrainians? We have not, and that is a double standard as others waiting to enter the United States can attest.

As the war between Russia and Ukraine continues, simply changing our Facebook profile picture to blue and yellow or making posters that say “We back Ukraine” is not enough. We must check our politicians and our policies to ensure that the unimaginable we see worlds away in Ukraine is not suddenly at our doorstep.. ­— Annie Wooden