PS What can you do personally? Keep in touch with your elected representatives. Support military and humanitarian assistance. Make your views known. Write a letter to the editor. Share this post widely. Fly a Ukrainian flag. Put a sticker on your computer.
Buy and wear Ukrainian merch. In great causes, small gestures matter. If you want to keep Ukrainian soldiers alive; here is a way to keep Ukrainians warm during winter; documenting Ukraine, a project that supports those in Ukraine who are chronicling the war-- To reach links to donate, first go to Snyder's newsletter and scroll down to his PS, where you will find the links underlined.
This is indeed a world threatening situation akin to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The great exception is that Russia has already pulled the trigger. Russia must relent/fail/give up /withdraw, or this will be the end of civilization as we know it We, as a group of nations must prevail, with Ukraine intact, or face the reality of escalation and likely mass extinction. All because of the hubris of ONE man. Putin must be stopped at all costs. We must pull back from this abyss.
Yes, akin to Cuban missile crisis to Russia. NATO promised not to point missiles toward them beyond Germany's eastern border ... and then ... we did. It's more complicated than just that, of course. Russian paranoia is real and completely understandable. And in some ways, so is our own. WE must look honestly at OUR part in this mess. We ALL must pull back. It's so childish and unnecessary. And with nukes... insanely dangerous.
But NATO has never threatened nor shown any interest in taking current Russian territory. The USSR ended 33 years ago. Those countries that wished to regain their independence did so at that time. Trying to regain said territory by force is the action of a vicious tyrant. NATO's sole purpose is to defend against incursions against member's sovereign territories. It is not an alliance of aggressors.
Totally agree with you, Lisa. YES!!! Far as i can tell, this is absolutely the case.
The big flaw to me... is that we're only looking at and perceiving this scenario through our own lens. As if it's the only one that matters. As if only ours is 'true' and anyone else's that disagrees is 'false' or 'wrong' or 'bad' or 'evil' or whatever. And that attitude only makes things worse. It destabilizes situations.
Putin/Russia sees it through their own lens. And what they are 'seeing' and what it means to them... is very different from our view and perspective. That matters!! Whether or not it makes sense to us, it still matters. It's where we need to start.
One thing that is always true in any human relationship... and that is at the core of this one, too ... is that effective 2-way (or more, depending on how many different participants there are) communication is paramount.
Sooo... yeah... to US ... exactly the scenario you describe is accurate and true. All of it, as we see it. No question. End of story.
If we can't even conceive of the possibility that what we believe to be true and accurate is NOT the final word... and there's absolutely NO other way it might be *perceived* by anyone else... then we're all in for plenty of trouble.
Whether what anyone else honestly sees, feels, perceives is by OUR definition accurate/true, only goes so far if we can't see/hear/feel how it's genuinely experienced by them or anyone else. Putin/Russia, in this case. (And truthfully, by many other countries, too. For their own legit reasons... many of them are not behind us.)
Because their impressions don't match our interpretation or our honest intentions doesn't make them wrong. Just different. If we can't (or won't) recognize that others' views from their own positions are just as legitimate as ours, we're all in trouble. If we can't listen to that, take it seriously into account, and recognize that they have just as much right to their view as we do, our communications break down... and here we are. As many of us agree, War is Not the Answer.
Not to say that everyone operates on the up and up or that they oughta be excused from anything and everything they do. NO! However, we need to make the honest effort to 'get' where they're coming from, too. (Not necessary to agree. Just to understand it from their perspective, so they feel 'seen' and 'heard.')
Diplomacy doesn't happen without this essential piece. To me, this is a huge mistake we're all making... and this war might possibly (likely) been avoided by acting like adults, listening to each other, and figuring how to settle it without war. Duh. 2023... haven't we progressed this far yet?? (Nope.)
While I agree with you in terms of trying to see things from our opponent's perspective, I believe that this case is different. Putin sees himself as restoring a historical kingdom that has nothing to do with modern borders. He has brainwashed his people to agree with him. The atrocities he is committing in Ukraine are completely inexcusable. He is insane, I believe. https://newlinesmag.com/argument/history-stokes-putins-dream-of-a-greater-russia/
World Central Kitchen is my main donation for Ukraine. I played in a fundraiser concert last fall helping a group of Ukrainians living in the US to send medical supplies to Ukraine. I contribute to a group of people that have traveled to Ukraine twice bringing both supplies and crisis counselling to the people of Ukraine. My wardrobe providers (Life is Good and Teddy the Dog t-shirt makers) have done several printings of shirts that both have messages of support and provide donations to the people of Ukraine.
I need to replace my Ukrainian flag; it is sun-faded. I am planting a row of sunflowers in my garden this year.
LOL! Renewal of Vows registry, then? Or if youтАЩre on Facebook, you could also create a birthday fundraiser (I did this for another non-profit, and was pleasantly surprised by the results).
Rose Perhaps for my 90th in October? Did this for my 89th and our family Xmas. We are significantly supporting a Ukrainian family that has been relocated to close to our Long Island residence. The cost so far is in the $50,000 magnitude with the local community prepared to provide much more as they get fully settled and the wife can apply her legal skills in America
Inna IS lovely, and so artistically talented, too! Your link, Debbie, leads to the page of another Ukrainian woman, IrinaтАФwho, from what I see, is also very talented!
Me, too, for WCK. For the animals, https://www.ifaw.org/. As well as others. Thanks for the info about where you get your t-shirts. I always wonder how to make sure it's Ukrainians who are benefitting from my purchases, so I hesitate.
I donate to the WCK. I think the work Jose Andres and his teams do around a world that seems to be going up in flames is superhuman and to be supported at every chance. I only wish I could give more to their cause.
Sorry that the links to the NGOs that Timothy Snyder recommends did not work on this substack. To reach them go the his substack below. Scroll down to his PS and you will find links, which are underlined.
Fern, thank you for each word filled with information and opportunities to give to and support Ukraine. As a supporter of Ukraine and its fight to defend itself to be a free nation, to defend its great and gifted people and for its farmers and military and poets and children, I have placed a wreath on my front door with blue and yellow flowers. As I plant flowers around my mailbox this spring, they will be blue and yellow. And with my small financial offerings, I will support Ukraine and those whose lives have been devastated by earthquakes and poverty.
This is who we strive to be as free people of this world. Freedom is a hard fought for ideal and unfortunately easily compromised.
Thank you again Fern for your beautiful heart and all that you share with us!!!
Thank you Emily! I live in an apartment and I have a perennial wreath (artificial green, real feelings!) on my door that I decorate according to the season. It's time for me to get some blue and yellow flowers. Every little bit of good energy makes a difference because at the atomic level, we are all one!
I've been having breast cancer care the past 6 months. The medical center main desk for this treatment program has loops of LED bulbs strung across in lacy patterns. The colors are changed for seasons and holidays. They've strung blue and yellow lights recently. It is such a wonderful, albeit subtle way to greet patients. I look forward to the changes and life-affirming symbols as I progress with treatment.
Hope, you do not appear to have lost much of the attentiveness you were born with and developed. A friend took the picture about a month ago. Thank you for the compliment. We have always taken notice of one another. I'm grateful for our connection. Salud!
Thank you, Lynell. I enjoy your posts. Actually during this time of treatments, I love coming to these newsletters and seeing "old friends" such as yourself. Its very stabilizing, to say nothing of the wisdom from HCR et al.
Morning, and many thanks, Fern! I remember a time when the country was divided between hawks and doves. I could not imagine anyone wanting to be a hawk back then. Today, in the natural world, I am not sure how a real dove would fare against a real hawk. It is my considered opinion that we need a hawk to defend Ukraine and the rest of us.
IтАЩm just curious Lynell as to what you are thinking of practically. Do you consider President Biden to be a hawk?
I think he has steered a masterful course in the first year - his Administration has both walked the walk and, as necessary, talked the talk in supporting Ukraine. I donтАЩt think I would have been comfortable if the United States been a lot more aggressive.
Alas the free world now faces the spectre of China getting closer to Russia. My hope is that they will proceed with the relative caution they have displayed in the past. If they are full throated in their support of Russia, ie supplies of weapons on a large scale, Ukraine will not survive unless the conflict then expands to NATO and the United States. Then we will have what few would want - a world war. The consequences of that are unthinkable.
