RANT: CANADA, THE MOUSE THAT DOESN'T ROAR

 

IT MUST BE SAID that we knew this would happen, eventually. Or we should have known. Or we would have known if we’d just listened to voices of reason.

 

                  Traffic jams: People fleeing Kyiv, Ukraine, Thursday, Feb. 24/22

I THOUGHT I WOULD PROVIDE A LINK to a short article by Chris Hedges, published February 24/22, in the online publication SHEERPOST, that provides some context for the recent, terrible fighting that has erupted in Ukraine. Chris gives us a historical overview to the geopolitical forces that were, and are, at play, and how last week’s invasion by Russia of its neighbour could have been avoided.

IN SIMPLE TERMS, if the United States and its original partners in NATO (The North Atlantic Treaty Organization) had kept their promise not to extend the military alliance eastward past the newly united Germany, in the early 1990s after the fall of the Soviet Union, the bloodshed and violence we’re witnessing today in that shattered country could have been avoided. But we didn’t stick to our agreement—we reneged—and so, here we are. THERE ARE OTHER FACTORS but that's the main sticking point as far as Moscow is concerned.* Things might have been a whole lot different if greed and hubris hadn't led us into such folly. But make no mistake: What Russia is doing is wrong and against international law, and the United Nations' charter. At the same time I can understand Russia's reasons for invading. I hope it's over quickly with the minimal loss of life. War! What is it Good For? Absolutely Nuthin'!

 

I ALSO INCLUDE A LINK to a January 20/22 Yves Engler post which provides a Canadian perspective. In his article, Yves points to a PEW research poll, conducted last June, that found 22% of Canadians think our country should withdraw from NATO, which is more than I expected. Yves also notes that all the major political parties in Canada officially support NATO membership, including the NDP (though there are some dissenting voices in the party). Yves also has several posts on the recent  events in Ukraine here, and here, and here that are helpful to understand what is going on over there.

AND AGAIN I ASK: Do Canadians want to see Canadian soldiers fighting Russian soldiers, and dying in the fields and cities of Ukraine? We need to think long and hard about our foreign policy, and decide whether its time to put our resources and talents toward addressing our own very significant problems right here at home. 

NATO has served its purpose; the USSR no longer exists. It went away thirty years ago. Why is NATO still around?

 

Cheers, Jake.

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*And Ukraine as part of NATO, with the potential for  heavy armaments, possibly even nukes, being deployed on the border they share is unacceptable to Russia, a country, it should be remembered, that has been invaded twice during the last century, each time incurring the loss of tens of millions of Russians and untold damage to its infrastructure. (How would Canada like it if the United States deployed its weapons and missiles along our common borders, all of them pointed at us?)