Today, I heard a lovely sermon in church. I go to this particular church because the rector gives such wonderful sermons.
The church dates from three years after the end of the Civil War and is steeped in history. It sits on one of Savannah’s gorgeous squares made all the more lovely by the azaleas that are just coming out.
It is a time to think big thoughts.
I believe it is perfectly feasible the Ukrainians — with continued and stronger western/US/NATO support — can eject the Russian Orcs from within the borders of Ukraine, including Crimea, and put a spanking on that little shit, Putin.
I will not bore you with the reasons I believe that to be.
Ahhh, dear reader, you are already ahead of me — it will not be enough.
We could end up with a wounded and vengeful Russia run by a little mutt bent on a second bite of the same apple, plus an Iran on the verge of nuclear weapons, a North Korea demanding even more attention, and a cunning China wanting to test its faux macho bullshit over Taiwan.
The bottom line is the world will not be at peace, but waiting for the next fire to break out.
This is where the road gets bumpy because the road to peace requires the US/NATO and other good nations to prepare for war.
The good guys have to make the bad guys scared shitless to tangle with them.
The post-World War II Pax Americana that lasted until the Korean War was based on the notion that nobody in their right mind would tangle with the Americans and the glorious fighting force — Army, Marines, Navy, Air Force — that emerged from World War II.
However, the US squandered its advantage in the rush to get the boys back home safely. We didn’t bother to look down the path and see what potholes and rocks might lie ahead.
We disassembled that fighting force and were weak by the time the North Koreans came across the border in 1950. Weakness invites aggression.
Sorry, dear reader.
Let me say it this way: Let’s view the situation in Ukraine as a means of building a fearsome NATO — the addition of Sweden, Finland, and Ukraine will do that — such that Russia stays in its pigsty and doesn’t wander out again.
Let’s make the overall objective, not victory, but world peace. Let’s not disassemble the winning coalition this time.
While we’re at it, let’s force Turkey to pick a side and stay on it. Let’s take the Russian sympathizers inside NATO and twist their ears off.
Defeating Russia in Ukraine is a laudable short-term goal, but defanging Russia as a prelude to campaigning to create a first step toward world peace is a great long-term goal.
I throw my hat into the ring marked: “World Peace.”
I’m just tired of this shit.
But, hey, what the Hell do I really know anyway? I’m just a Big Red Car.
“Saint Olga of Kyiv, bring your people the grace to fight on to victory, bring your country peace, bring us all the strength to create a peaceful world.”