Pragmatically speaking, Biden will have to become a hawk or abandon Ukraine to its fate, if that country faces both Russia and China. To this point I think he has been hawkish. If China holds a gun to the head of Ukraine (and by so doing, NATO and the US) my support for him would be as full as it is now, even knowing it was like signing a death warrant. The cause is just.
Hopefully China is just rattling the bars. I tend to think they are - I donтАЩt see what they have to gain unless they think they can manage these circumstances to take Taiwan.
I'm an amateur with not much intel that anyone should hang their hat on, Eric. That said, I'm all in for what Biden and his administration is doing to defend democracy for Ukraine and the rest of us.
IMHO, China is reconnoitering. I mean within its own boundaries. The SARS virus, lock-downs, and protests within and without its borders have weakened Xi, so I hear. So have the sanctions on its economy and strange defense objects by the US. I think Xi is not so eager to rattle swords. We shall see (sigh.)
I'm certain he is watching Ukraine closely, vis-a-vis Taiwan, because Pres. Biden has done an amazing thing by gathering a coalition of nations and support at the UN.
China, if it unifies with nasty nations such as Russia and North Korea, would be terrifying for the world, of course. However, authoritarians do not do well at sharing the spotlight. Both Putin and Kim are struggling, too, for different reasons. But they all have repressed the true state of their nations from their citizens, which means internal havoc if they should go to war.
I'm far from a political scholar, but I hope I am right about this.
Interesting, Lynell. To me, that conversation (about hawks vs. doves) always seemed to be about theoretical situations, or events where there was a choice. In this case, in my brain, there is no choice. There is wrong and there is right. This is not political or economical (although it is also those things) but it is basic humanity. Putin is a monster and his soldiers are monsters. The Ukrainians are innocent, peaceful people. End of discussion!
Morning, Ally! Remember back in January 2021 right after President Biden was inaugurated? I thought, well, soon Heather won't be writing Letters From An American anymore. Glad to be wrong about that; but some of the news she is compelled to report, not so much!
Hope you and yours - all of them! - are doing well these days.
Fern, which Ukraine NGO are you or Snyder referring to? There is no link on your posting and the linked edition of SnyderтАЩs newsletter is restricted to paid subscribers.
Thanks, Judith. Actually, Fern posted the link in response to my inquiry. The original thread of Substack comments has now been altered, so my posting is anachronistic.
Just FYI, Fern, my husband's old hoodie is a fright! So I just purchased a new one for him from Saint Javelin. Picked up a flag while there as well. And a tank top and t-shirt as we head into warmer weather.
In addition to World Central Kitchen, there are more than 20 recognized Charitable organizations working in Ukraine among them are Polish Red Cross, Catholic Relief, Jewish Relief, and World Vision. A number of Charities are focusing on particular sectors, but a nation moves forward on its stomach.
Zelenskyy formed United24 in May 2022 to provide a central funding source.
However, do not forget Turkey and Syria! 48,000+ Dead with no housing for Millions. Again, they must Eat before they can cleanup, plus there is a severe shortage of tents because so many have been used in Ukraine, Myanmar and throughout Africa (where Wagner Group has destabilized 3 different nations' governments for their mineral riches!).
It's one thing to see the text of his speech in writing; watching it on TV was awe-inspiring. It is rare that our Secretary has that kind of impact on the UN. I compare it to Adlai Stevenson's "I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over" after he asked the Soviet Union representative if his country was installing missiles in Cuba.
ЁЯТп!! Once again my passionate gratitude to President Biden for carefully choosing the best for his team!! тЭдя╕ПтЭдя╕П And a big reason the criticismтАЩs about his age are rubbish!! The single thing about leadership courses that has always spoken the loudest to me is about choosing your team wisely.
With that said one can argue that tfgтАЩs choices were always perfect picks for his mission to destroy our freedoms (the wiliest of foxes in every hen house)
I agree. The team is a marvel. Although inflation financial decisions are often over my head, I really like Janet Yellen. Especially since she lit into the Russians recently!
Blinken says: "Bombing schools and hospitals and apartment buildings to rubble is not normal. "
An interesting statement made by Blinken at the UN to be sure.
Because, when the United States was bombing schools, hospitals, mosques and apartments, first in Afghanistan and then more thoroughly during "Shock and Awe" in Iraq, Blinken did not make a peep of a sound nor did any US representative at the UN from the United States.
IF the US truly does not want "Bombing schools and hospitals and apartment buildings to rubble"
Then the US should not be the world's role model for that behavior for 20 years.
And, today, this wonderful tidbit of US torture during our wonderful time in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seriously, folks, all this wonderful speech by the US today? Sure seems like BS to me having paid attention to what we were doing for the previous 20 years to real people.
Mike-You are totally right about U.S. contradictions. We profess тАЬliberty and justice for allтАЭ but donтАЩt apply this equally within our own country. We have caused numerous atrocities and fail to live up to our stated ideals both at home and abroad.
I wonder if we will ever learn. Our history should show the world that while weтАЩve made some horrible blunders attacking other nations, we learned that war is not the answer.
тАЬI want to say one other challenge that we face is simply that we must find an alternative to war and bloodshedтАжPresident Kennedy said on one occasion, тАШMankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankindтАЩ. The world must hear this.тАЭ
(From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.тАШs speech at the National Cathedral in Washington DC on March 31, 1968 as he was protesting the Vietnam War)
When war is no longer profitable for elites and when tyrants are no longer tolerated (emboldened even) then maybe we can rid the world of needless wars-whether physical or cultural. Humanity can be so much better than it has been..
LetтАЩs hope that weтАЩll learn the lessons that history teaches usтАж
Bravo Gina! Thanks for the reminder of our more "Human" leaders and the wisdom the imparted to us. Let us never forget these quotations so eloquently put.
Our history does indeed contain much of which we should be ashamed, as that of most nations does, along with things in which we can take pride. But that does not disqualify us from doing what is obviously right today.
Mike S. Let's accept that history as a damnable reality for the United States; a reality going back centuries. Representatives of the United States like Blinken, or Biden for that matter, should therefore do precisely what about Putin's actions? When a country has erred, led by many different administrations, has sinned against mankind, what should that country do going forward? This seems to me to be the essential question we are asking of Russia as well as ourselves.
Two things that can be done (and should have been done long ago: #1...cease allowing the military industrial complex, which thrives on conflict and often-subtly, or not-encourages such conflicts, and #2...discourage corporations with no concern other than profit from also encouraging conflicts that further only THEIR OWN interests.
Bryan, as an apparently brilliant lawyer, IтАЩm wondering if you could explain this comment (that you sometimes post) to our less lawyerly minds. The crypticness of your comment is a barrier to engagement in debate. Thank you ЁЯЩП
The US was fortunate to have very wise and compassionate leaders creating our founding documents, perhaps not the least of which we can be grateful for their respecting and embracing the indigenous ways of governing. Culture is very strong and may require decades to change. We have to envision and want the change if we are ever to get there. ItтАЩs up to each new generation to keep reaching for the better angels of our nature. Most importantly how do we stop giving away power to bullies and authoritarians?
тАЬтАЭThe mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely, they will be, by the better angels of our nature.тАЭ
тАФ Abraham Lincoln тАУ First Inaugural AddressтАЭ
I think we should consider the possibility that had we not role modelled shock and awe for 20 years perhaps Putin would not have concluded that invading Ukraine was Ok.
While I suspect tRump in the white house for 4 years was likely a greater and more immediate influence on Putin's beliefs about what he could do in Ukraine, let's stipulate the possibility that "shock and awe" campaign influenced Putin's fantasies about and actions in Ukraine, what would you suggest that we can or should do NOW that he's there and continues to violate all norms of war and 75 years of European border stability?
So would you like the US, and itтАЩs allies helping Ukraine, to withdraw and let the Russian thugs overrun a Democratic country, and then continue on to Poland and elsewhere? Despite the awful history this country has, your suggestions fall in line with the parochial and, TBH, traitorous mumblings of the Republican thugs in Washington and on Fox. Get a grip. If Ukraine falls, we fall with it. If Poland falls, weтАЩll be embroiled in a global catastrophe which will make climate change look like a walk in the park.
