It was hard to read the article by Mike Whitney from February 11, 2022, talking about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It’s hard because in the article he was treading between truth and falsity, between fiction and reality, without ever mentioning the main subject, the people of Ukraine.
It is obvious he does not like the USA foreign policy, neither do I.
The USA foreign policy has little to do with either party in the USA but seems to be engraved in the fabric of the State Department and military complex.
It is an appalling policy, which has seen untold suffering around the world, and little good.
However, this is not a mathematical formula, two negatives do not make positive.
The fact is, that although Russia has not toppled governments or invited countries on the scale of the USA, this is not their first invasion.
Russia invaded Ukraine on March 18, 2014, and annexed Crimea.
They have also been involved in armed conflicts in Chechnya, Georgia, and Syria, and have exercised political influence elsewhere.
Those, who are making excuses on behalf of Putin and Russia have listed a few main justifications for Russia’s invasion.
To protect Russians in Ukraine, especially in the border areas next to Russia, creation of a Buffer zone against NATO, NATO expansion politics, pending inclusion of Ukraine in NATO and Nord Stream pipeline.
None of these stands up to scrutiny.
1. Russians in Ukraine. There has been no persecution of Russians in Ukraine, not now not in the past decades.
If it still would be a legitimate reason for Russia to invade, just because there is a large group of Russian descent there, then Hitler’s annexation of Austria and parts of Czechoslovakia were perfectly fine.
Germany and Italy can now annex Austria, France can enter into Swiss, Germany, and Belgium. Holland and Belgium should inhale each other, and so can be said about almost any land-based borders in the world.
Soon Mexico can annex parts of California, Texas, and a few other states.
Just because a minority of people from another country or with ties to another country live somewhere does not make it right to invade and annex that area.
If it would be, Canada would have taken over Florida.
Again, in the case of Ukraine, there is no evidence of the oppression of the Russian minority.
The current President of Ukraine is Russian-speaking as so many Ukrainians and he has used it aptly in his speeches oriented to the Russian people.
2. Creating a buffer zone against NATO. NATO has not invaded any country.
The reason for NATO to be created was to deter further expansion of the USSR into Western Europe.
The USSR had taken over the whole Eastern block and frequently interfered in internal politics and policies in these countries. Notably East Germany, Hungary, and Czechoslovakia. Much has been written about each of these crises elsewhere.
After the fall of the Berlin Wall, the disintegration of the USSR, and the democratization of nearly all of the Eastern Block, the purpose of NATO changed dramatically.
Instead of being first and foremost a military alliance, it became an organization of Trade and Economic Development and Cooperation.
The weak economic state of East Europe caused most of the former communist block to request to become a member of NATO. Albania entered 2009, Croatia 2009, Czech Republic 1999, Estonia 2004, Hungary 1999, Latvia 2004, Lithuania 2004, Montenegro 2017, North Macedonia 2020, Poland 1999, Romania 2004, Slovakia 2004, and Slovenia 2004.
As can be observed on this list, 1999 and 2004 mark the years most countries joined the organization.
Also, it may be observed that Ukraine is nowhere to be seen on the list.
Neither Montenegro nor North Macedonia has borders with Russia.
The main point here is NATO did not expand into these countries.
These countries, as free, sovereign and independent countries, applied to NATO for membership, which was granted.
3. As mentioned above, NATO has no expansion policy.
NATO simply responded to requests from different countries asking to become a part of the Economic zone that NATO is.
Just as the other 13 countries, Ukraine is a free, sovereign and independent country.
They can join any organization they like and become economically beneficial for their people.
If they join because of fear of Russia, then even more reason to let them in.
However, NATO has not, as already stated, an aggressive military policy against any country.
They were founded as a defensive pact and defense is what they are about when it comes to a military operation.
4. Nord Stream pipeline. The gas pipeline built from Russia to Germany to supply natural gas to Europe was built as a mutually beneficial enterprise between European Union and Russia.
To imply that this pipeline is the reason Russia invaded Ukraine because the US does not agree with the EU purchasing gas from Russia while at the same time they are purchasing oil from them is beyond any logic.
It would mean the US has the power to direct Russia towards Ukraine and make them declare war and then actually go ahead with it. It would also mean that Ukraine was chosen by the US to be invaded and that the US will have some long-term benefit from this war.
The fact is Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 when Putin annexed Crimea.
Since then, it has been quite obvious Crimea was not enough for him.
It would be interesting to know if Putin spoke about his plans in his private meetings with Trump.
Since there are no records of these meetings, we will probably never know, but somehow it would not surprise me if he did, and even that they reached an agreement on it.
Trump to pave the ground by destroying NATO and then Putin to take whatever he’d like.
The plan did not work (if this was the plan). NATO is still there and all nations are supporting Ukraine, although they are treading perilous water not to provoke a nuclear attack from Russia, which Putin has mentioned he can do.
The reality is, Russia invaded Ukraine, maliciously and unprovoked.
They did so in 2014 and now again in 2022.
However, as mentioned, Ukraine is not the only theater of war for Russia.
They have been practicing, just like Nazi Germany did before entering Austria and Czechoslovakia.
While Hitler practiced in Spain, aiding Franco and his Falangists in the Civil war by, for example, destroying Guernica- a Basque town on April 26, 1937, made famous by Picasso when he painted a mural for the World Fair in Paris that same year, depicting the horrors of that faithful morning, Putin practiced on cities like Grozny in Chechnya, and Aleppo in Syria.
All this says nothing about the suffering of the citizens of Ukraine. They are the ones bearing the brunt of the war, the heavy burden, as citizens do in every war. It is hard to find a “just” war. When we scrutinize the reasons for every war, in most cases the motive is megalomania and greed.
Maybe, we can say the US civil war was just since the motive was to abolish slavery.
However, if both sides had common sense, the South would have abolished slavery without the war.
It seems to be very simple if everyone always told the truth, and if everyone always had the well-being of humanity as a guiding principle, there would be no war.
And while this utopian reality is not here, it is up to us, the average citizen, to hold our leaders responsible through democratic processes when possible and by other means when it is not.
It is up to us to stand up for those who cannot, to remind our leaders which values we hold dear and where we like to be in the future as people, as humanity.
Because there will always be people who like nothing more than show discord and take advantage of the vulnerable.
President Dwight Eisenhower warned us about it in his farewell speech on January 17, 1961.
Although he was referring to the USA, his words are just as relevant for every country around the globe.
“Now this conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience.
The total influence—economic, political, even spiritual—is felt in every city, every Statehouse, every office of the Federal government.
We recognize the imperative need for this development.
Yet, we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications.
Our toil, resources, and livelihood are all involved. So is the very structure of our society.”
And he continues, “In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex.
The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.
We must never let the weight of this combination endanger our liberties or democratic processes. We should take nothing for granted.
Only an alert and knowledgeable citizenry can compel the proper meshing of the huge industrial and military machinery of defense with our peaceful methods and goals, so that security and liberty may prosper together (underline is mine).”
