Dear Editor,
Your editorial of Wednesday calls the invasion of Ukraine by its right name. “Most importantly, with no apologies whatsoever to the international relations experts and political spin doctors, this is an invasion of one sovereign state by another sovereign state, in any language, and a clear violation of international law.” You said that there would be more lessons for Guyana. You are absolutely right. The first is the one implied by your recognition of the Putin apologists as spin doctors. It is amazing how many people cannot detect propaganda narratives. But as you say, these people are foreign policy experts and there is something about training that conditions the mind not to see outside of a certain frame of reference.
Do people really place so much store in narratives spread by these leaders? They, of all people, should know that there is the official narrative, sometimes linked to a casus belli. Wikipedia tells us “Countries need a public justification for attacking another country, both to galvanize internal support for the war and to gain the support of potential allies.” The Americans needed justification for the second Iraq war, and we got “weapons of mass destruction” whereas the real reason was more in the direction of control of Iraqi oil. But there could have even been a more personal reason. How many people heard that Saddam had ordered the welcome carpet at the Baghdad Hotel Intercontinental decorated with the face of Bush senior? So that people walked over him on their way in and out? These leaders all belong to a liar’s club and we have to always disentangle the truth from the justifying narrative.
Transparency International released a joint statement (TI-Ukraine and TI-Russia). It said “Corruption fuels conflict and insecurity globally, and we are now seeing its effects acutely in the case of Russia and Ukraine. Leading democracies have facilitated this conflict by allowing kleptocrats to further their interests and power across the West.” One lesson for Guyana is that people are not reading. Or if they read, they do not understand. Or if they understand, they forget or they live in denial. The attack in Ukraine says what is in store for Guyana or any country that allows kleptocrats to lead it. That is a sad indictment on the political class in so many countries in this part of the world as well as Europe. It foreshadows a future we find uncomfortable to contemplate. So we prefer to say we believe Putin. How else can you explain it?
These analysts take for granted that Russia has some kind of divine right to protect herself that other nations do not have. Who bestowed such a right upon Russia? Or the US for that matter? History tells us that they will end up like all other empires – in its dustbin. Macron said Putin lectured him for 4 hours about history. Well, if historical grudges are to be the basis of future action, I guess Mexico is waiting for its day. After all, the US annexed Texas and triggered a war that ended after Mexico had lost more than half of its territory.
I disagree with your assessment of Cuba’s decision to abstain. Cuba has had to be very careful about its ability to defend itself given the sustained hostility of the US. What Putin has done is to put the normal allies of Russia in a difficult position. India for instance depends on Russia for its arms. https://www.france24.com/en/asia-pacific/20220322-india-tries-diplomatic-dance-on-ukraine-but-russia-is-an-awkward-partner. Let’s get something very clear. There is one reason and one reason only that Putin got it into his head to invade Ukraine. It is because Ukraine does not have nuclear weapons. And she does not have nuclear weapons because an American president and a Russian leader convinced Ukraine to get rid of her nuclear infrastructure and material. So, perversely, Ukraine is suffering twice from Russian decision-making with regard to nukes – first in the Chernobyl accident and now the absence of a deterrent to adventurism Putin-style. Another lesson we can expect is a Korean leader watching the developments and being more resolved than ever to keep his nukes and to develop them to the max.
As citizens of the Caribbean, we should applaud the courage of the Ukranians. There are very few nations that have had to display the dogged determination not to roll over to largely superior forces. One is the Netherlands who had to fight an 80-year war to get Spain off of its back. Others are the African countries in the African liberation struggle. And of course our own Haiti. Similarities: the defending people were prepared to die – even the women. The capital city underwent huge destruction. Toussaint had admirers from afar off – like the poet, Wordsworth, who wrote a sonnet to L’ouverture. That was on his death. The differences are legion. No deliberate military help for Haiti. And no friends gathering like clouds in the neighbouring countries to give them the slightest encouragement. And the destruction of Port-au-Prince was ordered by the defenders themselves, to make sure the invaders had no shelter.
Zelensky still lives. But whether he lives or dies he has already won and Putin has lost. He (putin) obviously thought he would have rolled over Ukraine as he did Georgia. He attacked Georgia and found its president might as well have been a comedian. He attacked Ukraine and found the comedian turned out to be a president. What a president!!! What a leader! They say that the chief weapon of an invading army is fear of it. It appears the Ukranians never feared the Russians to begin with. Apparently, they fought together in several adventures. Worse yet, they clearly have no respect for Putin. It was something to see even Ukranian women saying “I hate Putin!” and returning to Ukraine to fight after parting with their children.
So Russia deployed 190,000 men. But how many men do you have to deploy if 10 million men and women of fighting age are prepared to lie in wait for you and die if need be? And if the heart of your troops is not in it? We hear the Russians plan to starve the Ukranians out. That must be a sinister joke. There is a not so well-kept secret of how the Russians survived the siege of Leningrad. The Ukrainians know it. The Ukrainians and the Russians are close relatives. Closer than Guyana and Barbados or Suriname. It is simply amazing to hear how many Ukrainians speak both Russian and Ukrainian and how many have one parent Russian and the other Ukrainian.
President Putin miscalculated badly. As a reward he will suffer the ignominy of being the first president ever to be defeated by a comedian. Zelensky has thumbed his nose at him and he and his ‘Nazi’ Azov brigades are awaiting Russia’s best. The Americans made a big fuss and renamed French fries “Freedom fries”… Remember that? Well, I am already getting accustomed to referring to Chicken Kiev as Chicken Kyiv. Thanks to Putin. Long live the good Russian people. Long live the Ukrainian people. Slava Ukrayini!
Sincerely,
Frederick Collins