That is a pointless rhetorical question. The criticism of BlinkenтАЩs speech for its apparent blindness to even the most recent history of US aggression is widespread тАФhypocrisy is grating to most people, and the implicit whitewashing of our history insults the intelligence of those not seduced by the odor of sanctity. In what HCR calls тАЬthe rest of the world,тАЭ meaning the rather exclusive G7, people are weary of our belief that we can starve nations with our sanctions, break the Geneva Conventions in firebombing Fallujah with white phosphorus, commit tortureтАФand justify it!тАФfor years in a war for oil, and then invoke national sainthood by denouncing Russia for its war of aggression. Putin is a coldly vicious autocrat and has deluded his people, yes, as well as visiting frankly imperialist violence in a neighboring nation, yes. That does not make saints of us or given Blinken a pass for strutting in this preposterous way. He could have admitted that we were in no position to trumpet sanctimoniously against wars of aggression, and promised to commit our nation to the path of peace, away from the neoliberal sabre-rattling that has followed our own latest imperialist adventure. But that wouldnтАЩt go over, a couple days after Biden promised to go on arming Ukraine тАЬas long as it takes.тАЭ We like Forever WarsтАФwe have the worldтАЩs mightiest arms industry. OK, so be it. But donтАЩt ask to be canonized for it. I am deeply disappointed in Professor RichardsonтАЩs column today.
ThatтАЩs OK Mary. You may be pure of heart and want to believe in a world without monsters. Unfortunately the monsters are here and require us to continually learn how we can improve on keeping them out of powerful positions. But while they are here we must do what we can to stop their atrocities. ItтАЩs not our тАЬgovernmentтАЩs faultтАЭ. It is the fault of we the people who have failed to keep the Jimmy Carters in power.
Christy I don't follow your comment. I don't believe in a world without monsters, alas. I believe in a world with lots of monsters, and at least among the big imperial powers--Russia, China, the US--no saints. The point of my complaint against Blinken's speech (not our actions necessarily, though I'm flabbergasted by Biden's promise that we will, yet again, "stay as long as it takes"--can we have an end-game please?) is that we're simply in no position to fling moral brickbats. If we didn't approve of wars of aggression we wouldn't wage them. We have big power reasons to to help Ukraine, and the people of Ukraine may well benefit from that. I'm glad they will, though I'm not convinced they'll benefit in the long run--any more than "the women and girls of Afghanistan" did from our last pledge to stay as long as it takes (as long as what takes? how many years did we stay after bagging Bin Laden--in Pakistan?). I spent time with a lot of Ukrainian refugees and their kids in Europe this past summer. They're deeply traumatized. By what? By the violence and chaos of war. Is Forever war the only option?
Not sure if my comment I just posted will clarify my meaning. Monsters cannot be reasoned with, they only respect brute strength, and their violence can only be stopped by a greater physical force. I have to say the argument about our past rankles me. How will we ever do better or be better if we hide in the shadows of our shame over crimes committed by leaders elected to power by prior generations. I want to be better and do better! тЭдя╕П
Marj, as I tried and clearly failed to make clear, it is not his actions I was complaining about. I was responding to responses in the comments to his *speech*, which HCRтАЩs column today mostly just quoted. People laugh at us, at best, in other countries when we play the saint (I know because IтАЩve lived in 4 of the G7). It is possible and indeed laudable to do the right thing while maintaining the humility appropriate to the Secretary of a State that has committed the same crimes itself (right down to kidnapping 1000s of children to raise and enculturate in the society of their enemies). Big imperial states like ours are not saintly, as we see clearly when looking at China and Russia. If we were who we like to say we are, and who the Founders hoped weтАЩd be, we would see ourselves more clearly and speak with more modesty. (And we would not fight wars of aggression in which a million people die in order to control fossil fuels in the midst of rapid and potentially apocalyptic climate change. Which is NOT to say that Russia should get away with invading Ukraine and bombing its hospitals!)
Thank you Mary. Complicated times make resolutions seemingly impossible. Haven't all times been complicated though. 'Imagine all the people Sharing all the world' ~John Lennon
So am I. It reads like pro-war propaganda, and most of the comments here show that people are riding the bandwagon without asking themselves whether they really want a long term commitment to this war. Oh, Blinken was so commanding! Oh, Biden is so wise and compassionate! Think about the other times we heard such piffle. War is death, torture, starvation, but most of all it's money money money, that after a year, has done zero to dial down this war; instead, it's escalating.
Marycat2021, your last sentence hits home. I saw and heard through the walls so many traumatized people, including children, in Europe last summer and early fall: shattered by "death, torture, starvation" and the terror that chaos unleashes. And shattered people are not all little girls with big sad eyes like in velveteen paintings. One night in Paris I spent hours helping to handle the psychotic break of a large middle-aged Ukrainian woman who attacked a slight student posing for a snapshot in the street, striking her in the temple and screaming over and over "Where are your papers?! YOU HAVE NO PAPERS!!" My biggest worry is the long term effect of so much trauma on the population. Of Ukraine, and also--why do we never talk about it?--of the people in Yemen. I guess we never do because the autocrat responsible for the carnage there is MBS, with whom (despite his assassination of our Washington Post reporter) the President fist bumps.
"Does atoning for past sins require the United States to unilaterally disarm while both Russia and China threaten their neighbors?" No Mr. Dicker, agreed, it does not. If you're responding to my post, I'll just reiterate that I was objecting to the hubris of Secretary Blinken's *speech.* I said there, and agree here, Putin is a vicious brute. That doesn't give us the right to vaunt morally against countries that fight wars of aggression for self-aggrandizing motives. It does give us the duty to 1) examine our own militarism, 2) speak modestly, and 3) defend the rights of those who suffer such aggression, as currently do the people of Ukraine. (As also do, by the way, the people of Yemen, whose suffering has not stirred Blinken to such eloquence.)
How we defend those rights is a live question. By escalating the violence? By diplomacy? What is our plan for ending this? Does Russia know about it? Our recent flight from Afghanistan should keep in sight the advisability of an end-game.
As many experts on the psychopathology of violent bullies have repeated over and over and over. There is NO diplomacy with the likes of Putin. Military strength is the only thing that will keep him from terrorizing the entire free world.
I respect the years of scholarly study of experts in their field. TSnyderтАЩs argument has already been posted today so IтАЩll just add another expert opinion to it:
тАЬWe may like to think that Putin may abandon this grandiose mission or "come to his sensesтАЭ because he is being humiliated every day on the battlefield, but that is not how autocrats operate. Until the United States and its allies give Ukraine the weapons it needs to repel the Russian invader, Putin will consider it worth his while to continue a war he thinks will put him on par with Peter the Great.
Authoritarianism is about having the power to get away with crime. Waging a genocidal war against another country without other nations forcing a cessation of conflict counts as a big win in the autocratic world. Far from standing down, look for Putin to escalate hostilities as this tragic war enters its second year.тАЭ from Ruth Ben-Ghiat
I think there is a reasonable chance that had the US not role modeled continuous war for 20 years Putin may not have concluded that was a good thing to do: go to war.
Our brutal campaigns in Iraq & Afghanistan were begun by the George W. Bush administration. His Secretaries of State were Colin Powell & Condoleezza Rice.
Mike I am an old "peacenik." Never was there a war that didn't activate my protests. Of course you are right. Nevertheless, I find this war different. I believe the message to challenge Putin's aggression. Stop him there or there's no stopping him anywhere. He's a cruel, ruthless automaton. So, respectfully I say to you, not all wars are America's errors.
Frankly, when it comes to wars, they all seem to be generated by men behaving badly. In Putin and Hitler's cases they were antisocial and personality-disordered to begin with. I ask myself why don't these guys face off like fights in the coliseum, or medieval jousts, and stop sending their innocent citizens to their deaths. It amazes me---not in a good way---that the world allows such horror to continue when a simple solution is so obvious.
Thank you. I paused for a moment before reading comments, but wanted to see if anyone else would point out the rank hypocrisies in Blinken's speech. Atrocities in war *are* normal--have we already forgotten how easily we became cheerleaders for the good wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? I shiver.
As much as I deplore Putin's actions, watching us slide easily into this moralistic rhetoric is disheartening. Europe learned humility--at least for a little while--from the devastation of the wars of the Twentieth Century, while all the US seems to have learned is that we are always the heroes--as we march backward toward our own reenactment of suicidal fascism here at home.
