Tag Archives: Ukraine

International news

Keep talking

on the border with Belarus. Talks between the warring nations concluded and the negotiators retired to their respective headquarters.

That’s the bad news. The good news? They are going to keep talking to each other.

Meanwhile, the Russian invasion of Ukraine isn’t going as well as Russian dictator Vladimir Putin had hoped. I keep hearing he hasn’t yet deployed the full force of the military arsenal lined up against Ukrainians. Still, for the Russians to think they could walk into Ukraine without getting a serious resistance is foolish in the extreme.

I will hold out hope that as long as the warring nations are talking that there will be a chance they can find a way to stop the shooting, the bombing and the killing. I figure the longer the fighting goes without the Russians being able to march into the Ukrainian capital of Kyiv, the better the chance for a deal to talk their way into something approaching a solution.

Now, if only someone could explain to me why the Russians decided to invade in the first place.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

Better to ‘jaw, jaw, jaw’

The great Winston Churchill once said that “it is better to jaw, jaw, jaw than to war, war, war.”

So it is that Ukrainian officials have agreed to meet with Russian officials in the midst of a “war, war, war.”

The sides are going to negotiate on the Belarus border. What will they say? Who knows?

I do know that I believe in the wisdom espoused by the great British prime minister who knew a thing or two about war, having led his country’s government through the bloodiest conflict in human history.

Let us all hope, and perhaps offer prayers a-plenty, to those who are talking while the Russians continue their assault on Ukraine. May it bear fruit.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

Putin has gone MAD

There needs to be a universal understanding of what is transpiring in Ukraine. Stay with me, as I will say this slowly and clearly: Vladimir Putin has attacked a sovereign country on Russia’s western border and is seeking to bring Ukrainians under Russian control; therefore, Vladimir Putin is the aggressor in this conflict.

OK. Are we clear on that?

What, then, in this world of ours is preventing some Americans — and some others around the world — from recognizing what is plainly obvious?

Some right-wing media nut jobs in the U.S.A. are suggesting out loud and in plain English that Ukraine has invited this naked aggression. By doing what, precisely? By, um, cozying up to its European neighbors? By suggesting it might want to join another treaty organization, such as, NATO?

Vladimir Putin’s flagrant assault on Ukraine is without a shred of merit.

The Russian dictator has lamented the end of the Soviet Union, calling it a dark day in history. He wants the USSR restored. I fear greatly he has re-started the Cold War with the United States and the rest of the “free world.”

He blusters about possessing those nukes and his top aides have threatened to use them if anyone interferes in this fight with Ukraine.

I now will remind Putin of the term with which I am certain he is familiar. That term is MAD, an acronym for “mutually assured destruction.” The United States has nukes, too, and the superpowers’ possession of those massive weapons kept them from destroying themselves and the rest of the world.

Putin’s aggression has brought us all — perhaps — to the brink of MADness once again.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news, national news

Time to come together

The world is reeling as Russian armed forces storm their way toward the capital city of Ukraine. They are meeting ferocious resistance from Ukrainians defending their sovereign nation against the invaders. They have earned the world’s support against the aggressors.

So, what has been the response in the United States? At one level, we see ordinary American citizens marching in unison in support of Ukraine. They fly the Ukrainian flag, wear the blue and yellow colors of that banner.

However, some politicians — namely Republicans in Washington — have chosen to politicize it all. They blame President Biden for Russia’s singular act of aggression. According to the Dallas Morning News editorial published today:

Just as President Joe Biden announced sanctions against Russia, the official Twitter account for U.S. House Republicans posted a tweet. It said: “This is what weakness on the world stage looks like.” And it included a photo of Biden walking away from a podium.

Later in the week, two Texas Republicans — U.S. Rep. Van Taylor and Sen. Ted Cruz — seized the moment to continue that narrative. Both rightly voiced support for Ukraine’s sovereignty and global efforts to save it, but then quickly pivoted to blame Biden for the invasion.

