U.S. policy in Ukraine dumb and dumber

Just yesterday the U.S. reiterated its stance it is not seeking to promote a negotiated truce between Ukraine and Russia that could end their month long war. It also re-stated that the best help in can provide is to flood more weaponry into the war zone.

That is even dumber than the dumb U.S. policy since 2008 of dangling NATO membership to Ukraine, supporting a coup to topple the Russian leaning elected Ukraine president, then arming and training the new ultra nationalist government to fight the civil war ignited by that U.S. coup. Over 13,000 have been killed in the Donbass, mostly Russian speaking Ukrainians, in the 8 years since.

So while Russia’s war is illegal, immoral and criminal, dumb U.S. policies played a major provocation. Poke the beehive long enough, the bees will eventually attack.

But once the war started, U.S. policy got even dumber, if that was at all possible. Ukraine has no chance of prevailing militarily to drive out Russian forces. Based on their widely regarded poor performance, Russia will likely get bogged down in a Vietnam style insurgency that will bleed Russia endlessly.

Those are precisely conditions that make a negotiated settlement possible, and the 2 sides have been talking daily in Turkey brokered peace talks. But rather than praise Turkey’s efforts, the U.S. and the rest of NATO prefer MALT (More Arms, Less Talk). That may weaken Russia in the long term, but in the short term it will pile up more dead Ukrainians and more demolished buildings.

Dumb in Dumber in the movies was a comedy. U.S. Dumb and Dumber in Ukraine is a tragedy.

Preventive’ wars, 19 years apart, both illegal, immoral, criminal

In August, 2002, after a 35 year absence from the peace movement, following the Vietnam War. I re-upped. Why? I read an article buried deep in the Chicago Trib about America’s multi-billion dollar buildup in the Middle East to attack Iraq over their presumed but fictitious WMD program. It strongly implied it was too late to stop America’s advance to pre-emptive war regardless of what the ongoing UN inspectors found.

Sure enough, 7 months later the U.S. did attack, 19 years ago this day. Hundreds of thousands of dead people and trillions of wasted U.S. treasure, the U.S. still has soldiers defiling Iraq. They still encounter attacks from Iraqi militia who, along with the Iraqi government, want us out.

President George W. Bush and his war cabinet sold our citizenry the Iraq war with lies, propaganda and fear tactics. It worked perfectly to garner support for a murderous war that should never have been fought.

And on this sorrowful anniversary of a war that should never have been fought, America is involved, indirectly, in another preventive war that should never have been fought. But this time it is Russia that started, what it calls a preventive war, against its neighbor Ukraine.

While America is working mightily to aid Ukraine short of direct involvement, it has never come to terms with its own illegal, immoral and criminal war in Iraq. Nineteen years on it’s virtually forgotten. If mentioned at all, it’s simply to call it a mistake.

Nineteen years from now Russia, like the U.S., may still be in Ukraine…and simply calling its tragic consequences a mistake.

To paraphrase Gertrude Stein in her 1913 poem ‘Sacred Emily’, ‘A criminal war is a criminal war…is a criminal war.’

Is Zelensky trying to get us all killed?

Up till Russia’s criminal war against Ukraine February 24, few Americans understood America’s tortured history with Ukraine, much less its president was Volodymyr Zelensky. Now Zelensky’ is touted thruout U.S. and NATO countries as the new Churchill for his courageous stand against Russian aggression, refusing any thought for his personal safety.

But while the onus for any criminal war is on the country that starts it, reckless conduct of the attacked both before and during the war must be considered in understanding the conflict. On that score President Zelensky is a failure.

He was president only 21 months before the war began. During that time he lobbied for Ukraine to join NATO, which gave the lie to his claim of seeking a better relationship with Russia. He also continued Ukraine’s relentless shelling of the breakaway Russian speaking provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk in the Donbass. Over 13,000 dead there refutes any Zelensky claim to being a leader for peace.

What he should have done to improve relations with Russia; indeed, avoid war, was renounce any intention to join NATO, and implement the 2015 Minsk II Accords, which would have granted the provinces semi autonomy while keeping them under Ukraine sovereignty.

Were those reckless actions rookie mistakes, or was Zelensky simply unfit to ever function on the world stage?

His statements since the war began 26 days ago point to the latter. Faced with an utterly unwinnable war devastating his country, he played the World War III card to get direct U.S./NATO involvement. He requested, begged, even demanded a No-Fly Zone to shoot down Russian aircraft. The U.S. and NATO said in effect, ‘Are you crazy. That means World War III.’

Zelensky upped the march to Armageddon yesterday, asserting he’s considering entering the current Ukraine-Russian negotiation being brokered by NATO member Turkey. The he dropped the stupid bomb, stating that if negotiations fail, “that would result in a third world war”.

A sensible leader doesn’t call for help from other countries that world likely result in World War III. Even worse is telegraphing your negotiating position on ending criminal war: ‘Give in to me or risk World War.’

Zelensky, a lawyer tuned comedian and entertainment mogul, is not stupid. But as president he reminds me a bit of Bob Dylan’s line in ‘Masters of War’: “You masters of war, play with my world, like it’s your little toy.’

U.S. policy in Ukraine dumb and dumber

Just yesterday the U.S. reiterated its stance it is not seeking to promote a negotiated truce between Ukraine and Russia that could end their month long war. It also re-stated that the best help in can provide is to flood more weaponry into the war zone.

That is even dumber than the dumb U.S. policy since 2008 of dangling NATO membership to Ukraine, supporting a coup to topple the Russian leaning elected Ukraine president, then arming and training the new ultra nationalist government to fight the civil war ignited by that U.S. coup. Over 13,000 have been killed in the Donbass, mostly Russian speaking Ukrainians, in the 8 years since.

So while Russia’s war is illegal, immoral and criminal, dumb U.S. policies played a major provocation. Poke the beehive long enough, the bees will eventually attack.

But once the war started, U.S. policy got even dumber, if that was at all possible. Ukraine has no chance of prevailing militarily to drive out Russian forces. Based on their widely regarded poor performance, Russia will likely get bogged down in a Vietnam style insurgency that will bleed Russia endlessly.

Those are precisely conditions that make a negotiated settlement possible, and the 2 sides have been talking daily in Turkey brokered peace talks. But rather than praise Turkey’s efforts, the U.S. and the rest of NATO prefer MALT (More Arms, Less Talk). That may weaken Russia in the long term, but in the short term it will pile up more dead Ukrainians and more demolished buildings.

Dumb in Dumber in the movies was a comedy. U.S. Dumb and Dumber in Ukraine is a tragedy.

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