Dr. Richardson knows the history well. The Indian Child Welfare Act is under attack this year in the Supreme Court, while in South Dakota the 50th anniversary of the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee is being commemorated this weekend--which occupation arguably led to the reversal of federal policy of placing Native children in white families. Kidnapping others' children? We never stopped. It should not be normal, but here it certainly seems to be.
Reality is subtle and complex. We are not and never will be pure. War is an atrocity, and we need to keep our eyes open while we try to find a way to end this one without giving Putin what he wants. Is hypocritical bluster a strategic necessity? Maybe. That doesn't make it less hypocritical.
America is a war country built on violent conquest and genocide. However, we have convinced ourselves that we're the good guys, the heroes, the moral society, when we're no better than anyone else. We are not having the conversations we should be having on what war means for all of us, what it does to our collective consciousness, our memories, and why we refuse to ever really hold any politicians accountable for anything. Trump should have been impeached for kidnapping refugee and indigenous children and shipping them to strangers as though they were stray kittens.
Thank you, Mike. I posted a comment today simply asking something the folks on the pro-war bandwagon haven't considered. What's our exit strategy? Or will the US enjoy another endless war supporting the deaths of tens of thousands of human beings? The defense contractors are raking in billions in weapons sales, and this cannot go on indefinitely.
The pro-war propaganda machine is flooding the media, and this always works like a charm to stop people from asking questions the government doesn't want to answer.
Hi James--I've said at least 4 times in several different ways that I wasn't offering suggestions about what to do, or arguing about what we've done in Ukraine so far. That is your interest, and that is a serious interest. I respect it. Me, I was just complaining--as someone who studies rhetoric and its history and teaches people to analyze it--about his SPEECH, the topic of Prof. Richardson's column today. To me speeches are important, in fact a kind of action. This speech was self-blinded and thus inappropriately worded: it won't impress listeners among our allies in the G7, who routinely complain about (or mock) American lack of self-reflection and our inability to glimpse how we look from the outside. There are many ways to say Ukraine deserves our support and will get it (there are also many ways to provide it, and opinion among those who know is divided about the best ways) without waxing indignant about countries who fight wars of aggression and bomb civilians. We gave up the right to take that tack when we fought our first war of aggression (during which we invented waterboarding), and bombed our first residential district, and we've done both many times--in some cases so recently that only children have no memories of it. It's foolish to pretend that we soar angelically above the moral standards of Russian warfare. I work hard to keep from having to live in an autocracy like Putin's--he is, to make the point a third time, a brute. But I believe that moral tact is a more effective form of speech, and I know from living in four G7 countries that our lack of it makes our allies uneasy and the choice to follow our lead unclear.
Bravo, Secretary Blinken, Bravo NATO, Brava, Professor. History matters, truth matters.
From historian, Timothy Snyder:
Why the world needs Ukrainian victory
1. To halt atrocity.
2. To preserve the international legal order.
3. To end an era of empire.
4. To defend the peace project of the European Union.
5. To give the rule of law a chance in Russia.
6. To weaken the prestige of tyrants.
7. To remind us that democracy is the better system.
8. To lift the threat of major war in Europe.
9. To lift the threat of major war in Asia.
For more reasons the world needs the Ukrainian victory, see link below.
https://snyder.substack.com/p/why-the-world-needs-ukrainian-victory-c90
PS What can you do personally? Keep in touch with your elected representatives. Support military and humanitarian assistance. Make your views known. Write a letter to the editor. Share this post widely. Fly a Ukrainian flag. Put a sticker on your computer.
Buy and wear Ukrainian merch. In great causes, small gestures matter. If you want to keep Ukrainian soldiers alive; here is a way to keep Ukrainians warm during winter; documenting Ukraine, a project that supports those in Ukraine who are chronicling the war-- To reach links to donate, first go to Snyder's newsletter and scroll down to his PS, where you will find the links underlined.
https://snyder.substack.com/p/why-the-world-needs-ukrainian-victory
Thank you for reading Letters from an American and this post, which came from Timothy Snyder's newsletter called, 'Thinking about..."
This is indeed a world threatening situation akin to the Cuban Missile Crisis. The great exception is that Russia has already pulled the trigger. Russia must relent/fail/give up /withdraw, or this will be the end of civilization as we know it We, as a group of nations must prevail, with Ukraine intact, or face the reality of escalation and likely mass extinction. All because of the hubris of ONE man. Putin must be stopped at all costs. We must pull back from this abyss.
Yes, akin to Cuban missile crisis to Russia. NATO promised not to point missiles toward them beyond Germany's eastern border ... and then ... we did. It's more complicated than just that, of course. Russian paranoia is real and completely understandable. And in some ways, so is our own. WE must look honestly at OUR part in this mess. We ALL must pull back. It's so childish and unnecessary. And with nukes... insanely dangerous.
But NATO has never threatened nor shown any interest in taking current Russian territory. The USSR ended 33 years ago. Those countries that wished to regain their independence did so at that time. Trying to regain said territory by force is the action of a vicious tyrant. NATO's sole purpose is to defend against incursions against member's sovereign territories. It is not an alliance of aggressors.
Totally agree with you, Lisa. YES!!! Far as i can tell, this is absolutely the case.
The big flaw to me... is that we're only looking at and perceiving this scenario through our own lens. As if it's the only one that matters. As if only ours is 'true' and anyone else's that disagrees is 'false' or 'wrong' or 'bad' or 'evil' or whatever. And that attitude only makes things worse. It destabilizes situations.
Putin/Russia sees it through their own lens. And what they are 'seeing' and what it means to them... is very different from our view and perspective. That matters!! Whether or not it makes sense to us, it still matters. It's where we need to start.
One thing that is always true in any human relationship... and that is at the core of this one, too ... is that effective 2-way (or more, depending on how many different participants there are) communication is paramount.
Sooo... yeah... to US ... exactly the scenario you describe is accurate and true. All of it, as we see it. No question. End of story.
If we can't even conceive of the possibility that what we believe to be true and accurate is NOT the final word... and there's absolutely NO other way it might be *perceived* by anyone else... then we're all in for plenty of trouble.
Whether what anyone else honestly sees, feels, perceives is by OUR definition accurate/true, only goes so far if we can't see/hear/feel how it's genuinely experienced by them or anyone else. Putin/Russia, in this case. (And truthfully, by many other countries, too. For their own legit reasons... many of them are not behind us.)
Because their impressions don't match our interpretation or our honest intentions doesn't make them wrong. Just different. If we can't (or won't) recognize that others' views from their own positions are just as legitimate as ours, we're all in trouble. If we can't listen to that, take it seriously into account, and recognize that they have just as much right to their view as we do, our communications break down... and here we are. As many of us agree, War is Not the Answer.
Not to say that everyone operates on the up and up or that they oughta be excused from anything and everything they do. NO! However, we need to make the honest effort to 'get' where they're coming from, too. (Not necessary to agree. Just to understand it from their perspective, so they feel 'seen' and 'heard.')
Diplomacy doesn't happen without this essential piece. To me, this is a huge mistake we're all making... and this war might possibly (likely) been avoided by acting like adults, listening to each other, and figuring how to settle it without war. Duh. 2023... haven't we progressed this far yet?? (Nope.)
While I agree with you in terms of trying to see things from our opponent's perspective, I believe that this case is different. Putin sees himself as restoring a historical kingdom that has nothing to do with modern borders. He has brainwashed his people to agree with him. The atrocities he is committing in Ukraine are completely inexcusable. He is insane, I believe. https://newlinesmag.com/argument/history-stokes-putins-dream-of-a-greater-russia/
This is because of more than 1 man. Putin still lives as proof of that. I was betting last March that he would not see June. Silly me!
World Central Kitchen is my main donation for Ukraine. I played in a fundraiser concert last fall helping a group of Ukrainians living in the US to send medical supplies to Ukraine. I contribute to a group of people that have traveled to Ukraine twice bringing both supplies and crisis counselling to the people of Ukraine. My wardrobe providers (Life is Good and Teddy the Dog t-shirt makers) have done several printings of shirts that both have messages of support and provide donations to the people of Ukraine.
I need to replace my Ukrainian flag; it is sun-faded. I am planting a row of sunflowers in my garden this year.
