An Aug. 29 letter to the editor in the Gazette asks, “What is the common denominator of both of these awful areas of destruction and carnage?” [“Gaza and Ukraine — stop both wars now”]. American weapons, says the writer. Correct. But he overlooks the vast differences between the two.

In Gaza, Israel has killed more than 40,000 people, mostly civilians, the majority of them women and children, in retaliation for the Oct. 7 massacre that killed 695 Israeli civilians, along with 500 others. And that massacre was a (horrifying) reaction against years of oppression. Israel has also blocked food and medical supplies going into Gaza, where people are starving.

In Ukraine, a dictator, Vladimir Putin, ordered an unprovoked invasion of his smaller democratic neighbor, which he had previously announced should be part of Russia. Forcing Israel to negotiate by withholding aid might stop a genocide; forcing Ukraine to “negotiate” would probably mean that it would cease to exist.

The overwhelming majority of Ukrainians feel that being a subject of Putin’s Russia is the worst fate they could imagine. They fight on.

All weapons and all wars are not evil. If no American weapons had been used in World War II and we did not enter the war, which is what the “America First” movement wanted at the time, most of the world — and perhaps the United States — would be under fascist rule.

And yes, “America First” is also a slogan of that admirer of Putin, Donald Trump, who would certainly stop all aid to Ukraine. What a coincidence!

David Ball

Northampton