Tag Archives: war

Culture, History, Left, Political

Vladimir Putin – a vandal and barbarian after all

Vladimir Putin had reasonable issues regarding Russia’s security – the same America had at the time of the Cuban missile crisis in 1962. John Mearsheimer, to whom I referred in previous comments, outlined a background – NATO’s eastward movement – for Putin’s concerns about security in his video, Why is Ukraine the West’s Fault? I found his case compelling.

A second reason I had sympathy for Putin’s position was his projection of a Burkean conservatism in speeches that invoked Russia’s rich history, traditions and culture. But the idea that Putin espoused a Burkean conservatism was a chimera – a chimera destroyed by a brutal invasion that has since degenerated into barbarism and vandalism.

Putin’s invasion of Ukraine shows he cannot be trusted and that his nationalism is similar to that of Hitler’s or Mussolini’s, both driven by a warped vision of their history. Their form of nationalism must destroy the sympathy of those who think history, tradition, and custom, circumscribed by the natural law, are of fundamental importance to a healthy nation. Nothing can excuse the indiscriminate pulverising of Ukraine’s cities.

The best outcome now for Putin is a Pyrrhic victory, the worst, total defeat. One must have not only sympathy for the people of Ukraine, but also for the Russian people, most of whom clearly did not want a war with the people of Ukraine and who regard the Ukrainians as brothers and sisters.

Culture, History, Left, Media, Politics

Hyping for a needless war

The numskulls in NATO and the US keep at it

It’s embarrassing to listen to the puerile belligerence of NATO and the US. The clear impression is that the Americans are angling for a war with their constant repetition of the ‘threat of a Russian invasion’ of Ukraine.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken is furiously pounding the biggest drums of war in decades. He’s like a gang leader daring his adolescent enemies to take him on. All the while Russia is saying that they have no intention of invading Ukraine. It’s just a lot of hysteria on the part of American and its European allies. All Russia wants is her security guaranteed by not having NATO and US missiles placed on their borders.

What part of the Monroe doctrine do the Americans not understand? What part of the Kennedy Cuban principle don’t they understand? I remember the Cuban missile crisis as if it was yesterday. Kennedy was prepared to go to war over the Soviet placement of missiles on Cuban territory. The world shuddered and then breathed a sigh of relief when Krushchev turned the ships around. Why not the same application for Russia with missiles able to reach Moscow within minutes from Ukraine?

And do Biden and the other numskulls in the EU think they will solve anything by threatening to crush Russia? Have they not heard that pushed into corner that threatens their very being, a country will come out all guns blazing? One despairs over the West. Have Edmund Burke and his principle of prudence been completely forgotten? Indeed, Putin sounds more Burkean with his talk about the prescriptive nature of custom and tradition, the balance of power, and historical antecedence.

I provided a link to Professor John Mearsheimer’s analysis of the Ukraine problem Why is Ukraine the West’s Fault? in previous posts. It has had nearly two million views on youtube. Yet I hear nobody – not in Australia or overseas – answer the details of Mearsheimer’s case against the West. The news reporting is particularly ignorant and superficial in Australia. It’s as if the reporting on Russia and Ukraine has been handed to cub reporters who can do nothing but reel off the narrative of the Cold War years.

If Russia does end up invading Ukraine they must know they will look like people nobody could trust, but their case will remain valid. On the other hand, I wonder what the response will be if Russia does not invade Ukraine. The conclusions will be more devastating for the US and NATO – that they are a bunch of clowns who don’t know what they are doing.

NOTE: I posted most of the above in the comments section of an article on the ‘Russian threat’ in the Australian newspaper. I ended the comment with, ‘Now print this if you dare.’ The comments editor didn’t dare. He (or was it a she?) knocked it back, as is usually the case with my comments. My comments stray too far from the Australian‘s allowable range.