Taylor cites Biden’s chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan and scuttling of the Keystone XL Pipeline project as examples of the president emboldening Putin. Likewise, Cruz tweeted: “Biden’s weakness, both in general and his surrender on Nord Stream 2, undeniably facilitated Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.” And in another tweet, Cruz said, “America’s adversaries took note of Biden’s weakness and incompetence around the withdrawal from Afghanistan. That disaster alone increased the threats of our rivals attacking our allies ten-fold.”

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/editorials/2022/02/26/can-we-not-agree-that-putin-is-the-aggressor/

It is disappointing in the extreme for me to read about the conduct of my congressman, Van Taylor, who supposedly prides himself on working with Democrats. He claims credit for being non-partisan when the need arises.

Well, what in the hell does Rep. Taylor need to persuade him that such a need has arisen as the nation seeks a cogent response to Vladimir Putin’s act of aggression?

Ted Cruz? He’s a lost cause!

The time arrived the moment the tanks started rolling across the border into Ukraine for this nation to rally behind the commander in chief’s efforts to respond appropriately to an aggressive act.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news, medical news

Masks give you fits? C’mon!

The world is watching a drama play out in real time, with human beings suffering untold fear and anxiety as foreign troops invade their country, seeking to take it over and subjugate them to lives that no one can anticipate.

Meanwhile, many thousands of miles away in the United States of America, other human beings are bitching about — and this is rich — having to wear masks to protect them and others against a virus that has killed more than 900,000 Americans and something north of 5 million people around the world.

Politicians here are making lots of hay about mask wearing and social distancing. They complain about “totalitarian” government mandates. They vow to end them. Crowds of Americans cheer them on and vilify doctors and assorted scientific experts for suggesting we mask up and keep our distance to protect ourselves.

Oh, back to the real crisis developing, the one in Ukraine.

It is good, therefore, to put certain matters in their proper perspective. This is my way of saying that Americans ought to stop bitching about wearing a mask and turn our attention to the real terror facing our fellow citizens of the world.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

national news

What is the State of our Union?

President Biden is getting ready to deliver a speech that many of us have waited to hear. He will stand before a joint session of Congress and after a few opening remarks and perhaps a quip or two he will tell us about the State of our Union.

He is likely to make a declaration that starts out, “My fellow Americans, the State of our Union is … “

Is it “strong”? Is it “weak”? Is it “troubled”? Is it a mixed bag of all of the above and perhaps even something none of us can quantify?

Were I advising the president, I would urge him to offer a “strong” description of our Union’s current condition. Not because all is well and good. But because I cling to the hope that despite our trouble and anxiety that Americans’ collective strength will see us through it all.

Our political structure is roiling under The Big Lie that too many politicians continue to foster about the 2020 presidential election. Congress is examining whether a former POTUS incited an insurrection against our democratic process; I believe he did, but I am not in a position to make an official declaration.

We’re facing down in real time a serious threat by Russia against Ukraine. Our NATO allies stand ready to defend Ukraine if they deem it necessary.

Our economy, while it is exhibiting tangible strength, continues to struggle with raging inflation.

And yes, the pandemic is waning … at least for now.

President Biden will stand before a Congress divided by suspicion among its members toward each other and by those on one side of the great divide who continue to resist any effort on the president’s part to actually govern responsibly.

We’ll wait for the applause lines and we’ll watch the Democratic half of Congress cheer while Republicans sit on their hands. It will disgust many of us.

The Union’s strength lies in the people who are the real bosses. It isn’t the congressional leaders who seek to guide federal policy while ignoring the will of those they govern.

I don’t know what President Biden will declare about the strength of our nation at the State of the Union speech he will deliver in a few days. I just hope he tells us we are stronger than the forces that seek to divide us and tear at the fabric of our nation’s greatness.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

Is invasion going awry?

Can it be that the world is witnessing an international bully getting his comeuppance not only from the nation he seeks to bring under his control but also from the people over whom he rules with an iron fist?

Russia launched an invasion of Ukraine. One sovereign nation has attacked another one for reasons that remain something of a mystery to me and to others around the world.

