Help, Not Hype!
"Putin sought to shake the very foundations of a free world, thinking he could make it bend to his menacing ways. But he badly miscalculated. He thought he could roll into Ukraine and the world will roll over. Instead, he met with a wall of strength he never anticipated or imagined -- he met Ukrainian people.""Our forces are not engaged and will not engage with the conflict of Russian forces in Ukraine. Our forces are not going to Europe to fight in Ukraine."U.S. President Joe Biden
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| Joe Biden spent the first 15
minutes of his State of the Union address talking about Russia's
invasion of Ukraine, an event that certainly has transfixed the world
more than the latest twists and stumbles of his domestic legislative
agenda. Pool |
Damning with faint praise. The world over, much bemusement over the sustained, indomitable will of a people to survive as proud, free and sovereign, a nation among others living in peace and security -- struggling against all odds against a powerful neighbour whose president has convinced himself he has the right of entitlement as a reborn czar to impose himself and his country's ideological values on one that has suffered too heavily for too long under its shadow.
Admiration is not far from editorial pages everywhere and expressed in glowing terms by commentators and government officials on social media. Inspiring governments that refused to listen to warning of an impending invasion to recognize how critical it is in view of a potential global impact, to give material military aid to the courageous people of Ukraine to help fend off a violent Russian military invasion that just past its first week has taken a heavy toll on civilian lives.
The Kremlin has gone to great lengths to demonstrate its values are not those of a civilized country. Led by a president whom many now believe is demented, the Genera Conventions are being treated as disposable nuisance strictures to a irredentist government that planned on a swift takeover of its neighbour only to find itself in yet another Afghanistan.
Now that harsh sanctions have been imposed by the United Kingdom, the United States, the European Union, Canada and other democratic nations, along with the ferrying of critical weaponry to assist Ukraine in its epic resolve to restrain and drive Russian forces back across the border -- defeated and demoralized, an ending that is not likely to take place -- the world instead watching in fascinated horror as the Russian war machine prevails after all, bringing the defiant nation to its knees, will there be an intervention of prevention?
Commiseration is rampant, empathetic encouragement in the very fact that Russia's deplorable push to dominate and conquer in full view, is helpful in spurring pride and hope in Ukrainian society, but given the odds of a smaller military with far less weaponry than its adversary, it surely is not enough. So is the world prepared to stand by while Moscow's stranglehold on Ukraine grows ever tighter? Less talk, and turning words into action?
Ukraine stands alone. Its president, Volodymyr Zelensky stands as a lonely, courageous figure of intense determination to lead his country and his people away from Vladimir Putin's pathogenic embrace. His statements and his actions have turned attention unwaveringly on his every comment. The Ukrainian David daring to defy the Russian Goliath.
The world finds itself in that proverbial situation between a rock and a hard place. Arrest Putin's punishing assault on Ukraine and risk confrontation with a threatening nuclear power. The alternative being to stand by haplessly while the Russian steamroller flattens Ukraine's future. At the fore of this indecision stands the world's only superpower, which is fast shedding its reputation as a power for good against evil.
A nation of repute and a steadfast willingness to enter where evil has its way. Yet in the last three administrations, from Obama to Trump to Biden, there has been a steady, puzzling withdrawal as America seems to close in upon itself. Its own citizens are ideologically divided as never before, disappointed and angry and quarreling between themselves, Democrats detesting and villainizing Republicans.
Friends and allies keenly aware that this is a different United States of America. One which, in recent history, has withdrawn from its premier position in the world order. One where it seems more prepared to negotiate with its enemies than meet in common purpose with its friends. Friends which now realize the reality of their situation; that whatever threats they may face, they can no longer place any dependence on an assurance that a friendly nation will support them.
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| A screen grab captured from video shows a view of Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant following clashes at the stie on March 4. (Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images) |
Labels: Russian Invasion, Ukraine Defence, United States
posted by Pieface @ Saturday, March 05, 2022
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