By The Moderator.
“He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore.” – ISAIAH 2:4
While one can easily denounce Russia for their illegal invasion of Ukraine, the question may be asked, “Why is there war and not peace between Russia and the West?” The answer is complex and not to be found in the mass media, who will easily condemn alternative views as propaganda without recognising their own bias and subconscious dispensation of favourable propaganda. The aim of this article is to understand the Russian perspective in the hope that war will soon cease and world leaders will speak of reconciliation and peace once more. Various sources have been selected to speak to the issues that continue to feed the conflict between the West and Russia.
Ukraine
NATO is literally attempting to surround Russia with military bases, troops, armor, and worst of all, missiles. The Russians have watched this situation develop for years, since the then-Soviet Union imploded in 1991.
Back in 1997, when East Germany and West Germany were re-unified, the West assured Russia that NATO “would not move one inch eastward.” That turned out to be a vulgar lie. LOOK at the map above.
And there is now factual, empirical proof that the US, UK, France and Germany did promise Russia that NATO would not move east.
So the Russians see they were LIED TO by the US, UK, France, and Germany. The Russians know they have been deceived, and now, with NATO trying to bring Ukraine into the fold, Russia faces an Existential crisis.
If Ukraine is allowed to join NATO, then NATO will be able to place US Missile defenses upon Ukraine soil.
Those missiles would have about a five minute flight time to Moscow, and about a 7-10 minute flight time to Russia’s strategic nuclear missile silos.
The trouble with these new US Missile Defenses is that the warheads can be swapped-out within about an hour. The CONVENTIONAL warheads can be swapped to NUCLEAR warheads, and the swap can be done while the missiles are in their launchers, so no one would actually know the missiles were converted from Defensive to Offensive.
Russia simply cannot defend itself from missiles that have a flight time of only five minutes from launch to impact.
For the past several YEARS, Russia has been saying this publicly. They have been openly saying they cannot (and will not) tolerate American missiles on Ukraine territory with a five minute flight time to Moscow. No one in the West listened.
So last December, Russia put forth a request for written, legally enforceable, security guarantees. They asked for certain things to be agreed to in a legally enforceable format, to assure Russia’s security.
Russia’s requests were laughed at and denied.
The 2014 Coup
(Source: https://www.wsws.org/en/topics/event/2014-coup-ukraine)
The background and implications of the 2014 far-right coup in Kiev, which overthrew the pro-Russian President Viktor Yanukovych, is critical for understanding the current Ukraine-Russia war. This coup was openly supported by US and European imperialism and implemented primarily by far-right shock troops such as the Right Sector and the neo-Nazi Svoboda Party.
It represented the temporary culmination of long-standing efforts by US imperialism to install a puppet regime on the borders of Russia and brought the world a major step closer to a war between the largest nuclear powers, the US and Russia. Ukraine has since been systematically built up as a launching pad for a NATO war against Russia.
The regime change prompted the outbreak of an ongoing civil war in the east of Ukraine, between Russian-backed separatists and the US-backed Ukrainian army, that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands and displaced millions.
In the US, the coup was a catalyzer for an ever more aggressive campaign against Russia and a significant shift to the right among layers of the upper middle class. US imperialism and NATO have funded the Ukrainian state and far-right forces with billions of dollars.
The Woke West
Moral and Financial Bankruptcy
Source:http://thesaker.is/on-liberating-europe/
Just over thirty years ago the Communist USSR went bankrupt – it could not raise enough money to pay off its debts on capital markets. The West should have gone bankrupt at the same time because it too had colossal debts, however through the financial manipulations of its Capitalism it was able to raise the capital. So it went morally bankrupt instead.