ThatтАЩs wonderful, Ally! I contribute to World Central Kitchen too and put it in my wedding registry. I also am buying my wedding bouquet (dried flowers) from Inna, a Ukrainian lady whose тАЬKochetovaтАЭ shop is in Odesa and is accessible through Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/Kochetova?ref=yr_purchases&load_webview=1&bid=Lbi8kp4eEkgUg9RqXYRgDOSe8qwl
We can help in so many ways!
Everything else aside, congratulations and best wishes for a long and happy life.
Thank you, Dave! WeтАЩre a couple of retired citizens, so a wedding at this point is a miraculous blessing. We thank our lucky stars, for sure.
Even more awesome Rose.
Rose Georgia and I give regularly to World Central Kitchen, but itтАЩs a bit late to include it in our wedding registry.
LOL! Renewal of Vows registry, then? Or if youтАЩre on Facebook, you could also create a birthday fundraiser (I did this for another non-profit, and was pleasantly surprised by the results).
Rose Perhaps for my 90th in October? Did this for my 89th and our family Xmas. We are significantly supporting a Ukrainian family that has been relocated to close to our Long Island residence. The cost so far is in the $50,000 magnitude with the local community prepared to provide much more as they get fully settled and the wife can apply her legal skills in America
LOL for me, too, Keith!
So cool, Rose! Happy wedding to you!
Thank you, Lynell!
Inna IS lovely, and so artistically talented, too! Your link, Debbie, leads to the page of another Ukrainian woman, IrinaтАФwho, from what I see, is also very talented!
Me, too, for WCK. For the animals, https://www.ifaw.org/. As well as others. Thanks for the info about where you get your t-shirts. I always wonder how to make sure it's Ukrainians who are benefitting from my purchases, so I hesitate.
Mine too, monthly for over a year now! How inspiring Jose and Zelenskyy!
I donate to the WCK. I think the work Jose Andres and his teams do around a world that seems to be going up in flames is superhuman and to be supported at every chance. I only wish I could give more to their cause.
Awesome Ally.
Hi Ally, wondering what is the name of the group that has traveled to Ukraine to offer supplies and crisis counseling, if you donтАЩt mind me asking?
It is called "Ukrainian Foundation" and is a group registered in Oregon that has been doing various kinds of support for Ukraine for quite a while.
Sorry that the links to the NGOs that Timothy Snyder recommends did not work on this substack. To reach them go the his substack below. Scroll down to his PS and you will find links, which are underlined.
https://snyder.substack.com/p/why-the-world-needs-ukrainian-victory
THANK YOU, FERN! That worked!
Thank you, Rose. The correction would not have been made without you! THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING UKRAINE, THE US AND DEMOCRACY EVERYWHERE!
Always!
Fern, thank you for each word filled with information and opportunities to give to and support Ukraine. As a supporter of Ukraine and its fight to defend itself to be a free nation, to defend its great and gifted people and for its farmers and military and poets and children, I have placed a wreath on my front door with blue and yellow flowers. As I plant flowers around my mailbox this spring, they will be blue and yellow. And with my small financial offerings, I will support Ukraine and those whose lives have been devastated by earthquakes and poverty.
This is who we strive to be as free people of this world. Freedom is a hard fought for ideal and unfortunately easily compromised.
Thank you again Fern for your beautiful heart and all that you share with us!!!
We are together and so fortunate to be encouraging and learning from one another. Thank you, Emily. I can see your flowers for democracy!
Thank you Emily! I live in an apartment and I have a perennial wreath (artificial green, real feelings!) on my door that I decorate according to the season. It's time for me to get some blue and yellow flowers. Every little bit of good energy makes a difference because at the atomic level, we are all one!
Thank you, Emily. I will look to plant blue and yellow flowers this spring.
I've been having breast cancer care the past 6 months. The medical center main desk for this treatment program has loops of LED bulbs strung across in lacy patterns. The colors are changed for seasons and holidays. They've strung blue and yellow lights recently. It is such a wonderful, albeit subtle way to greet patients. I look forward to the changes and life-affirming symbols as I progress with treatment.
Hope Good luck with your care!How nice to have changing lights for your visits.
I totally recovered from colon cancer 23 years ago with no lights. Now surgeons scrape out a few nasty things every few months, but again no lights.
IтАЩm tempted to order a Ukrainian son et lumiere!
Best wishes to you, Keith. Let's promise each other to keep on keeping on!
Hope I am Little Toot and you are Littlier TootтАФWe think we can, we think we can, and WE CAN!
with support and encouragement as you progress, Salud, Hope!
Thanks, Fern. I like your new photo.
Hope, you do not appear to have lost much of the attentiveness you were born with and developed. A friend took the picture about a month ago. Thank you for the compliment. We have always taken notice of one another. I'm grateful for our connection. Salud!
All the best to you, Hope. Good to know you are in good hands.
Thank you, Lynell. I enjoy your posts. Actually during this time of treatments, I love coming to these newsletters and seeing "old friends" such as yourself. Its very stabilizing, to say nothing of the wisdom from HCR et al.
Me, too, Hope. Though I enjoy reading comments from new "faces," it's always comforting to see us "oldies" still here.
тШоя╕ПЁЯТЯтШоя╕ПЁЯТЯтШоя╕ПЁЯТЯ
Hoping for a full and speedy recovery for you, Hope! ЁЯТХ
Thank you, Rose. I am doing well.
So glad to hear this, Hope! Good things should always happen to good people ЁЯдЧ
So sorry to hear that you have had to deal with this. Best wishes to you and thanks for taking time to share that picture.
Morning, and many thanks, Fern! I remember a time when the country was divided between hawks and doves. I could not imagine anyone wanting to be a hawk back then. Today, in the natural world, I am not sure how a real dove would fare against a real hawk. It is my considered opinion that we need a hawk to defend Ukraine and the rest of us.
Good morning, dear Lynell, always serving food for thought. Personally, I am both a hawk and a dove; what about you?
I am a hawk with the heart of a dove.
100% Ally! One of my mother's friends would've said a "hove" or a "dawk"!
Agree to be both, Fern: A hawkish dove or a dovelish hawk!
IтАЩm just curious Lynell as to what you are thinking of practically. Do you consider President Biden to be a hawk?
I think he has steered a masterful course in the first year - his Administration has both walked the walk and, as necessary, talked the talk in supporting Ukraine. I donтАЩt think I would have been comfortable if the United States been a lot more aggressive.
Alas the free world now faces the spectre of China getting closer to Russia. My hope is that they will proceed with the relative caution they have displayed in the past. If they are full throated in their support of Russia, ie supplies of weapons on a large scale, Ukraine will not survive unless the conflict then expands to NATO and the United States. Then we will have what few would want - a world war. The consequences of that are unthinkable.
Pragmatically speaking, Biden will have to become a hawk or abandon Ukraine to its fate, if that country faces both Russia and China. To this point I think he has been hawkish. If China holds a gun to the head of Ukraine (and by so doing, NATO and the US) my support for him would be as full as it is now, even knowing it was like signing a death warrant. The cause is just.
Hopefully China is just rattling the bars. I tend to think they are - I donтАЩt see what they have to gain unless they think they can manage these circumstances to take Taiwan.
We are at a delicate moment.
I'm an amateur with not much intel that anyone should hang their hat on, Eric. That said, I'm all in for what Biden and his administration is doing to defend democracy for Ukraine and the rest of us.
IMHO, China is reconnoitering. I mean within its own boundaries. The SARS virus, lock-downs, and protests within and without its borders have weakened Xi, so I hear. So have the sanctions on its economy and strange defense objects by the US. I think Xi is not so eager to rattle swords. We shall see (sigh.)
I'm certain he is watching Ukraine closely, vis-a-vis Taiwan, because Pres. Biden has done an amazing thing by gathering a coalition of nations and support at the UN.
China, if it unifies with nasty nations such as Russia and North Korea, would be terrifying for the world, of course. However, authoritarians do not do well at sharing the spotlight. Both Putin and Kim are struggling, too, for different reasons. But they all have repressed the true state of their nations from their citizens, which means internal havoc if they should go to war.
I'm far from a political scholar, but I hope I am right about this.
