I have a somewhat ambivalent approach to the current International crisis. I recognise that this is not really International but merely presented as such. The Ukraine has been Russian for most of the last one thousand years, it is their cushion or buffer-zone. Mother Russia wants its wayward child to come home and has chosen to take her home by force.
Many battles of the Second World War were fought on Ukrainian soil. We in the West often make the mistake of thinking that wars are decided by a single battle but the turning of a tide is more gradual. We focus on the Battle of Stalingrad but today; many historians point at the Battle of Kursk and the campaign in the Ukraine, as where Hitler lost the war. Because of this history, the Ukraine has a deep place in the consciousness of the Russian people.
Ultimately we know that after a suitable and very public show of condemnation, the West will back down. No one wants a war over the Ukraine and in a couple of years, the West will forget all about it and then ask Russia if it has any natural gas for sale, on the cheap.
For the record and to avoid any misunderstanding. I do not support the invasion of the Ukraine by Russia. Nor do I support the alleged clandestine interference by the West in the internal affairs of the Ukraine. Which may be partly to blame. The West may have got too close to the homeland for Mother Russia to tolerate further.
Furthermore, I did not support the past invasions of Afghanistan (once by Russia and once by the USA). Nor did I support the invasions of Haiti and Iraq. I do not support the continued occupation of Cyprus by Turkey or the occupation of Tibet by China. I do not support the shelling of Palestinian homes by Israel. I do not support either side in the current Nigerian conflict. In war, it is the civilian that suffers.
None of this matters. I am an old man living in central England. My opinions; who I support and who I condemn, make no difference. We can post our Ukrainian flags, we can like posts on Facebook or leave angry emotes. It will make no difference and no one who matters, really cares for our opinion. We are all unimportant, helpless nobodies.
Daniel Bran Griffith - The Chattering Magpie 
8 thoughts on “Statement – 25th February 2022.”