Who caused this war, and what to do about it?

One of the main causes of the WWII was the Versailles Treaty which closed WWI. It treated Germany poorly and Germans felt aggrieved. However, as the Wehrmacht rolled across Europe, the memory of the Versailles Treaty was lost in the ensuing carnage. Hitler’s military rampage destroyed any sympathetic alliances that he may have had.

Eventually the original causes of that war got smothered by the atrocities committed during the war and the accompanying genocidal actions. In the case of WWII that meant the Nazi holocaust.

There are many discussions about the root causes of the war in Ukraine. Here again the ferocity of war dominates the discussion. Russia originally wanted to bring Ukraine back into the Soviet fold. This has been accompanied by indiscriminate bombing of hospitals (64 attacked as of March 24 according to the WHO) schools (869 attacked and 83 destroyed as of April 5 according to the Ukraine Ministry of Education), as well as widespread bombing of residential areas.

This war in the heart of Europe has again highlighted the role of NATO. Is NATO offensive or defensive? NATO has been involved in some offensive action in the past, but what might be its defensive role here?

A few days ago, I met a Polish friend of mine. We talked about the Ukraine war. There was a line on the concrete. I said “Let us imagine the line on the ground is a boundary between Ukraine and Poland. On one side I could get shot and killed. Stepping over the line into Poland I am safe – at least for now”. If we consider NATO only as a defensive pact, I think it makes some sense. No NATO nation has ever invaded Russia. In fact, nations now within NATO have joined willingly and do not want to leave NATO. Two non-NATO nations, Sweden and Finland are now considering the benefits of being in NATO and are looking into joining it.

Of course, the USA is the overpowering presence in NATO. Also, there are nuclear weapons in NATO countries and these countries are right next to Russia, thus posing an existential threat to Russia. On the other hand, Russia is heavily armed with nuclear weapons and is right next to NATO nations. Both sides would say that they hold nuclear weapons just as a defensive measure. One hopes that the fear of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) would prevent the actual use of these weapons. When we call for the abolition of nuclear weapons (which I enthusiastically support), we need to realize that this will only happen on a bilateral basis. Neither of these two nuclear opposing factions will denuclearize if the other will not. I still look back with tearful remembrance at the meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev in Reykjavik in October 1986. They almost agreed to mutually destroy their nuclear stockpiles, but their advisors persuaded them not to do that. What a tragic missed opportunity!

NATO as a DEFENSIVE alliance makes some sense to me. I know massive amounts of funds are used to militarily arm both sides. What if offensive armaments were prohibited on both sides? Including offensive nuclear weapons? As a compromise suppose only truly defensive weapons might be allowed. After this devastating European war, would we some day be willing to legalize this?

Whatever we understand to be the causes of this war and the lessons to be learned from it, the immediate need now is to stop this war. That is why a group of demonstrators is present every day at the Russian embassy in Ottawa Canada, as the photo below shows.

Rebellious Seeker

Ottawa

Wednesday, 4 May 2022