Lots of food for thought in that comment Hope. I feel that the democracies have regained momentum to a degree in the last year. Long overdue.
ThereтАЩs lots o room for miscalculation when nations are jockeying as they are now. I hope there isnтАЩt a serious one.
Your points about China are well taken.
Thank you, Eric.
Interesting, Lynell. To me, that conversation (about hawks vs. doves) always seemed to be about theoretical situations, or events where there was a choice. In this case, in my brain, there is no choice. There is wrong and there is right. This is not political or economical (although it is also those things) but it is basic humanity. Putin is a monster and his soldiers are monsters. The Ukrainians are innocent, peaceful people. End of discussion!
Agree 100%, Kim. I was recalling a time when, as you say, people were choosing sides; and the discussion centered around Vietnam.
Yes, different times. Although I imagine people on both sides felt there was no choice probably.
Morning, Lynell!
Morning, Ally! Remember back in January 2021 right after President Biden was inaugurated? I thought, well, soon Heather won't be writing Letters From An American anymore. Glad to be wrong about that; but some of the news she is compelled to report, not so much!
Hope you and yours - all of them! - are doing well these days.
We are. Traveled to Medford today for my nephewтАЩs birthday. Family times!!
Fern, which Ukraine NGO are you or Snyder referring to? There is no link on your posting and the linked edition of SnyderтАЩs newsletter is restricted to paid subscribers.
Thanks for summarizing the key points, though!
Fern posted a corrected link which you haven't seen. https://snyder.substack.com/p/why-the-world-needs-ukrainian-victory
Thanks, Judith. Actually, Fern posted the link in response to my inquiry. The original thread of Substack comments has now been altered, so my posting is anachronistic.
Happy weekend to you, Judith!
Back at you!
Just FYI, Fern, my husband's old hoodie is a fright! So I just purchased a new one for him from Saint Javelin. Picked up a flag while there as well. And a tank top and t-shirt as we head into warmer weather.
Thanks for this, Fern. I would not have seen it.
Thank for posting this information!
In addition to World Central Kitchen, there are more than 20 recognized Charitable organizations working in Ukraine among them are Polish Red Cross, Catholic Relief, Jewish Relief, and World Vision. A number of Charities are focusing on particular sectors, but a nation moves forward on its stomach.
Zelenskyy formed United24 in May 2022 to provide a central funding source.
However, do not forget Turkey and Syria! 48,000+ Dead with no housing for Millions. Again, they must Eat before they can cleanup, plus there is a severe shortage of tents because so many have been used in Ukraine, Myanmar and throughout Africa (where Wagner Group has destabilized 3 different nations' governments for their mineral riches!).
Thanks for this, Westtrekker. I will keep these organizations in mind as I go forward.
It's one thing to see the text of his speech in writing; watching it on TV was awe-inspiring. It is rare that our Secretary has that kind of impact on the UN. I compare it to Adlai Stevenson's "I am prepared to wait for my answer until hell freezes over" after he asked the Soviet Union representative if his country was installing missiles in Cuba.
Blinken is a statesman unlike to two bozos wearing the тАШempty suit and lapel pinтАЩ of the position in the previous demonic administration!
ЁЯТп!! Once again my passionate gratitude to President Biden for carefully choosing the best for his team!! тЭдя╕ПтЭдя╕П And a big reason the criticismтАЩs about his age are rubbish!! The single thing about leadership courses that has always spoken the loudest to me is about choosing your team wisely.
With that said one can argue that tfgтАЩs choices were always perfect picks for his mission to destroy our freedoms (the wiliest of foxes in every hen house)
I agree. The team is a marvel. Although inflation financial decisions are often over my head, I really like Janet Yellen. Especially since she lit into the Russians recently!
YES! Blinken was so powerful!!
Thanks for suggesting we watch the speech, James.
It is a moving experience.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lNiIrXDN9V4
If only there were ears to hear, maybe the deafness of the aggressors will lessen with his wordsтАж
Blinken says: "Bombing schools and hospitals and apartment buildings to rubble is not normal. "
An interesting statement made by Blinken at the UN to be sure.
Because, when the United States was bombing schools, hospitals, mosques and apartments, first in Afghanistan and then more thoroughly during "Shock and Awe" in Iraq, Blinken did not make a peep of a sound nor did any US representative at the UN from the United States.
IF the US truly does not want "Bombing schools and hospitals and apartment buildings to rubble"
Then the US should not be the world's role model for that behavior for 20 years.
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/03/world/asia/03afghan.html?unlocked_article_code=2uOxq3Vjk5kEq8PYilLS7qBcuVhJneWc-8UL067B8wC_UdtERY46JNohjNIJ-fktEkb2pWZvhUjMU39_s1F1nfL5R5nUrWdOkvV5dbohElzvw82jo8kNDNEKYx6pCpyyic3OfckSnBe6Z0ZqLcFbg9ZIGiPKdZauMZX4oNN0lRTbEBMMbWeI6oEr5En-rTq2vPO6CLROTPwM5FcoV4W5VHc-WILNqQapiu8AlAOBTioQKILyZir5FzktIQonari8x0eloQaGWnV7m_2-aoadw8lyoen8MSQlEHoyzOA0VhkxPQbTUmg37R6d-EkAxnUQQz9GaOg&smid=share-url
Link from a Tuscon newspaper:
https://tucson.com/news/world/9-afghan-boys-killed-in-error-by-coalition-copters/article_fba77997-5e8b-57f8-9743-67e9959c6bfd.html
And, today, this wonderful tidbit of US torture during our wonderful time in Iraq and Afghanistan. Seriously, folks, all this wonderful speech by the US today? Sure seems like BS to me having paid attention to what we were doing for the previous 20 years to real people.
https://www.nytimes.com/2023/02/24/us/politics/cia-torture-guantanamo-nashiri-doctor.html?unlocked_article_code=mWlMDTLyhjIE0rxNPyCJAr4Qr2PrnUeAFqmB6muqVFq-yfc04vyAjy-tSi3ufhfeZuH3ZeqCzccBRZMU7TR-IsP7O_or_RtvLAuNLOoWrKykDiyVnrGHVYZW0tiffy1eJM6mIs1-ikHZaL9zsV6EbBdKhXZ4uLCQOQ9kdDlMCqyidIaF-Yj7rIdd2QeTcOJBmIRgBKTfCloTAxpitrkrjCWQpTW3vixdXtJ_pK6btEMVe31zYS2pbMvH3JcprRse8r42o1o6wmwhTkFOKBqvUc-bSi1ry3ty6p55arjG58bFdYIu4LtBm9vWqUWoy0swB0_z2RVF_sN5yyjdH6X5SaD40bSY09SboRqIXHWrzoe0Nz4&smid=url-share
And this civilian strike with a bomb.
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/11/13/us/us-airstrikes-civilian-deaths.html?unlocked_article_code=fo_7BHY8Oj_ybAuUxy7SRRBi7gV-7w1q-x_y9C3rZ2ksyHdydTYpfzk90izwLd6AcObeMErFYvWPefPC4YYYjKzfqL5MYwkLEq39lHabCflcRmEiw76wAg8b9YUS7WzvlDWLnQGR3HsCLyhzHgNeHIlS0HHZyqTsBa2vM4D81ZMYgyFpvudu1TQ6E2xWnMmwmV6F03aa0zeRqlpSpAn-ijnRo2sSCpmDJPqM86TG5zFclL2xbm5mmyA1klZLsd18yY0iQbGL0wdF257UQZUtOM6dSYktPrxTADaBsHmfZxOB88ZrRQepgQANDuj5YQA6HpupN_f3DQS_shMTxXNwBF5L&smid=url-share
Seriously folks. TWENTY YEARS of bombing whatever, whenever, whomever we wanted.
Mike-You are totally right about U.S. contradictions. We profess тАЬliberty and justice for allтАЭ but donтАЩt apply this equally within our own country. We have caused numerous atrocities and fail to live up to our stated ideals both at home and abroad.
I wonder if we will ever learn. Our history should show the world that while weтАЩve made some horrible blunders attacking other nations, we learned that war is not the answer.
