This Memorial Day, I will be thinking of the Ukrainians and Russians dying in the war between their countries, the hunger that food prices due to the war is causing and the many corporations that are making record profits because of the war.
It is understood that Memorial Day is for memorializing U.S. military who have died while serving in our military. But I think it is time to expand it to memorialize all those who suffer or die in wars
There are no winners in war. The allies thought they won the first World War, so they slapped extreme sanctions on the “losers” and that so shamed the Germans that they supported a racist sociopath who brought more war, more suffering and more deaths.
Experts are expecting that the war will continue nearly indefinitely as long as the U.S.A. and NATO are sending billions of dollars in weapons and aid to help Ukraine hold Russia in a deadly and costly stalemate.
Vladimir Putin cannot lose but has signaled a willingness to negotiate several times. Volodymyr Zelinsky has changed his goals as far as negotiations are concerned, and as long as the U.S.A. and NATO continue to send ever more deadly and costly weapons and money to Ukraine, he insists he will win the war and gain territory from Russia.
Countries that depend on wheat from Ukraine and Russia are already experiencing famine.
Refugees are overwhelming the hospitality of host nations.
U.S. weapons and petroleum companies are reaping record profits while consumers suffer from inflation.
Mr. Putin has placed Russia’s nuclear weapons on high alert and may eventually use them if the West continues to prolong the war with shipments of weapons and money.
Some have wondered why the largest country in the world with nearly half of the world’s nuclear weapons would fear hostility or invasion from NATO or the West.
The French invaded Russia in 1812 under the command of Napoleon through Ukraine and Belarus and killed 50,000 Russians (at the time the population was 40 million). The Germans invaded Russia in 1941 through Ukraine and killed 27 million Russians (population 196 million). These are the two leading members of the EU and NATO (beside the U.S.A.).
Why would Sweden’s neutrality be a concern for Russia? In the 18th century, Sweden invaded Russia killing many thousands of Russians. Like all the invasions, Russia persisted and eventually won despite the heavy cost.
There is no excuse for war, not this time nor in the past. As a disabled combat veteran of the Vietnam War , I can attest to that. As a veteran for peace, I can see that there will be no peace until we cease feeding the fire and insist that both Mr. Putin and Mr. Zelinsky negotiate in good faith. That means compromise. Disputed territories should be autonomous and democratic. That is something that both parties already agree to in the Minsk Protocol.
Ukraine should be neutral and non-aligned like Sweden has been since it lost the war to Russia. NATO should have been dismantled when the U.S.S.R. was. That was the understanding back then.
Peace is possible. Stop cheering for war and start insisting on peace.
Rowland Lane Anderson
Santa Barbara
Editor’s note: The writer noted he’s a lifetime member of Veterans for Peace, Veterans of Foreign Wars, Disabled American Veterans, Vietnam Veterans of America and VVAW.
