vdinets, posts by tag: politics - LiveJournal (original) (raw)

Dear Mr. President,

As you are certainly aware, we (the so-called Free World) are engaged in a fight to the death with Russia. As far as Russia is concerned, this fight has never stopped. We have been trying to deny its existence by perfecting the art of turning the other cheek; however, ignoring someone’s war on yourself is a suicidal tactic that has brought us to the tragic situation we are in today.

For now, we are fortunate to have Ukraine fight in our stead, but it is still a fight to the death. If Ukraine loses or doesn’t win quickly, it will not just mean hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians slaughtered by Russian death squads. It will allow Putin to claim or invent victory, dramatically enforce his position, and guarantee an invasion of another country within a few years. As jingoistic hysteria in Russia intensifies and its leadership slides further into dementia, such a scenario would make a full-scale nuclear war a matter of time. Even if Putin dies, the imperialistic mindset of Russian people that he’s been exploiting, and the Orwellian structure of the Russian state would not magically disappear; his successor can only be worse than him.

If, however, Ukraine wins and Russia is heavily and irreparably crippled, it would cause a chain of remarkable events. Many of the world’s most oppressive regimes, from Venezuela and Cuba to Myanmar and Syria, will collapse. Many of the world’s most dangerous right-wing movements, from the G.O.P. in the US to numerous fascist parties in Europe, will lose a main source of financial, logistical and propaganda support. The manufacturer of 90% of all malware on the internet, world’s main source of corruption, and a permanent military threat to all Russia’s neighbors will disappear. Both Europe and the Arctic will finally be able to become fully peaceful parts of the world. Collapsed Russia can be persuaded to denuclearize and demilitarize in exchange to emergency aid. Due to its huge territory and poor infrastructure, Russia has never had an effective government in its history. Its breakup into a number of smaller, more stable states without Russia’s obsession with conquest would make life better not just for pretty much everybody outside Russia, but also for Russians themselves.

This, however, seems unlikely. Ukraine cannot win this war without air superiority. And it cannot end this war without destroying Russia’s military capabilities on the Russian side of the border: the war would descend into years or decades of non-stop shelling and missile attacks from there.

I’ve heard claims that you are personally opposed to providing Ukraine with modern long-range weapons it needs to protect itself from Russian depredations and to effectively counterattack on Russian territory. I hope these rumors are not true. Such an approach would doom Ukraine to forever being Russia’s punching bag; it would kill any hope of this war ending quickly and damaging Russia fatally – the only outcome that does not make a nuclear war inevitable. The only acceptable way out of this is to immediately provide the brave defenders of Ukraine with what they’ve been asking for: US-made fighter planes, Patriot and NASAMS air defense systems, and other advanced weaponry. Dumping old Soviet military junk into Ukraine is a disgrace and a sign of moral weakness that Russia sees as an invitation to further aggression. And the fear of “angering Putin” or “provoking Russia” is outright idiotic. Our enemy hates us obsessively and doesn’t need provocation to turn one peaceful country after another into blood-soaked dystopias of mass graves and concentration camps. We can only win by crushing Russia with overwhelming force, showing it that we are not afraid and will not be intimidated.

I understand that many Western politicians can’t wait to return to the good old days. They are so used to receiving Russian bribes in exchange for getting their countries hooked on Russian oil and gas. They will now push Ukraine to sign a ceasefire on any conditions. They know very well that if Russia doesn’t get destroyed militarily and economically now, it will invade again in two years maximum, and will start a nuclear war before this decade is over. They have already learned that a treaty with Russia is impossible because it doesn’t understand the concept. But they don’t care. All they want is Russian money in their offshore bank accounts and campaign funds. I know you are not one of these people. Please act now before it’s too late.

I grew up in Russia but left after the first war in Chechnya when it became clear which way the country was heading. It took many in the West 25 more years to figure this out. But today, as we are witnessing genocide in yet another country invaded by Russia, it is impossible to deny that we can no longer kick this can down the road. Russia must be stopped now. Carthago delenda est. Please give Ukraine what it needs to win our war for us.

Most respectfully,

Vladimir Dinets
http://dinets.info