Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Russian v Ukraine: Knockout or Draw?

Vitali Kitschko (photo: Sven Teschke)

The Russians took a good beating in Afghanistan, but so did the British before them and later the Americans. And the Russians obviously place their current incursion in Ukraine under the rubric of “border patrol.” The way you phrase an invasion these days is to claim you’re being invaded. It’s The Big Lie turned from voter tabulation to geography. This kind of behavior is fueled and given credence to by a certain degree of paranoia. The eradication of Nazi elements has been one of Putin’s stated objectives.The Newspeak is "special military operation.” The radical right including commentators like Tucker Carlson and Laura Ingraham has allied itself with one of the world’s leading autocrats. Euphemisms like "special operation" are the preferred figure of speech. The difference between Afghanistan and Ukraine is obviously terrain. A mountainous rural landscape provides better cover for guerilla fighters. Still like with Afghanistan, the danger is not in one side winning or not. It’s institutionalized war. The US occupation of Afghanistan went on for 20 years and that of the Russians for 10. It cost the US $2.3 trillion, creating a path of destruction and casualties on both sides. NATO's commitment is too big to fail. Still Russia is ten times the size of Ukraine, its population is 144 million as compared to Ukraine’s 44. Soldiers can always be conscripted. On the other hand, the mayor of Kiev is Vitali Klitschko, a former heavy weight champ. You don't want to tangle with him.

read "Diasporic Dining: Letting People Know What They're Worth" by Francis Levy, HuffPost

and listen to "(I'm a) Roadrunner" by Junior Walker & the Allstars

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