тАЬI want to say one other challenge that we face is simply that we must find an alternative to war and bloodshedтАжPresident Kennedy said on one occasion, тАШMankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankindтАЩ. The world must hear this.тАЭ
(From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.тАШs speech at the National Cathedral in Washington DC on March 31, 1968 as he was protesting the Vietnam War)
When war is no longer profitable for elites and when tyrants are no longer tolerated (emboldened even) then maybe we can rid the world of needless wars-whether physical or cultural. Humanity can be so much better than it has been..
LetтАЩs hope that weтАЩll learn the lessons that history teaches usтАж
Bravo Gina! Thanks for the reminder of our more "Human" leaders and the wisdom the imparted to us. Let us never forget these quotations so eloquently put.
Excellent post and quote from MLK
Our history does indeed contain much of which we should be ashamed, as that of most nations does, along with things in which we can take pride. But that does not disqualify us from doing what is obviously right today.
This is why we learn from the past.
тАж and donтАЩt dwell on the past so thoroughly that we canтАЩt recognize how to move forward to make a better world.
Mike S. Let's accept that history as a damnable reality for the United States; a reality going back centuries. Representatives of the United States like Blinken, or Biden for that matter, should therefore do precisely what about Putin's actions? When a country has erred, led by many different administrations, has sinned against mankind, what should that country do going forward? This seems to me to be the essential question we are asking of Russia as well as ourselves.
Two things that can be done (and should have been done long ago: #1...cease allowing the military industrial complex, which thrives on conflict and often-subtly, or not-encourages such conflicts, and #2...discourage corporations with no concern other than profit from also encouraging conflicts that further only THEIR OWN interests.
What's the Point --- good faith comment or another Substack Author poacher? Review your 'Authors' Substack Inc contract please.
Bryan, as an apparently brilliant lawyer, IтАЩm wondering if you could explain this comment (that you sometimes post) to our less lawyerly minds. The crypticness of your comment is a barrier to engagement in debate. Thank you ЁЯЩП
The US was fortunate to have very wise and compassionate leaders creating our founding documents, perhaps not the least of which we can be grateful for their respecting and embracing the indigenous ways of governing. Culture is very strong and may require decades to change. We have to envision and want the change if we are ever to get there. ItтАЩs up to each new generation to keep reaching for the better angels of our nature. Most importantly how do we stop giving away power to bullies and authoritarians?
тАЬтАЭThe mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely, they will be, by the better angels of our nature.тАЭ
тАФ Abraham Lincoln тАУ First Inaugural AddressтАЭ
https://www.lincolnpresidential.org/giving/better-angels-alliance/
Good question.
But. Perhaps if we had not normalized war Putin would not be following our example and the question you pose would be moot?
JohnM.
I think we should consider the possibility that had we not role modelled shock and awe for 20 years perhaps Putin would not have concluded that invading Ukraine was Ok.
While I suspect tRump in the white house for 4 years was likely a greater and more immediate influence on Putin's beliefs about what he could do in Ukraine, let's stipulate the possibility that "shock and awe" campaign influenced Putin's fantasies about and actions in Ukraine, what would you suggest that we can or should do NOW that he's there and continues to violate all norms of war and 75 years of European border stability?
So would you like the US, and itтАЩs allies helping Ukraine, to withdraw and let the Russian thugs overrun a Democratic country, and then continue on to Poland and elsewhere? Despite the awful history this country has, your suggestions fall in line with the parochial and, TBH, traitorous mumblings of the Republican thugs in Washington and on Fox. Get a grip. If Ukraine falls, we fall with it. If Poland falls, weтАЩll be embroiled in a global catastrophe which will make climate change look like a walk in the park.
That is a pointless rhetorical question. The criticism of BlinkenтАЩs speech for its apparent blindness to even the most recent history of US aggression is widespread тАФhypocrisy is grating to most people, and the implicit whitewashing of our history insults the intelligence of those not seduced by the odor of sanctity. In what HCR calls тАЬthe rest of the world,тАЭ meaning the rather exclusive G7, people are weary of our belief that we can starve nations with our sanctions, break the Geneva Conventions in firebombing Fallujah with white phosphorus, commit tortureтАФand justify it!тАФfor years in a war for oil, and then invoke national sainthood by denouncing Russia for its war of aggression. Putin is a coldly vicious autocrat and has deluded his people, yes, as well as visiting frankly imperialist violence in a neighboring nation, yes. That does not make saints of us or given Blinken a pass for strutting in this preposterous way. He could have admitted that we were in no position to trumpet sanctimoniously against wars of aggression, and promised to commit our nation to the path of peace, away from the neoliberal sabre-rattling that has followed our own latest imperialist adventure. But that wouldnтАЩt go over, a couple days after Biden promised to go on arming Ukraine тАЬas long as it takes.тАЭ We like Forever WarsтАФwe have the worldтАЩs mightiest arms industry. OK, so be it. But donтАЩt ask to be canonized for it. I am deeply disappointed in Professor RichardsonтАЩs column today.
ThatтАЩs OK Mary. You may be pure of heart and want to believe in a world without monsters. Unfortunately the monsters are here and require us to continually learn how we can improve on keeping them out of powerful positions. But while they are here we must do what we can to stop their atrocities. ItтАЩs not our тАЬgovernmentтАЩs faultтАЭ. It is the fault of we the people who have failed to keep the Jimmy Carters in power.
Christy I don't follow your comment. I don't believe in a world without monsters, alas. I believe in a world with lots of monsters, and at least among the big imperial powers--Russia, China, the US--no saints. The point of my complaint against Blinken's speech (not our actions necessarily, though I'm flabbergasted by Biden's promise that we will, yet again, "stay as long as it takes"--can we have an end-game please?) is that we're simply in no position to fling moral brickbats. If we didn't approve of wars of aggression we wouldn't wage them. We have big power reasons to to help Ukraine, and the people of Ukraine may well benefit from that. I'm glad they will, though I'm not convinced they'll benefit in the long run--any more than "the women and girls of Afghanistan" did from our last pledge to stay as long as it takes (as long as what takes? how many years did we stay after bagging Bin Laden--in Pakistan?). I spent time with a lot of Ukrainian refugees and their kids in Europe this past summer. They're deeply traumatized. By what? By the violence and chaos of war. Is Forever war the only option?
Not sure if my comment I just posted will clarify my meaning. Monsters cannot be reasoned with, they only respect brute strength, and their violence can only be stopped by a greater physical force. I have to say the argument about our past rankles me. How will we ever do better or be better if we hide in the shadows of our shame over crimes committed by leaders elected to power by prior generations. I want to be better and do better! тЭдя╕П
Respectfully Mary if you were acting as Blinken / the US how would you handle this atrocity?
Marj, as I tried and clearly failed to make clear, it is not his actions I was complaining about. I was responding to responses in the comments to his *speech*, which HCRтАЩs column today mostly just quoted. People laugh at us, at best, in other countries when we play the saint (I know because IтАЩve lived in 4 of the G7). It is possible and indeed laudable to do the right thing while maintaining the humility appropriate to the Secretary of a State that has committed the same crimes itself (right down to kidnapping 1000s of children to raise and enculturate in the society of their enemies). Big imperial states like ours are not saintly, as we see clearly when looking at China and Russia. If we were who we like to say we are, and who the Founders hoped weтАЩd be, we would see ourselves more clearly and speak with more modesty. (And we would not fight wars of aggression in which a million people die in order to control fossil fuels in the midst of rapid and potentially apocalyptic climate change. Which is NOT to say that Russia should get away with invading Ukraine and bombing its hospitals!)
Thank you Mary. Complicated times make resolutions seemingly impossible. Haven't all times been complicated though. 'Imagine all the people Sharing all the world' ~John Lennon
тАЬIf we are who we say we areтАЭ in a democracy, sadly, is effected by propaganda, which technology has drowned us in.
Good question.
But. My point was: perhaps, had we not role modeled war for 20 years Putin may not have followed our example.
So am I. It reads like pro-war propaganda, and most of the comments here show that people are riding the bandwagon without asking themselves whether they really want a long term commitment to this war. Oh, Blinken was so commanding! Oh, Biden is so wise and compassionate! Think about the other times we heard such piffle. War is death, torture, starvation, but most of all it's money money money, that after a year, has done zero to dial down this war; instead, it's escalating.
