Dear Editor,
War - is that the only solution?
A few days ago, I posted on my Facebook page about my confusion on the desire of the Democrats to begin a war with Russia . . . and I find today that their desires are only getting stronger. SMH. Add to that the PM of England talking about forming a "coalition of the willing" to put boots on the ground and planes in the air. Such easy words to say . . . especially if they won't be his boots.
I think one of the things to blame for this relatively cavalier attitude about war is that we've forgotten what total global war looks like. We have lots of little hot spots, but we've not seen a global war since 1945. It's made us complacent. All the while the fragile peace that has held the world together since then has steadily become frayed until we have the major global players at the edges of a conflict that could ignite in a heartbeat. Most living people have not experienced the devastation of WWII. I remember clearly one experience I had with a survivor.
Years ago, in a course I facilitated, I sat on the floor with a woman as she sobbed her heart out. She was older and the purpose of the particular exercise she was involved in was to recall, relive and understand what her most traumatic experience had done to her and the way she saw the world. The experience she shared was sitting in a park as a girl . . . outside of Dresden, Germany as the allies fire-bombed the city into ash and coals. She was around 9 at the time. That . . . that is what we are flirting with.
For 13 years I was part of a Tac Fighter Wing whose job was to defend the Fulda Gap against Russian tanks. Of course, there was an acknowledgement that chemical and nuclear warfare would be part of the mix. You've not lived until you've spent days in MOPP gear and working through nuclear shelter exercises while fueling and rearming fighters while their engines are still cranking.
Taking a lot of words to say that there is tremendous value in getting all parties around a table and seeing if these events can be avoided. We have no idea what Russia is willing to put on the table to stop this nonsense - they've lost a million soldiers . . . a million. There might be some give there.
Unfortunately, with Zelenskyy - with total military and civilian casualties being around 150,000 - he seems uninterested in talking to anyone at all unless it involves when the next shipment of arms is arriving and when he will receive his next check. The British PM is willing to push in all his chips - men, aircraft as well as those of "the willing". Shockingly . . . the Democrats seem to be all in on Zelenskyy's approach as well . . . they seem to have no interest in the parties gathering around a table to see what is possible.
The only man on the face of the earth willing to at least talk is Trump. And for that he is ridiculed and condemned as an ally of Putin. Really?? That old song one more time??? Has no one read the Durham report??? Of course not . . . so the Russia, Russia, Russia "dice" get yet another roll.
Let me say this . . . war is to be avoided. Nuclear war will mean the end of civilization - period. (Annie Jacobson - Nuclear War: A Scenario). This is NOT about Trump . . . this is about your families, your children, your grandchildren . . . and the possibility of things going wildly out of hand because no one is willing to sit around the table for a few hours to see if there are alternatives available.
And, if we do sit around the table . . . and the only solution reached is . . . WAR . . . then war it is . . . but at least we can all be satisfied that we gave it a shot as we bury our sons, daughters, family and friends . . . just sayin' . . .
Respectfully,
Bill Keller
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The question I ask is, how much of America are WE willing to give up to prevent war. Texas, Rhode Island, Florida? Depending on your political leaning you could probably pick a state you wouldn't miss.
What about mineral rights. Are we good with China drilling for oil in Texas maybe Russia can drill in Oklahoma.
It's easy when it's not your nation or flag that the bleeding is happening under.
I think the real question is why is Ukraine supposed to sit back and let other countries negotiate their peace. I know I'd rather fight than watch others loot my country.
Every win for Russia, even if it is a little land, is also a win for China and North Korea.
God bless those who have fought, those who will fight, and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice for their country and the better good, no matter what flag it was under.
Everyone knew each event could be real or just a drill. We never knew which for the first few hours each time.
The Democrats and a few Republicans do seem to be hell bent on pushing us towards war. They are in fact fools. They have no idea what the results of war could place on their doorstep.
When I was in West Germany, we knew we were protecting NATO and democracy. Ukraine is far from a free country. They suspended free elections, shut down churches and their government is known for corruption and limiting the freedoms of it's citizens.
Biden began pushing for Ukraine to join NATO. This is something Russia would never allow to happen because of the threat a NATO country posed to them on their doorstep. Would we allow China to include Mexico or Canada into an alliance against us? I would hope not. Yet this is what Biden was pushing for Ukraine. I'd love to see the corruption exposed that Biden got paid for pushing that. I'm confident some of the hundreds of billions in US Dollars we gave Ukraine came back to alot of corrupt politicians. I hope every single one of them is prosecuted.