Firstly, there was the fascism of political correctness. Like so many destructive movements the initial intentions were good, but as we know that the road to hell is paved with them. It was precisely after 1991 that the use of the phrase ‘political correctness’ as a pejorative phrase became widespread in the USA. Secondly, at the same time there began the Western attack on Islam, or rather the Western grab of Arab oil and gas, by telling Saddam Hussein that he could recover Kuwait, which had been illegitimately cut off from oil-rich Iraq by British imperialism, but then withdrawing that support once he had done it and so pretexting a reason to attack him. The first Gulf War followed, with a second one to follow after the invasion and failed occupation of Afghanistan, and then chaos in the ‘Arab Spring’. Thirdly, at the same time, in 1992 there began the attempt to depopulate, dismantle and destroy the Russian Lands, culminating 22 years later in the US coup d’etat in Kiev in 2014, which cost US taxpayers $5 billion and has cost them many times more since. Inbetween there have been all manner of Western manipulations, from 9/11 to covid.
Such is hubris. ‘We are the only Superpower’. ‘The end of history has come’. And so today the Western world finds itself isolated. The ‘international community’, ‘the free world’, has only 13% of the world population and depends on the rest of the world, on the 87%. Outmatched by the population of the rest of the world and its GDP, it produces only a smallish amount of oil, gas, food, fertiliser and manufactured goods. Russia, China, India, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, indeed nearly all of Asia, Africa and Latin America, stand together against the neocolonial manipulations and neocon lies of the Western world, whose unity is now crumbling. Moreover, the Western world is bankrupt. The USA alone owes an unpayable £30 trillion. Thus, the bankruptcy of the West that should have happened over thirty years ago is happening now.
Western Totalitarianism
Source:https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/new-world-order-coming-putin-blasts-globalist-ideology-totalitarian
Putin – The notorious leader claimed that the west had only achieved its global preeminence due to the historic plunder of other nations and had no moral right to enforce a unipolar model on the planet.
“The model of the total dominance of the so-called ‘golden billion’ is unjust. Why should this ‘golden billion’ among the planet’s population dominate others, impose its own rules of conduct?” Putin asked.
“Based on the illusion of ‘exclusivity,’ this model divides people into first and second class status, and is therefore racist and neo-colonial in its essence,” he added.
“And the globalist, supposedly liberal ideology which underlies it is increasingly acquiring the features of totalitarianism, holding back creative pursuit, free historical creation,” Putin claimed.
The Russian President went on to stress his view that the globalist world order was built off the exploitation of other countries.
“Of course, this ‘golden billion’ did not become ‘golden’ by accident. It has achieved a lot. But it did not only take up its positions thanks to the realization of some ideas, but to a large extent due to the robbery of other peoples – both in Asia and Africa. That’s what happened.”
He then proclaimed that western elites are terrified that their global order is being dismantled.
“No matter how much Western and so-called supranational elites strive to preserve the existing order of things, a new era is coming, a new stage in world history. And only truly sovereign states can ensure high dynamics for growth and become an example for others,” said Putin.
As we have previously highlighted, Putin has consistently blamed the west for its own downfall.
Back in March, he gave a speech in which he blamed the ‘western ruling elite’ for creating the economic hardships impacting people in Europe and the United States.
Last year, the controversial strongman blasted the west as “completely insane” for allowing children to be taught there is no biological sex, saying the woke crusade against traditional gender roles was “subverting human nature.”
The West's War Against Traditional Values
Source: https://swarajyamag.com/ideas/president-putin-goes-anti-woke-says-western-civilisation-is-one-step-from-falling
Russian President Vladimir Putin, in his recent speech, said that woke ideology is fast destroying the Western civilisation. Putin condemned the far-left progressivism and compared it to Russia’s darkest days during the 1917 communist revolution, in which the Soviets seized the means of production and overthrew the government.
Speaking at the plenary session of the 18th annual meeting of the Valdai International Discussion Club, Putin presented a strong case arguing that the Western civilisation is one step away from falling. The theme of the discussion was “Global Shake-up in the 21st century: The Individual, Values and the State”.
Putin began his address by pointing out how the world is facing continuous inconstancy, unpredictability, and a permanent state of transition on almost every front, be it climate change, environmental degradation, the coronavirus pandemic, or the socio-economic problems facing humankind. Putin, citing the Covid-19 pandemic experience, argued that many global governance institutions need “fine tuning” as they failed to tackle the challenges posed by the dynamics of global processes.
“The re-alignment of the balance of power presupposes a redistribution of shares in favour of rising and developing countries that until now felt left out… We look in amazement at the processes underway in the countries which have been traditionally looked at as the standard-bearers of progress,” said Putin.
