War and Man's Inhumanity to Man

 When I arrived at my US Army post in Nha Trang, South Vietnam in May of 1968 I saw a sign that read :  "Though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death I will fear no evil for I am the evilest son of a bitch in the Valley" (a bad reference to Psalm 23).   Welcome to the hell of war, I thought.  Don't think I would say such a thing here nor anywhere. I could not believe anyone could say such a thing.  I learned later that war makes people lose their moral compass.  Ordinary men become monsters.  On an outing in town one evening, as I was returning to base a drunk GI was trying to grab people passing on motorcycles so he could throw them down and possibly injure or kill them.

Today I read a sad story in the Wall Street Journal of a Russian Wagner group, private army recruit.  Click here for the story.  This man was recruited out of prison with the promise of freedom if he survived after six months of war.  He did not know what he was getting into.  He surrendered to the Ukrainians and was later turned over to the Russians in a prisoner exchange.  Now, the Ukrainians knew that this would be a death sentence; yet they did it.  The Russians brutally butchered the man upon his arrival into their hands.  How can men be so brutal to each other?  Life means nothing in such circumstances. 

The Wagner Group is brutal in their treatment of their own soldiers.  You do what you're ordered to do even if it means a suicide charge of enemy positions.  If you retreat, you're shot by your own people. Welcome to the hell of war.

The Failure of the United Nations

 The United Nations (UN) was originally established after World War II to promote peace in the world.  It's no secret that it has been a complete failure at this.  Let's start with the present and go back.  Last year the Russians invaded Ukraine for the purpose of conquering it and re-establishing the old Soviet Union.  Have you heard any condemnation from the UN about the Ukraine invasion?  If they have, I've not heard it.  The Russians are committing horrible war crimes against humanity in Ukraine.  Where is the outrage?  The Russians have bombed hospitals, children centers and leveled most of Ukraine.  Where is the outrage from the UN? 

The UN has a big microphone; they could make use of it regularly but yet it's silent.  This is par for the course.  When have you heard the UN make any attempts to stop a conflict?  Oh, yes, they have sent some soldiers to hot spots such as Lebanon and the former Yugoslavia, but what has been the result?  

China has recently made it known that they want to conquer Taiwan.  Did you ever hear the UN raise a fuss about it?  No.  Silence.  This is the MO of the UN.  See no evil, hear no evil.  Now they do make their voices heard at times, such as for global warming, for the "woke" agenda and the like, but for world peace?  Nothing.  Stalin was famous for asking the question, "how many divisions does the Pope have?"  The same can be said of the UN.  They have no power and they refuse to use the big pulpit that they have to promote peace.  

When I was studying Public Administration in college there was a saying that once a bureaucracy is established its impossible to get rid of it.  This can be said of the UN.  Even-though they're useless, we can't get rid of it.  I would propose that we stop paying any of their costs.  In business, if you fail, no one will give you money; the same should be done with the UN.

The Importance of Helping Ukraine

 As a conservative I'm amazed at some of my fellow conservatives' animus toward helping Ukraine win their war against Russia.  The other day, one of my friends mentioned that he had heard that there are a lot Nazis in Ukraine.  What?  Where did he hear this from?  This is the false propaganda put out by the hallucinating Putin, as one of his delusional reasons for invading Ukraine.   I've heard similar false fantasies similar to this from other hard-right followers.  Few countries have had a more devastating and murderous history than the Ukrainians. If we just go back to World War II, the Soviet leader Josef Stalin starved four to seven million Ukrainians so he could force them into his farm collectivism.  Click here for the history of this.  After Stalin, the German Nazis came in and invaded the Soviet Union;  devastateing Ukraine, killing millions.  The Nazis were especially adept at getting help from the local population in killing Jews.  In Kiev alone, over 30,000 Jews were murdered by the Nazis.  The Nazis MO was to surround a big city such as Kiev and starve it to death.  A method they repeated in Leningrad.  After the Nazis we had 60 plus years of Soviet Union oppression. For a more detailed history of the Nazi invasion of Russia see the book, "Kiev 1941 Hitler's Battle for Supremacy in the East" by David Stahl, Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Many Ukrainian deniers of our day will say such things as what do we have to do with a "border conflict" that does not affect us?  What?  This is akin to what Neville Chamberlain said when he made "peace" with Hitler over the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia in 1938.  When the Ottoman Turks were conquering the world, the Europeans had the same "I don't care" response.  It does not affect us so we will ignore it.  Well, the Ottomans were not satisfied to conquer the Byzantines, nor the Balkans, they wanted the rest of the world.  They finally reached the door of Europe.  First in the Siege of Vienna in 1529 and again,  the second Siege of Vienna in 1683.  So, a war far away from your border is not your problem?  Wait until they reach your back door.  Europeans today have the same "not interested" attitude.  Sure they're providing some weapons to Ukraine, but their heart is really not there. I recently saw an Instagram video by an Italian politician criticizing the NATO leader Jens Stoltenberg for his support of Ukraine.  When I commented that I agree with the NATO leader, I got some ad hominem attacks.  One (an Italian) responded to my comment that I would be sent to war and then "I would cry for my mommy."  I never mentioned that I was a soldier in a war - Vietnam.  This clueless person exemplifies the malicious nonchalance of the "if it's not in my backyard, I don't care crowd." This attitude has had deadly effects in history.  If the Europeans had been more involved during the Ottoman Turks conquests, Turkey today would not occupy the former Eastern Roman Empire, aka, Asia Minor.  I often hear criticism of Americans in regard to our helping others militarily.   Europeans owe their life to American help.  Without it, Europe would have been under the Nazis after WWII.   The French still do not understand this, after being rescued by Americans twice in 20 years. WWII was far away from America, but America responded to save their European brethren, with little appreciation to this day.

If Russia conquered Ukraine, they will demolish, as they have already done, much of the country and slaughter the Ukrainian population in the process.  Even if you're one of the "not in my backyard" crowd this alone should awaken you to a moral peril that affects every one of us.  Second, Russia will not be satisfied with Ukraine.  They will go after Belarus, Moldova, Georgia, the Baltic states and others.  When will you awake?  When rockets rain down on your city?  Third, a Russian victory will embolden China to conquer Taiwan.  They will not be satisfied with Taiwan either.   Do I have to draw you a map? Was Hitler satisfied with the Sudetenland?  Was he satisfied with occupying most of Europe?  After he accomplished all of this he attacked Russia.  What more examples can I give?