EDITORIAL – The number 31,000 should be a wake-up call for Ukraine’s allies
(Image: Mel Rothenburger file photo)
An editorial by Mel Rothenburger.
THIRTY-ONE THOUSAND. That’s how many Ukrainian soldiers have been killed since Russia’s illegal invasion of their country was launched two years ago.
The anniversary was on Saturday, and President Volodymyr Zelenski revealed the number yesterday, the first time his government has provided a total. It doesn’t include those who have been wounded or gone missing.
On top of military personnel lost, more than 10,000 civilians have been killed, mostly in missile attacks but many gunned down by Russian forces.
It’s all a reminder of the huge cost in human lives caused by Vladimir Putin’s insanity. Sadly, the resolve of Ukraine’s allies looks shaky.
Mostly, it’s due to Republicans in the U.S., led by the isolationist Donald Trump, causing delays in the delivery of essential military materials to Ukraine.
Canada and other NATO allies, especially Poland, continue to support Ukraine but one wonders how long the bromide “as long as it takes” will hold up. Canada has yet to live up to its full obligations to NATO, though Justin Trudeau has signed a new security package with Ukraine.
Putin, meanwhile, watches with renewed confidence the uncertain support by western powers.
Each Saturday, a small group of Kamloops residents gathers at City Hall, as they did this past weekend, to reaffirm their support for Ukraine. It’s a scene that’s also played out in other Canadian cities and around the world. What a tragedy it will be if Putin is right and their persistence and moral backing turn out to be for naught.
Ukraine’s allies have to proceed on the assumption that Trump is going to win the presidential election and make good on his pledge to withdraw all aid to Ukraine. They have to not give up on Ukraine, and instead ramp up their aid to replace what the U.S. doesn’t provide.
In fact, they’ve got to push back harder than they have during the past two years, and do it without the U.S.
I’m Mel Rothenburger, the Armchair Mayor.
Mel Rothenburger is a regular contributor to CFJC Today, publishes the ArmchairMayor.ca opinion website, and is a recipient of the Jack Webster Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award. He has served as mayor of Kamloops, school board chair and TNRD director, and is a retired daily newspaper editor. He can be reached at mrothenburger@armchairmayor.ca.
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Some years ago, I visited the site of the Battle of Borodino. This was a battle fought on 7 September 1812 in the Napoleonic Wars during the French invasion of Russia when Ukraine did not exist. This was not just a French invasion alone it was a European invasion like many others before, and many others that followed. Once or twice per century for the past thousand years, Russia was invaded, and even Canada, as part of the British Empire, participated in these invasions as we did in many other British wars.
On the monument at Borodino, fifteen main countries are listed including France, Italy, Naples, Austria, Bavaria, Berg, Saxony, Westphalia, Prussia, Holland, Spain, Portugal, Poland, Switzerland, and German Confederation but there were units from other countries as well. The staging was always in Poland, the bastion of Catholicism where the crusades, like the NATO one presently planned in London, Paris and Rome, started.
Crusade after Crusade (Teutonic Knights, Swedes, Poles, Prussians, Ottomans, France and Britain, and USA with Canada and 20 others marched eastward but in school we only learned about the ones towards Jerusalem. Three out of four of those aggressors were not just countries, but entire empires: French Empire, British Empire, and Ottoman Empire. Whether it is a 15:1 country or a 3:1 empire, a pattern begins to emerge that we see today.
During WWII only six countries participated in the initial invasion of the Soviet Union. Germany, Romania, Finland, Italy, Hungary, Slovakia) armed by UK and France and numerous more or less “volunteer” units 500, 000 from France alone, thousands from, Holland, Spain, Austria, Croatia, Albania, and the Baltics all countries with strong fascist leanings even today joined in, and almost all of them to die as they retreated. Each time thousands died on both sides, and Russia was burned to the ground. Russians have a well-known saying, “you must kill every one of us before we give up an inch of Mother Russia to you”. We are at it again.
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The US got what it wanted out of this conflict: microsoft, black rock and a few others now own the best parts of Ukraine’s ‘breadbasket’ since denationalization of Ukraine land was the deal for potential NATO membership. Also, US arms manufacturers can make a lot more money out of the ongoing Israeli genocide in Gaza. The only ones now making money in Ukraine are the human traffickers, which were already doing well before the war started. We should also be asking ourselves how many ‘militia’ killed were youth and old men conscripted to fight a war designed by and for the profit of outsiders. Stop the war and start talks, and by this I don’t mean Zelensky giving unworkable ultimatums and refusing to discuss anything else.
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I think about the kids and old men being killed as well. And while I do not blame them, I truly do not, I wonder how so many men of fighting age were able to leave against orders. Canada has granted a three year stay for people from the Ukraine, and since the war has been going for two years already, will these people be able to return home should the war drag on for another year or two or will Canada grant them an extension or permanent residency. About who profits from war, the world was in a depression before WWII, seems we always need a war. Knock everything down and rebuild to keep things going.
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Every time I hear about a Ukrainian man who has managed to escape the country and conscription I cheer for him. I hope Canada lets in and lets stay any Ukrainian man who manages to get away. This war is such a waste of life and resources, and all for US/NATO posturing against Russia and the profits of the few.
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