While elaborating upon the cultural deterioration of the West that is underway in the name of social justice, Putin said “some people in the West believe that an aggressive elimination of entire pages from their own history, ‘reverse discrimination’ against the majority in the interests of a minority, and the demand to give up the traditional notions of mother, father, family and even gender, they believe that all of these are the mileposts on the path towards social renewal.”
The Russian President noted that the overwhelming majority of the Russian society believes in its own spiritual values, historical tradition and multiethnic culture. “The advocates of so-called ‘social progress’ believe they are introducing humanity to some kind of a new and better consciousness,” he added. Putin went a step further as he compared the modern woke progressives to the Soviet revolutionaries and said that this wokeism is not new at all.
“It may come as a surprise to some people, but Russia has been there already,” he said. “After the 1917 revolution, the Bolsheviks, relying on the dogmas of Marx and Engels, also said that they would change existing ways and customs and not just political and economic ones, but the very notion of human morality and the foundations of a healthy society. The destruction of age-old values, religion and relations between people, up to and including the total rejection of family (we had that, too), encouragement to inform on loved ones — all this was proclaimed progress and, by the way, was widely supported around the world back then and was quite fashionable, same as today. By the way, the Bolsheviks were absolutely intolerant of opinions other than theirs.”
“The fight for equality and against discrimination has turned into aggressive dogmatism bordering on absurdity, when the works of the great authors of the past — such as Shakespeare — are no longer taught at schools or universities, because their ideas are believed to be backward. The classics are declared backward and ignorant of the importance of gender or race. In Hollywood memos are distributed about proper storytelling and how many characters of what colour or gender should be in a movie. This is even worse than the agitprop department of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union,” exclaimed Putin.
Putin said that the true value of social justice movements, like that of Martin Luther King, is seen nowhere today. “Countering acts of racism is a necessary and noble cause, but the new ‘cancel culture’ has turned it into ‘reverse discrimination’ that is, reverse racism. The obsessive emphasis on race is further dividing people, when the real fighters for civil rights dreamed precisely about erasing differences and refusing to divide people by skin colour,” he noted.
“By the way, the absolute majority of Russian people do not think that the colour of a person’s skin or their gender is an important matter. Each of us is a human being. This is what matters,” Putin said, reiterating his belief in Russian society.
“In a number of Western countries, the debate over men’s and women’s rights has turned into a perfect phantasmagoria… Zealots of these new approaches even go so far as to want to abolish these concepts altogether,” he said. “Anyone who dares mention that men and women actually exist, which is a biological fact, risk being ostracised.”
Putin also referred to the awkward usage of gender neutral terms such as “parent number one” and “parent number two”, “birthing parent” instead of “mother,” and “human milk” replacing “breast milk” because it might upset the people who are unsure about their own gender.
“Not to mention some truly monstrous things when children are taught from an early age that a boy can easily become a girl and vice versa,” said Putin, remarking on childhood gender transitions and the embrace of non-binary identities to the exclusion of parents. “That is, the teachers actually impose on them a choice we all supposedly have. They do so while shutting the parents out of the process and forcing the child to make decisions that can upend their entire life. They do not even bother to consult with child psychologists — is a child at this age even capable of making a decision of this kind? Calling a spade a spade, this verges on a crime against humanity, and it is being done in the name and under the banner of progress.”
Putin bluntly called these woke trends as “structural disruptions” and further argued that in the impending period of global reconstruction, “moderate conservatism” is the most reasonable line of conduct to tackle the multiplying risks and imminent dangers of the fragile woke realities around us.
“This conservative approach is not about an ignorant traditionalism, a fear of change or a restraining game, much less about withdrawing into our own shell. It is primarily about reliance on a time-tested tradition, the preservation and growth of the population, a realistic assessment of oneself and others, a precise alignment of priorities, a correlation of necessity and possibility, a prudent formulation of goals, and a fundamental rejection of extremism as a method,” elaborated Putin.
