War and the Russian Winter

The Russian Winters are legendary for their impact on a war.  Invaders have in several moments of history pressed deep into Russia until defeated by the difficulty of supplies and the bitterness of the Russian Winters.  It is not surprising that the bitter cold is a weapon once again. Telling his Country the false belief that the failures of its government are a U.S. invasion through the puppet Ukraine Government, Russia has once again attacked the Ukraine. They have unleashed  a multi-faceted invasion in Donetsk sending tanks, rocket launchers and troops into the embattled region. No mind that there were a truces and ceasefires, no matter that delay after delay the scheduled peace talks have failed to materialize. Russia’s economy has suffered from Putin’s ridiculous leadership and now Ukraine must once again pay the price.

With more than 5,000 dead and thousands more wounded, the death toll does not slow Putin any more than world opinion.  The pretexts used to disguise the invasion, and deflect full blame, will disappear as soon as it is time to celebrate a victory. We saw this in play once before in the Crimea. First the green men (--) Russian troops in green outfits posing as volunteer fighters. Then, a rout of the overwhelmed brave Ukrainian Army.  Finally, a new piece of Russia will vote for independence or affiliation. Bit by bit- Putin consumes the weaker, unoffending neighbor- well, offending in the way that the people of Ukraine have decided to build a democracy.

 The sanctions have put a hole in the Russian economy. They were intended to place costs on the economy with as little pressure as possible on the average citizen- they have little voice in the decisions of the government. The average citizen can only receive the propaganda of the Russian state news agency.  We have seen that effect in the U.S., the world according to Fox News is a strange and completely fictional place. Those who digest it daily live in a fictional environment where Obama is a Great Satan and Healthcare destroys the moral fiber.

With the economy in tatters, Putin needs a victory and a diversion. A victory over a weakened ally is convenient and easy – if you don’t mind killing innocent people. A victory over democracy is important because it is an idea that is antithetical to Russian style government. Dictatorship may appear benign, but it is not, and Putin is a Dictator. By any reasoned assessment, his conduct is in violation of international law, and it costs lives every day.  The contrived rebellion in Eastern Ukraine is a provocation and the desperate efforts of a failed government.  Russia has the keys to peace, and always has. The lack of truth fouls the equation, the Russian people are also victims here.

Now once again the Russian Winter is a scene of war. The invaders are imaginary; the assault on Russia exists in the minds of Putin and a few greedy billionaires. The costs will continue to wipe out precious lives in Donetsk. The drive to advantage before settlement (--) like in the Crimea, involves taking land and boasting of Russian power.  It is ultimately just pathetic that one can so badly use such great strength and power, the faith of a great Nation,  and by such small men.

Peace or deeper war are equally at hand; there is a pattern here of Russia grabbing land before the peace talks. However having seen it before, I think the West will aid Ukraine's economy , and the sanctions are likely to increase to further punish Russia..

War, Peace...and Idiots

There is a crisis of conscience in America.  We have seen the place of innocents and children in the calculus of power in Syria, hence the rest of the world. Lifeless children, the most compelling circumstance.  It is a sobering moment when we allow ourselves to feel what humans mus-- the need to protect our children It is a choice that comes only because we have the power to act.
It does not really matter whether we send missiles of troops because the idea is to communicate an idea...that the world as we know it will not stand idle while a government slaughters innocent people who disagree, who seek a different form of freedom. It matters that we are willing to consider putting our children- our brave men and women in uniform - in harm;s way.  They understand their business is killing but it is killing provoked by an attack, self defense OR THE DEFENSE OF HELPLESS OTHERS.
So we are at a crossroad, not just for this moment but for this age, when we raise the tolerance of the world against evil. Done not for money, as the case in the fraudulent  build up to the war in Iraq, but for love of life.  The miracle we can neither create nor restore. Then there are the idiots-- the Republicans, Cruz and the scourges of Kentucky...the idiocy of shutting down the government.  There are things in the world far greater than the idiotic fixations of Tea Party fantasists, matters of survival. Yet, we are here in the company of the art of shortsighted corruption, there is evil in the world, terrorists and Republicans