Of all the threats to those suffering, one of the most frightening is that we tire – and their plight becomes background noise
Cast your mind back to early 2022, more than two years ago now. Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine was such a shock, such a break with decades of political consensus, that it was treated as an act of aggression that could not for one moment be accepted or made peace with, only urgently rebuffed. Condemnations, lamentations and pledges of support, both for Ukraine’s military effort and its displaced people, all signified the same thing – this was an aberration that would not be allowed to pass.
But pass it did. Russia has since suffered heavy losses and the war is referred to now as a “quagmire” for Putin, but pass it did. US arms support is dwindling, and a sizeable aid package has been stuck, blocked by partisan mischief, in the House of Representatives for months now. Just as striking is how the invasion has become relegated from high news and politics to another item jostling for attention, sympathy and outrage. An obscene banality of war is that if it goes on long enough, life will rearrange around it.