“The cost of ill-conceived social experiments is sometimes beyond estimation. Such actions can destroy not only the material, but also the spiritual foundations of human existence, leaving behind moral wreckage where nothing can be built to replace it for a long time,” Putin warned.
Fighting Fascism. But Who Are The Fascists?
Source:http://thesaker.is/on-liberating-europe/
But in case we should be accused of being anti-American, perhaps we could generalise more widely about the state of politics in the Western world. The fact is that successful and honest businessmen and industrialists only very rarely go into politics in the Western world and have rarely done so for many decades and perhaps even generations. Generally speaking, it is not the able and the competent, but the failures who go into politics in the Western world. Either these failures want money (they are corrupt), or else they have money and therefore want power (they want to abuse), or else they are sexual perverts. So a thousand years of deviant Europe ends in ignominy, infamy and depravity.
Europe needs liberation. Its pro-Nazi leaders are now grudgingly admitting that they have lost the war they started against Russia in the Nazi Ukraine. They know that Zelensky is finished, though still for the moment propped up by Biden’s neocon backers, and that not only the Crimea and the Donbass but also many other parts of the Ukraine will forever revert to Russia, which is where they were a century ago. And as for most of the rest, if not all of it, it will also be lost to the West. Now the best lie Western warmongers can invent is that the war in the Ukraine is ending ‘in a stalemate’, without any victors, and in a stand-off along the Polish-Ukrainian border. However, the truth is far worse for them than even that lie.
Just over three years ago I remember speaking to the retired ambassador to Switzerland of a certain Western European country. Before that he had spent many years in his country’s embassy in Moscow (he is a fluent Russian speaker). He asked me why the excellent relations of the West with Russia in the 1990s had degenerated and been destroyed. I answered him that it was because the West had treated Russia like a third world colony, which it wanted to exploit and dismember. It was the West which had allied Russia with China and created not only an enemy, but an enemy which would destroy the West. He looked at me in disbelief. On this year’s French national holiday, 14 July, President Macron of France stated that he was ready to declare war on Russia and China – with his pathetically tiny and laughably underequipped and underfunded French military. If so, then expect no fuel, no food and no manufactured goods in France. The same goes for warmongers all over the rest of the Western world.
Analysis
To be absolutely certain, blood is on the hands of all sides involved in the current conflict with approximately 28 000 civilian deaths and 36 000 military deaths (Ukrainian and Russian inclusive). UNICEF estimates at least two children a day are killed with many more injured. One must remember this as one considers the perspectives discussed previously.
1. Russia is being existentially threatened. With US and NATO sponsored coups and attempted coups in 2014 (Ukraine), 2021 (Belarus) and 2022 (Kazakhstan), Russia is not being paranoid. Missile placement within the Ukraine would remove any adequate response time if Russia were attacked.
2. The West has overestimated their moral power and wish to manipulate and force their liberal values onto sovereign nations. Might does not make right – pushing totalitarian powers such as China and Russia into a formidable partnership.
3. Even though ex-KGB Colonel President Putin is responsible for many deaths personally, he can recognise the hypocrisy of the woke West. It is indeed true that the new values of the West threaten core religious and family values of Russia and its allied countries. The West is no longer Christian nor moral.
4. Western Totalitarianism is hidden in the fascism of woke-ism, cancel culture, green ideology, racism and gender division. Alternative voices are surpressed, and like the Marxists of 1917, the neo-Marxists of 2022 are winning the culture war. Both the West and Russia accuse each other as being Fascists and Nazis, and indeed both sides are guilty of using fascist, totalitarian tactics within the cultural and political arenas.
NATO and the West feel comfortable that the current conflict will never affect their homelands. They are to be mistaken – Russia is willing to sacrifice everything to achieve total victory. At the end of World War II, Russia had 14 million military deaths compared to the much smaller 400 000 US military deaths. The Russian people understand sacrifice more than most nations on Earth. We should be wary of underestimating Russia or to ignore its warnings, for we poke the Bear at our own mortal peril. Conservative Christians need to ensure that they are aware of the complex global situation, behold Putin as a sinner, and pray for peace so that world leaders will have the wisdom to carve a new path away from the bloodshed of warfare.
Online Church for Christ 