Russian goon/strongman Vladimir Putin’s invasion was thought to be a cakewalk. It isn’t. The Ukrainians are putting up a stout fight against the Russian invaders. The Russian army isn’t racing headlong across the Ukrainian landscape without resistance.

President Biden has levied a series of punishing economic sanctions. Today the president announced sanctions against Putin himself and against his top aides. Moreover, commercial air carriers are severing ties with Aeroflot, the Russian national airline. The Russians are being banned from international sporting activities. Top-flight Russian athletes — tennis stars, hockey stars for instance — are declaring their public opposition to the war that Putin has launched.

Then there’s this: Russians in Moscow are demonstrating against the war. Russian police are arresting protesters. Putin is hearing from city streets that the people he governs are rising up against his seemingly pointless invasion of Ukraine.

Vladimir Putin has been cast as a pariah. It is good to wonder how he likes the role he is playing on the world stage.

Still, we are witnessing a dangerous event in world history.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

No word games, Vlad

Vladimir Putin is playing word games with the rest of the world about what is transpiring in Ukraine. Putin calls the Russian military move on the sovereign nation a “military action.” Umm, no, Vlad. It is nothing less than an invasion.

One country’s military machine is moving against another one. The intent is to bring the population of the attacked nation under control of the attackers.

NBC News reports: “Putin is going to seize the entire country,” retired U.S. Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey told NBC News. “This is an air, ground, sea military campaign” and the goal is seizing all of Ukraine “to the Polish border.”

Putin is fabricating a scenario he said justifies the Russian invasion. He is lying through his teeth about Ukraine posing some sort of military threat to its gigantic neighboring nation. If there ever was a David vs. Goliath battle occurring, this one is it.

Ukraine isn’t totally defenseless, to be sure. However, for the Russian dictator to suggest that Ukraine presents a serious threat to Russia is reprehensible on its face.

He appears to U.S. and allied intelligence officials set to seek a “regime change” in Ukraine. Putin wants a puppet government in Kyiv. There are fears being expressed that Putin might want to capture or even execute Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. That’s the act of a “military action?” Hardly. It is the act of a dictator who leads an invading nation that seeks to overthrow a duly seated sovereign head of state.

The blathering of a tinhorn strongman cannot be allowed to stand.

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

War is pure hell

If only there were enough people alive today who remember the horrifying cost of a global land war, which has broken out once again in eastern Europe. Those who might have been alive as children the last time total war broke out in Europe might be able to recall the horror of it all.

It was more than 80 years ago when Europe became engulfed in war. Virtually the entire continent was involved and the death count was incalculable.

Now, what does this mean to Russians and Ukrainians? It means that because of Vladimir Putin’s political ambition the two countries are likely to revisit the horror of that terrible long-ago era.

I should point out that Putin is too young to remember what his own country suffered when it fought against the invaders who sought to conquer what was known then as the Soviet Union. Perhaps it is possible he might have thought differently about seeking to re-take Ukraine had he any real-time knowledge of what his parents and grandparents endured during that global conflict.

U.S. Army Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman told us that “War is hell.” Indeed, there is nothing that compares to hell, but war comes as close as anything we humans can experience in our worldly lives.

We are watching a new war break out. Those who have experienced war up close are shuddering at the thought of Russians and Ukrainians fighting each other.

If only there were enough human beings alive today who remember the destruction that all-out war produces … then, we might have people in power who simply refuse to take us down that dangerous road to ruin.

If only …

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com

International news

Words of wisdom

Samuel Langhorne Clemens was a smart man, to be sure.

The man aka Mark Twain once wrote this:

“Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities, War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. He is the only animal that for sordid wages will march out … and help to slaughter strangers of his own species who have done him no harm and with whom he has no quarrel. … And in the intervals between campaigns he washes the blood off his hands and works for ‘the universal brotherhood of man’ — with his mouth.”

I wanted to share these words as the world recoils at the thought of war in Europe. The conflict is unfolding at this moment and I am left to wonder: What in the name of human decency can ever justify what is occurring?

johnkanelis_92@hotmail.com