Russia doesn't get a pass with me either. Putin is a dictator. Zelinski is also a dictator. We never should have given Ukraine M-1 Abrams or Bradley Fighting Vehicles when their armor was still classified. It didn't stop there either. The involvement by our country has been horrendously mismanaged with very little accountability placed on any of it. Then for Zelinski to start placing more demands with very little appreciation for what he has gotten, I find to be offensive and disrespectful. There have been alot of miscalculations made by both sides and everyone involved. This is a conflict that should have never happened and likely did not need to occur had we a stronger foreign policy and a competent US President.
In 1994, Russia, the United States, and the United Kingdom made 2 promises to Ukraine in exchange for disarming: they would not attack Ukraine and they would protect Ukraine. UK & US have, so far, named to keep half of those promises. Russia... not so much.
Putin's propaganda machine is working overtime. "They want to join NATO!" Latvia, Estonia, and now Finland, comprise a large part of Russia's western border as NATO members. "It's in the treaty NATO wouldn't expand east!" No, it isn't - the 3 countries I named joined after 2000. "Zelensky doesn't want peace!" No - he doesn't want to surrender. "Ukraine is corrupt!" The guy kicked out in 2014 and currently convicted in absentia and living in exile in... Russia, was aided by the Mango Moron's buttmonkey Paul Manafort. And let's not forget that the first impeachment was due to attempted extortion of Zelensky to defame Biden ahead of the 2020 campaigns - given that the Mamgo Moron is a petty and vindictive little man, I suspect that had more to do with Friday's circus than anything. "Zelensky is a dictator!" No - he's the duly-elected President of a country that is constitutionally prevented from holding elections while at war. "Zelensky isn't grateful!" He started Friday's meeting with a thank you - Mango Moron isn't royalty requiring his ring be kissed. (Just a smidgen of research that doesn't involve talking heads on TV, random podcasts, or memes on Facebook will show I'm right)
If the Mango Moron wants peace, and he isn't, as we suspect, thoroughly and completely compromised by Putin, he will negotiate in good faith - demanding that the country under attack capitulate is hardly "good faith" by any stretch of the definition.
I don't understand, with what information, why you think Democrats want war. It was Putin that started this war. We (Democrats) have been perfectly content with helping Ukraine defend its country, without actually sending our military into that war. We don't want the war that Putin started. But, since he did, we are going to help, keep him from taking over the country. We (learned) from the mistake that The Soviet Union made, back in 1939. As for talks to end the war, that was done. Representatives from Russia, two other European countries, along with Vance and Rubio, met to form the deal that Ukraine was being forced to sign, last Friday. If a peace deal takes place between two countries at war, doesn't it seem logical that those two countries should be a part of those talks? Ukraine didn't get that opportunity, even though a deal was made. Ukraine doesn't owe us anything. We don't change the rules, half way through the game.
Yes, Democrats want this war to end. But, with Ukraine getting their whole country back.
The seeds of WWII were sown within the Treaty of Versailles. Alsace and Lorraine were lost to Germany along with their 8 million inhabitants. Western Prussia was given to Poland. And they were required to pay 20 billion in gold marks for reparations to France. They lost most of their mining and agricultural production. Their colonies were confiscated, and the military was gutted. This level of punishment impoverished Germany and was the catalyst of Germany’s desire for revenge. Hitler simply used his oratory skills to take advantage of the existing discontent. You might note the US’s choice at the end of WWII was to implement the Marshall Plan enabling Germany to rebuild and supporting the recovery of the German people. Something like that may well have served the world better at the end of WWI.
As for blaming Ukraine for the current situation – I think there’s plenty of blame to go around with the signals the west has been sending Russia. With the dissolution of the USSR, NATO and it’s allies assured they would not press westward boy adding any of those countries that were separating from the USSR. And yet we have continued to do exactly that. Nor have we confronted Russia as they began to push east. Bush didn’t resist the annexation of Georgia. Obama told Putin he’d have more “flexibility” after the election . . . and sure enough he approved the Uranium One deal selling a significant portion of our uranium reserves to Russia. Then followed the annexation of the Crimea by Russia with nary a peep out of Obama. So, Obama and Secretary Clinton can make deals with Russia . . . but Trump can’t?? Follow this with Biden killing the XL pipeline and doing his best to reduce oil drilling driving up the cost of oil almost 3 times in price providing Russia and Iran with hundreds of billions of dollars in sales of their oil funding the Ukrainian war and Iran’s nuclear development. And finally, Germany is buying hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of oil from Russia while condemning the war in Ukraine.
One additional bone I would also like to pick . . . the Ukraine and only seem to be able to account for about half of the 400 Billion in tax dollars we have sent them. And they've used billions of dollars of ammunition and lost billions of dollars of weapons platforms. Is there any value in giving these weapons and their munitions to folks this inept?? And corrupt? I'm personally pretty clear on my answer - NO!
