So being so very close to the problems in the Ukraine, and being a writer of military fiction it has been very hard to keep my mouth shut about what I think of the fighting. Having been a solider in a few different incarnations and an avid researcher of conflicts may not make me an expert in my mind but I am certainly better qualified than some of the talking heads CNN and some other media are parading around these days.
Jumping through hoops in Russia for my own registration and visa issues has also put me elevator close to some of the people being displaced by the fighting. These people have the razor edge look of someone barely holding it together. Children have the blank stares that only come with a shattered childhood innocence. Instead of girls playing hoops and boys playing war they were forced to comprehend something intelligent adults struggle with. They have been exposed to the horror of war.
This in itself is a failure of humanity and the basic beliefs put forward by civilized peace loving societies. To have exposed children in this way supercedes the who is right question. Shattering the lives of children and making them try to grasp why people want them dead are concepts past their ability. The Kiev government, shares this responsibility with the other combatants.
While the west, and by west I mean my country Canada as well, parades the evil Russia as the responsible party these atrocities continue. Claiming Russia is responsible is a sideline issue and one done to muddy the waters of understanding. Disagree? Ok let’s compare some facts.
Russia may have sold or provided weapons and military support to the breakaway territories in the Ukraine. While this isn’t a proven fact I will for the purpose of this article say it is so. The USA has provided Israel with far more sophisticated hardware and detailed military intelligence. So claims of support, are as I suggest a sideline issue, to stopping the hostilities and saving children from exposure to hate and fear.
Charging the USA with hypocrisy is akin to penalizing an elephant for being fat. Charging Russia for protecting its borders, and people are in the same vein. No country on earth paid a higher price than Russia did in the Second World War. A war simply referred to here as “The Great War.” Is this because Russians love war so much? Nyet! It is a sign of respect and admiration to those that fought against incredible odds to protect their collective mother. Mother Russia. This pride and understanding are universal. Children are educated about Stalingrad, and other battles not in a glorification but in the lesson of costs. They learn what freedom cost them.
If I were to include all of the issues of how this conflict began and try to finger point responsibility, it would probably get me more comments and page participation than misspelling participation. This is not my focus. While I encourage participation and want to stimulate you to look into all of these issues, from many sources, finger pointing is not my focus. My focus is to get you to ask if this is right or ever ok.
Humanity left unpracticed is just a stupid idea and the monsters win. We all know what the monsters are for us. For some, it may be Vladimir Putin or Barrack Obama while others may say the Illuminati. I will not judge you for your monsters. In the spirit of full disclosure, my monsters are the International Monetary Fund and the World Trade Organization. Our monsters are our own. Just as our values and ethics or humanity are. So for me it comes down to Monsters Vs. Humans a classic fiction story arch.
Basic humanity says it is never ok to use artillery shelling in civilian occupied areas. Arguing to the contrary is like trying to justify tossing a grenade into a pool full of children to kill a pedophile. Yes, we universally hate pedophiles; they are accepted monsters in most societies. But only an idiot would try to say tossing a grenade into a pool, full of kids, to kill one was ok. So too is shelling a city full of people and claiming the rebels are hiding within populated areas.
Before you start pointing the fault finger, stop. It doesn’t matter remember? We aren’t interested in fault we are focused on stopping a child, or any other person for that matter, from growing up with hate and fear. Because if we don’t the monsters win and we have all seen enough movies to know what happens then.
Fear! Fear happens, the monsters don’t need to eat you or wrap you up in goo and plant chest bursting seeds in you. They just need you afraid; too afraid to travel, too afraid to watch, and too afraid to speak up. Fear destroys the mind and our superior minds are what separate us from the rest of this watery ball’s inhabitants. Fear of terrorists allows the monsters to supercede or basic freedoms. It makes us think we are unsafe and need protection from the wonderful unknown.
I was embarrassed to read that Canadian planes were delivering supplies to the Kiev government to help with the war effort and doing nothing else. That our Conservative government had locked step and was contributing to the grenade tossing and doing nothing else. Why not load those huge, and now empty, transport planes with women and children and remove them from the fighting?
Is it now ok to brutalize women and children regardless of side and fault? Did the Canadians mission overseas switch without a vote? Did we change from one of the world’s preeminent peacekeeping forces to a puppet force of the USA without so much as a debate in parliament? Has my countries value and ethics so drastically changed without so much as a murmur? Why are the Canadian people suddenly ok with this?
Sure it is only sleeping bags and cooking pots but these bolsters the armies’ morale. A morale that has been lacking because the regular soldiers, on the ground, have been deserting because they don’t want to be monsters. No hero songs have ever been sung about the indiscriminate slaughter of children.
I know I have simplified this issue a fair bit and I have only put two sides forward in a story like fashion but do I need to make it more convoluted? I believe that killing women and children in any war is not acceptable. I believe that we as humans have a debt and obligation to children to provide at the very least a safe childhood. I believe love and faith in the human race demand this of each of us and it is a personal responsibility owed to all of those in this world. I believe if we fail at this obligation couching our actions with words like practical and reasonable instead of the reality FEAR we make a choice. The choice is living with fear and not living with love and then the Monsters win. The monsters should know there are always bigger and more powerful monsters just waiting in the shadows to pounce the day humanity dies….
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