Updates
5/10/23
Support for Ukraine seems to be ebbing away in US and a number of other countries. Deadly missile strike by Russia kills 51.
21/9/23
Listened to a horrific and harrowing report on number of amputees in Ukraine caused by the war.
Plus recent G20 summit demonstrates weakness of global community by allowing Russia to attend and allowing countries to continue to buy its oil - thus providing funding for its war machine.
Unbelievable that Russia is still a member of UN Security Council as well as UN itself. Should be removed from both immediately.
Members of Putin's government should be held as accountable as Putin himself for the war crime of invading Ukraine and be arrested
at the earliest opportunity.
Thoughts on ... 7/3/2023
How to stop the war in Ukraine
A short while ago the world was remembering the first anniversary of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine with a minutes silence and volley after volley of condemnation from the global great and good. It is, of course, right to remember the dreadful suffering and anguish of the people of Ukraine and right to acknowledge their incredible courage, resilience and determination. But the rest of the world should be doing much, much more to end the conflict now. We have a moral duty to end the unimaginable suffering of our fellow humans and to do this we need to rethink what must be done.
Supplying vast amounts of weapons and equipment has undoubtedly been an essential factor in repelling a full-scale invasion but so far this has not been enough. Sanctions have had some effect but have completely failed to persuade Putin to halt his aggression. Taking in refugees has been an absolute necessity and has shown how much we care for those caught up in the horrific nightmare. But to end the horror of this nightmare the international community, not just NATO, must do something different.
Gestures of goodwill towards Ukraine and inflated rhetoric from the sidelines may demonstrate support and solidarity but beyond this they are useless. Providing more weapons could possibly tip the balance in the distant future but I am not hopeful about this. Putin has too many human and material resources at his disposal and putting the country on a war footing allows him not only to mobilise a huge army but also redirect certain industries towards the production of armaments.
So what can be done to bring the war to an end?
Putin must be told unequivocally that he has committed an egregious and wicked crime against humanity by invading another country and causing such terrible suffering for so many people. Not surprisingly in today’s world invading another country is also a violation of international law. For committing such a monstrous crime against humanity and for blatantly ignoring the law, the global community headed by the United Nations must insist that Putin withdraws to pre-invasion borders.
He must be given a deadline by which to do this and Ukraine must help facilitate the process by agreeing to a ceasefire. A withdrawal and ceasefire would allow negotiations to take place which could include the following:
- Crimea and other contested territory becoming a UN mandate until a proper referendum on its future is held with only the original population permitted to vote
- Ukraine not joining NATO for ten years but instead a large deployment of UN forces to be stationed along its borders with Russia and Belarus
- the issue of war crimes
- the issues of reconstruction and reparations
If Putin does not withdraw, or he fails to meet the set deadline for withdrawal, the UN should initiate what should be called a Special Peace-making Operation. This would begin with the immediate expulsion of Russia from the United Nations, the Security Council and the G20. All foreign embassies in Russia must be closed and staff returned to their home countries, and all Russian embassies must also be closed. Any government ministers or spokespeople travelling outside Russia must be arrested for being complicit in the war crime of invading Ukraine.
There should be no broadcasting from Russia using the mainstream media and certainly no interviews with pro-Putin politicians.
Sanctions must include ALL goods and services going in and out of Russia and must be rigorously enforced. It is appalling that the money made from exporting oil and gas to western countries is paying for the armaments that are killing the very people whose lives and liberty the west is trying to protect. We must find other sources of oil and gas, and increase our use of renewables in order to compensate for this reduction in supply. If we need to cut our energy consumption this would be a small sacrifice to make compared with what everyone in Ukraine is enduring.
There must be no sporting, cultural or social contact with Russia or individual Russians who live there. No visiting should be permitted except for family emergencies. The country must be completely cut off from the rest of the world and be made to feel as if it is.
The most enormous information campaign in human history must be set up to explain to the Russian people that what Putin has done is not only evil but a mental health issue. They must be told the truth about the scale of Russian casualties and the war crimes their soldiers are committing. And they must also be told that it will be impossible for their army to achieve Putin’s objectives and that, if necessary, the international community will use military force to ensure Russia’s withdrawal from Ukraine.
The information campaign would last a month and would mainly use social media to convey short, logical arguments as well as soundbites and slogans which are continually repeated. It would also involve frequent interruptions to Russian broadcast media during which these arguments could be aired. Over the course of the month hundreds of millions of leaflets would be dropped from aircraft, and drones would be used to fly low carrying banners and to broadcast from loudspeakers.
The campaign would inform the population about all the measures taken as part of the Special Peace-making Operation. In addition it would specify the nature of the military force that would be deployed. This would be made up of different units from NATO and non-NATO countries which would target Russian supply lines and infrastructure, especially power stations and armaments factories. Where necessary these units would use conventional weapons, including drones, but to keep casualties to an absolute minimum they would initially use cyber attacks for the most part.
The whole world must come together under the leadership of the United Nations to drive Putin out of Ukraine. He must be removed not because he is a threat to democracy there or anywhere else but because he is causing immeasurable suffering and anguish for tens of millions of people. He must be removed because the cruelty and brutality he has unleashed must be stopped. And he must be removed because what he is doing is inhuman and has no place in any caring and civilised society.
We must not allow ourselves to be bullied or cowed by this seriously delusional and murderous dictator. In the name of all that is good about humanity we must be resolute in our actions, not lavish with our words.
Plus see previous post at:
https://www.quercuspublications.co.uk/thoughts_on_66_-_70.html
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