On the War in Ukraine

Hello Everyone,

It has been a more than year since the war in Ukraine began. The war has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives already. Just think about, hundreds of thousands of Russians and Ukrainians are dead. So I feel like I must give this war my appraisal.

I will begin by saying, that the only way to stop the war is to put a real effort in publicizing the amount of dead and wounded. Perhaps make a bulletin board. Or a 'facebook' of the dead and missing. If a shear numbers of killed and maimed won't sway public opinion - I don't know what will. Perhaps the society as a whole is sociopathic enough to crave this carnage.

Before I begin my brutal criticism I want you to understand where I am coming from. I am a naturalized American citizen and I consider myself an American patriot. Although I am an ethnic Russian I have no sympathy for Putin. I grew up with my grandmother, who was from Ukraine. The war ravages through the very territory where I spent my childhood. And it also cuts through my ethnic identity.

Now that you understand my roots, be ready for the blame. I blame three sides for this war (listed in no particular order):

• United States - for disrespecting Russian national security interests and fixating on expanding NATO into Ukraine and - ideally - all the way to the walls of the Kremlin;
• Ukraine - for being naive to believe the American 'soothsaying' and corrupt enough to be bought by the U.S. interests;
• Russia - for being merciless and brutal (as always), and equally incapable (also, as always).

Before you hate me, hear me out. I will start with Ukraine.

Ukraine vs. Russia vs. USA

I would love for Ukraine to be a free, prosperous and a sovereign country. Who wouldn't? In fact, since the beginning of the war I was rooting for Ukrainian victory because I was hoping that a victorious Ukraine could be a new center of the Slavic civilization that is more polished and less brutal than Russia. But that was a fleeting illusion, which is now gone. Here is why.

Regardless of what you hear from the ideologically motivated commentators, there is very little difference real between Ukrainians and Russians. Both are former 'soviets' with an equally appalling level of brutality and corruption. Not enough time has passed for significant differences to develop, and I am not sure that whatever differences did develop are really flattering in nature for either side.

But that aside, we live in a world that has no truly sovereign countries. The American hegemony over the world is overpowering. The European Union is incapable of conducting its own policy, it is wholly dependent on the United States and Germany for that matter is still fully occupied by the U.S. military. There is only an 'illusion' of democracy, which is in fact all too well remotely controlled.

Besides United States we have two quasi sovereign countries: China and (sigh) Russia. Conspiracy theories aside, these two countries occasionally manage independent policies and attempt to advocate their own security interests. Unfortunately, the U.S. cannot tolerate this.

So what we have is the Orwellian quagmire with the geography predicted by the great writer. The three super-powers fight for influence and the dominant super-power wants to subdue the other two. Fully.

In this picture of the world all other nations (including Ukraine) are forced to play secondary roles. Their governments are bought and appointed by way of the 'remotely controlled' democracy and their people have little or no say. The competition is only between the super-powers: who will have the next election?

This was blatantly obvious with the Ukrainian elections. The United States invested billions and was able to control the Ukrainian policy. Lame duck, parody-of-a-dictator Putin lost. But there never was a 'free will' of the Ukrainian population for one way or the other it was either the American or the Russian will that was projected on that country. So does Ukraine want to be in the European Union? Does Ukraine want to be in NATO? The answer to these question depends on who is remotely controlling the Ukrainian democracy (which is the U.S. in the moment). Nobody asked (or cares) what Ukrainians actually think.

The Deceit

The other day I was having a conversation with my brother and I told him that I think I finally grasp the difference between the U.S. and Russia. Both countries want to screw you over, but Russia does it with brute force whereas the U.S. does it more elegantly: through lies, manipulation and deceit.

In this context I cannot believe how many people bought the fact that 'the west' wanted to embrace the Ukraine. This was never the case! It was lies, damn lies from the beginning. Somehow the 'hug of Russian bear' seems to be more survivable that a sincere and polite 'embrace' of an America python.

This is exactly my point. What sort of idiot Zelensky must be to believe that the west actually wants to help Ukraine? If he honestly believes it he is a true idiot. If he knows this but still plays alone - he is a traitor to the Ukrainian people.

The west needs Ukraine for the same reason it needs the toilet paper... The only use for Ukraine is for the America to counter Russia. At the expense of Ukraine, which is exactly what we see happening. Nobody is counting Ukrainian lives and nobody cares. Business is good.

The Conclusion

What makes a good politician? A good politician can balance between major forces while upholding the well-being of his constituents. By this definition Zelensky is not doing a good job, Putin is doing marginally better (albeit quite ineptly), and the U.S. is foreign policy is formulated by psychopaths that do not care about American citizens either for they fund the American wars with our (deceitfully extracted) tax dollars while offering us no benefit.

A truly sovereign Ukraine is impossible.

An independent Ukraine is possible.

As much as it pains to say me, Putin's neutrality demands are well grounded in Russian national security. After all, Kennedy did not tolerate Russian missiles in Cuba, what makes you think that any Russian leader would tolerate NATO missiles in Ukraine?

As such Ukrainian neutrality is hardly a choice. Of course it is possible to fight this war to the last Ukrainian. After all, this is what 'the west' wants. For Russians and Ukrainians to kill each other. I see no good in that. No good for Ukraine in particular. Too bad, nobody asked the Ukrainians. Whatever opinion you read was written either in D.C. or in Kremlin. This is not a war between good and evil. This is a war between the bad and the terrible. And I do not mean the Russian or the Ukrainian or the American people. I mean the brutal and merciless power structures that run the world.

So please pass alone this number: 400,000 dead. Is it not enough?