Ukraine on My Mind

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Via: Arab News, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Mar. 16—GROZNY — Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov has expressed support for Russian President Vladimir Putin’s signing of the independence documents of the Ukrainian provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk, as well as his launch of a “military operation” in Ukraine.

He hailed Putin’s signing of the independence documents of Donetsk and Luhansk as a historic decision that will put an end to the bloodshed and violence that 4 million people have been subjected to in the two provinces for eight years.

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My thoughts:

It's a curious thing that the Chechen Head of State should meet with Vladimir Putin to express support for the rape of Ukraine. It's curious and ironic. From the 90s through the early 00s Russian leaders turned Chechnya into an ash heap of rubble as the Chechens struggled for independence from the Russian Federation, while Russia remained doggedly determined to keep the republic from breaking free.

Chechnya had never been a good fit. Chechens had a reputation as gangsters and criminals within the Soviet Union, and very few of them had risen in the ranks of the Communist Party. In the course of three wars for independence in the Post Soviet Era, Soviet bombers and artillery flattened most significant Chechen cities, including the capital, Grozny (three times); Russia was done with devolution. The Russians are good at this. In the 19th century they massacred the Circassians, driving the survivors to the shores of the Black Sea, leaving them to die. Those hardy souls eventually made their way to Ottoman Palestine, where they founded their own village that still exists, along with some very long memories. They live side by side with Israelis, in a country populated by survivors of many a massacre.

Now, at this remarkable point in history, we have Russia as a belligerent on the western front in Europe, busy adjusting an external border by force. This is something we thought the founding of the UN meant would never happen again in our time. We’re topping it off with praise for this barbaric act by a man who heads the ‘republic’ that Russia had last practiced this bit of rampant destruction on.

If one were penning a cartoon of the present situation, it might involve the Russian Bear carving up its prey with one hand while holding off the western world with a handful of nukes. But reality is that if this is the case, Russia can carve up anything it wishes while holding off the rest of the world with a quiver of nukes. Best to take the risk and push back with a double dare now; find out if Vladimir Putin really thinks that conquest is worth nuclear annihilation. The future of western civilization may be at stake. Whether or not it is won’t be clear until it’s too late. Weak men must not be permitted to shoulder a burden they cannot carry.