Nothing happens in a vacuum and there is context for everything. Trump’s primary goal is to stop the killing. Period. What will it take?? No one knows until negotiations are held. But you do not go into any negotiations with iron clad demands – which is what the Democrats are demanding. Everything must be returned to Ukraine!!! Does that include Crimea?? Are there limits on Ukraine joining NATO?
And this doesn’t begin to address Britain's PM Keir Starmer who appears ready to put boots on the ground and planes in the air. If they are attacked in return, does that pull the US into war? How about France’s President Macron who proudly stated that his country's 29 nuclear weapons can be use as “shield” over Europe. Putin quickly mocked him saying perhaps Russia’s 6,000 nukes and their hypersonic missiles could handle said 29 nukes. This . . . this right here is exactly how WWI began - a series of interlocking treaties that required parties to commit military and come to the aid of their treaty partners. We are sitting right on that knife point.
As rhetoric builds, the risks of a broad scale European war grows. I am simply curious why this is preferable to having Trump gather the players around a table to see if there is an alternative to killing 10s of millions of people. It was OK for Bush to chat with Putin. It was OK for Obama to chat with Putin. It was OK for Hillary to chat with Putin. But Trump?? That seems to be a hard no, driven to the false narrative that he's a Putin operative of some kind. Lies that were fully debunked by the Durham report. And yes, the Democrat party already knows what is acceptable to them – there seems to be no flexibility. For example, getting their territory back – that is never going to happen BTW. So, what else is acceptable to them so the fighting can stop. The alternative is unimaginable . . . we need to find what is tolerable. And all parties need to cool the rhetoric to create a space to stop the killing. Again, the Democrats seem to have no intention of doing that. They only seem interested in hammering on Trump and preventing any serious discussions between the Administration and Russia. Which means they prefer war . . . and they may well get their wish.
Germany and WWII- Hitler started his campaign to be Chancellor of Germany, in February of 1920. He organized a new political party called National Socialist German Workers Party. He had all of his goons on constant tour around the country, going to bars, nightclubs and events, spreading the fake platform that would eventually lead to Van Hindenburg to appoint him Chancellor in 1933. He knew exactly what he was going to do to all of Europe, when that fake party was founded. Once he was firmly in place, he unleashed the real Nazi Party on the citizens. The Riechatag Fire was planned many years before. Hitler didn't just stumble upon conquering Europe, on a whim.
For those of you that play in the "grey area" of life, you sure do put a black or white label on Democrats. We can defend the rights of the Ukrainian People, and still want this ridiculous war to end. There has never been any concrete talks about Ukraine joining NATO. It's just been an idea, that your people take as a done deal. Ukraine keeping it's sovereignty is what we want. It's Putin that wants more. If Putin is allowed to have more land, than just Crimea, then the whole continent will be under siege. If Trump pulls us out of NATO, Europe will start looking like 1940 once again. Also, there hasn't been any hard plans for what British boots on the ground means. If that is ever announced, it can start to be examined for the possible effects it might have. Until then, any argument is hypothetical.
Second: the Uranium One sale took place long before the Crimea invasion. It was investigated by the FBI, it was investigated by Mango Moron's DOJ, nothing improper was found. Perhaps your talking heads on Fox and Newsmax and wherever else isn't the most reliable source of information.
Third: Obama's flexibility. The objections to Obama's dealings with Russia were because certain right-of-center politicians claimed it made us look weak, that we were soft on Russia - if only McCain, Pence, Romney, Boehner, and John Bolton could see us now - I can't find a single suggestion that Obama personally benefited. The accusations that Hillary benefited personally from Uranium One were deafening, despite several investigations that showed otherwise, coming from the Mango Moron's Cricket Chorus.
Fourth: Mango Moron pulled us out of Afghanistan by effectively capitulating to the Taliban, without the involvement of the de facto Afghanistan government. He approached this war by A) meeting Putin first B) calling Zelensky a dictator and C) stating Ukraine started the war. This does not speak well to the US's traditional role as defender of world democracies, let alone it's tradition of having leaders on the world stage that aren't morons.
Five: Once again right-wingnut taking heads are not the best source of information: the US pumped more oil every year under Biden than ever under any other president. Keystone XL was not ever going to pump one single drop of oil pumped from US oil fields, it was not going to pump oil that would be used to produce a single drop of gasoline for the US market - it was for Canadian oil sands that would be refined in the US, maybe, before being shipped to China.
Six: We import oil in 2024-2025 from Canada(!), Mexico(!), Saudi Arabia, Iraq, and Brazil - which one of those is close to Russia?
Seven: I don't think you'll find anyone that denies that the treatment of Germany after WWI was a mistake and directly to WWII. Before recently, I would have guaranteed that you wouldn't find anyone that would say "Yeah... yeah... France and the allies obviously started WWII - carry on there, Germany".