An urgent plea - Stop this war now!

Hello friends,

I have just seen a podcast by Simon Smith. It is a presentation on the thesis “Territorial concessions by Ukraine would simply reward Russian crimes and aggressions”.

There are some points in it that need to be countered. Smith made the point that there is not really a territorial dispute here. I find this disingenuous. There have been longstanding disputes in the Donbas between opposing groups there. Pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian groups have been at loggerheads there for some time. It was precisely to settle these disputes that the Minsk agreements attempted to resolve.

Stop it now

 Biking tonight

            Passed through the University

                        One building caught my eye.

The biology building

            So tall and proud and sleek

                        A marvel of modern engineering

Many high-rise condos

            Along the peaceful canal

                        Where people pass their tranquil lives.

Then, a missile crashing into residences

            All is gone in a flash!

I am stunned

            Sick to my stomach,

                        Full of grief and sadness.

The shattering destruction of war

            Our fragile earth is being torn up by this madness

                        Dear God, deliver us from ourselves.

 

My mother was Finnish

Some have questioned my reference to Finland as a possible role model of what could happen in Ukraine. Let me provide you with a few more details.

There are two sides to every story

Recently 43 Ukrainian women arrived in Ottawa to be trained in parliamentary procedures. On May 9 (Victory day in Russia) they staged a demonstration at the Russian embassy. At the same time a smaller group of Russians arrived to remember the Nazi German invasion into Russia. So interestingly, two invasions were being commemorated – the German  invasion into Russia in 1941, and Russia’s invasion into Ukraine now. Things did get somewhat turbulent at times, but all that occurred were several heated shouting matches.

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.

A Short Tale of Two Wars

WWII

The Versailles peace treaty after WWI treated Germany badly.

Hitler appealed to this sense of grievance and rose to power.

One could have been sympathetic with him at the beginning, but after he began

his military rampage (in Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland...) sympathy for him dropped.

For more details see How Hitler Invaded Half of Europe (7 mins.)

Ukraine

The creation of NATO and its expansion eastward treated Russia badly.

Putin has risen to power and has appealed to Russia’s concerns about NATO.

One could have been sympathetic with him at the beginning, but after his military rampages (in Syria and Ukraine) sympathy for him has dropped.

For more details see Why Russia Wants Ukraine ( 8 mins.)

Lessons from history

Destructive foreign wars do not achieve their objectives:

Hitler in Germany
Putin in Ukraine
And USA in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan.

Against the USA in Vietnam, then; Against Russia in Ukraine, now

All empire states tend to dominate their neighbours. Russia has a long history of doing this. During WWII, Russia invaded Finland and grabbed the state of Karelia, where my mother was born. Subsequent Russian invasions include Hungary (1954), Czechoslovakia (1968) and Afghanistan (1979-89), Their methods are often brutal as seen in recent wars in Chechnya (1996-99) and Syria (2015-19). Now after Russia’s first invasion into Crimea, it is invading all of Ukraine.

A Tale of 2 Empires. Or is it 3?

We are witnessing the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Many people are saying – Why is this happening now? This is part of a pattern. Empire states tend to control smaller ones at their borders.