Marycat2021, your last sentence hits home. I saw and heard through the walls so many traumatized people, including children, in Europe last summer and early fall: shattered by "death, torture, starvation" and the terror that chaos unleashes. And shattered people are not all little girls with big sad eyes like in velveteen paintings. One night in Paris I spent hours helping to handle the psychotic break of a large middle-aged Ukrainian woman who attacked a slight student posing for a snapshot in the street, striking her in the temple and screaming over and over "Where are your papers?! YOU HAVE NO PAPERS!!" My biggest worry is the long term effect of so much trauma on the population. Of Ukraine, and also--why do we never talk about it?--of the people in Yemen. I guess we never do because the autocrat responsible for the carnage there is MBS, with whom (despite his assassination of our Washington Post reporter) the President fist bumps.
Absolutely great post and writing. Thank you.
"Does atoning for past sins require the United States to unilaterally disarm while both Russia and China threaten their neighbors?" No Mr. Dicker, agreed, it does not. If you're responding to my post, I'll just reiterate that I was objecting to the hubris of Secretary Blinken's *speech.* I said there, and agree here, Putin is a vicious brute. That doesn't give us the right to vaunt morally against countries that fight wars of aggression for self-aggrandizing motives. It does give us the duty to 1) examine our own militarism, 2) speak modestly, and 3) defend the rights of those who suffer such aggression, as currently do the people of Ukraine. (As also do, by the way, the people of Yemen, whose suffering has not stirred Blinken to such eloquence.)
How we defend those rights is a live question. By escalating the violence? By diplomacy? What is our plan for ending this? Does Russia know about it? Our recent flight from Afghanistan should keep in sight the advisability of an end-game.
As many experts on the psychopathology of violent bullies have repeated over and over and over. There is NO diplomacy with the likes of Putin. Military strength is the only thing that will keep him from terrorizing the entire free world.
I respect the years of scholarly study of experts in their field. TSnyderтАЩs argument has already been posted today so IтАЩll just add another expert opinion to it:
тАЬWe may like to think that Putin may abandon this grandiose mission or "come to his sensesтАЭ because he is being humiliated every day on the battlefield, but that is not how autocrats operate. Until the United States and its allies give Ukraine the weapons it needs to repel the Russian invader, Putin will consider it worth his while to continue a war he thinks will put him on par with Peter the Great.
Authoritarianism is about having the power to get away with crime. Waging a genocidal war against another country without other nations forcing a cessation of conflict counts as a big win in the autocratic world. Far from standing down, look for Putin to escalate hostilities as this tragic war enters its second year.тАЭ from Ruth Ben-Ghiat
Mary.
My point: if we had not normalized war for 20 years Putin may not have followed our example.
Derek.
I think there is a reasonable chance that had the US not role modeled continuous war for 20 years Putin may not have concluded that was a good thing to do: go to war.
Our brutal campaigns in Iraq & Afghanistan were begun by the George W. Bush administration. His Secretaries of State were Colin Powell & Condoleezza Rice.
Guilty as charged.
Mike I am an old "peacenik." Never was there a war that didn't activate my protests. Of course you are right. Nevertheless, I find this war different. I believe the message to challenge Putin's aggression. Stop him there or there's no stopping him anywhere. He's a cruel, ruthless automaton. So, respectfully I say to you, not all wars are America's errors.
Frankly, when it comes to wars, they all seem to be generated by men behaving badly. In Putin and Hitler's cases they were antisocial and personality-disordered to begin with. I ask myself why don't these guys face off like fights in the coliseum, or medieval jousts, and stop sending their innocent citizens to their deaths. It amazes me---not in a good way---that the world allows such horror to continue when a simple solution is so obvious.
Thank you. I paused for a moment before reading comments, but wanted to see if anyone else would point out the rank hypocrisies in Blinken's speech. Atrocities in war *are* normal--have we already forgotten how easily we became cheerleaders for the good wars in Iraq and Afghanistan? I shiver.
As much as I deplore Putin's actions, watching us slide easily into this moralistic rhetoric is disheartening. Europe learned humility--at least for a little while--from the devastation of the wars of the Twentieth Century, while all the US seems to have learned is that we are always the heroes--as we march backward toward our own reenactment of suicidal fascism here at home.
Dr. Richardson knows the history well. The Indian Child Welfare Act is under attack this year in the Supreme Court, while in South Dakota the 50th anniversary of the 1973 occupation of Wounded Knee is being commemorated this weekend--which occupation arguably led to the reversal of federal policy of placing Native children in white families. Kidnapping others' children? We never stopped. It should not be normal, but here it certainly seems to be.
Reality is subtle and complex. We are not and never will be pure. War is an atrocity, and we need to keep our eyes open while we try to find a way to end this one without giving Putin what he wants. Is hypocritical bluster a strategic necessity? Maybe. That doesn't make it less hypocritical.
America is a war country built on violent conquest and genocide. However, we have convinced ourselves that we're the good guys, the heroes, the moral society, when we're no better than anyone else. We are not having the conversations we should be having on what war means for all of us, what it does to our collective consciousness, our memories, and why we refuse to ever really hold any politicians accountable for anything. Trump should have been impeached for kidnapping refugee and indigenous children and shipping them to strangers as though they were stray kittens.
Very well written.
Excellent bit of writing !
Were readers who find themselves here ever 'cheerleaders for the war in Iraq?!'
Yes, we should be called out for our own bad behavior when we are behaving badly. That doesn't make anything in Blinken's speech any less true.
Ah Yes indeed! Hubris thy name is "Collateral Damage."
Thank you, Mike. I posted a comment today simply asking something the folks on the pro-war bandwagon haven't considered. What's our exit strategy? Or will the US enjoy another endless war supporting the deaths of tens of thousands of human beings? The defense contractors are raking in billions in weapons sales, and this cannot go on indefinitely.
The pro-war propaganda machine is flooding the media, and this always works like a charm to stop people from asking questions the government doesn't want to answer.
Mary at, my main point was: iIf we had not role modelled war and hubris for 20 years maybe Putin would not now be following our lead?
When they look like us it's an atrocity, when they don't it's a necessity. :*(
Say it again!
Exactly.? And why all this bleeding heart when children in this country cry for food. Enough of the тАЬ lapel pin тАЬ blather.
Demand that our leaders have ethics and adhere to our laws.
Kick Putin off the planet, get Snowden home to give us his expertise on computers and quit shoveling horse manure around to pretend we care.
Those of us who do care voted for change. LetтАЩs kick some тАЬA__ __тАЭ.
How about saying something useful? Or is there "no point"? Why is it so hard to accept others' views as legitimate?
Who here is supporting Russia? NO ONE.
No.
My point was: Had we not role modeled horrible war for 20 years perhaps Putin would not have felt so entitled to follow our example.
Huh?
Hi James--I've said at least 4 times in several different ways that I wasn't offering suggestions about what to do, or arguing about what we've done in Ukraine so far. That is your interest, and that is a serious interest. I respect it. Me, I was just complaining--as someone who studies rhetoric and its history and teaches people to analyze it--about his SPEECH, the topic of Prof. Richardson's column today. To me speeches are important, in fact a kind of action. This speech was self-blinded and thus inappropriately worded: it won't impress listeners among our allies in the G7, who routinely complain about (or mock) American lack of self-reflection and our inability to glimpse how we look from the outside. There are many ways to say Ukraine deserves our support and will get it (there are also many ways to provide it, and opinion among those who know is divided about the best ways) without waxing indignant about countries who fight wars of aggression and bomb civilians. We gave up the right to take that tack when we fought our first war of aggression (during which we invented waterboarding), and bombed our first residential district, and we've done both many times--in some cases so recently that only children have no memories of it. It's foolish to pretend that we soar angelically above the moral standards of Russian warfare. I work hard to keep from having to live in an autocracy like Putin's--he is, to make the point a third time, a brute. But I believe that moral tact is a more effective form of speech, and I know from living in four G7 countries that our lack of it makes our allies uneasy and the choice to follow our lead unclear.
Ditto.
It only matters if someone acts on it.
CouldnтАЩt have said it better, so I wonтАЩt try.
Yes, but we're still under the influence of the permanent war paradigm, where the US holds much responsibility...
Oh, come on, Candace! What would "America's Mayor" say----
"Truth isn't Truth"!ЁЯдгЁЯдгЁЯШ▓ЁЯШ▓ЁЯдг
Magnificent...