No to war against Russia! US / NATO hands off Ukraine!
US / NATO stay out of Ukraine unilaterally, unconditionally
The Russian invasion of Ukraine which began on 24 February 2022 must be understood in the context of
1. The US has been engaged in a “cold” war against Russia that was ramped up following the 2016 general election. This has included sanctions against Russia on a variety of pretexts.
2. The demonization of Vladimir Putin and the Russian government. Allegations that Trump was a Russian puppet as part of a campaign to impeach Trump and remove him from office. Part of Trump’s 2016 campaign platform was a policy of Detente with Russia.
3. NATO’s expansion to the borders of Russia
4. NATO’s build up of offensive military capability in nation-states bordering Russia.
5. The US orchestrated coup d’etat in Ukraine in 2014. The US gave financial and technical support to ultra-right wing Ukrainian nationalists and certifiable Nazis who played a critical role in the success of the coup d’etat.
6. Ukraine has been a defacto colony of the US since 2014, with Joe Biden functioning as Viceroy, Ukraine’s defacto head of state while he was Vice President of the US.
7. Ukraine’s government has adopted laws prohibiting the use of the Russian language in education, government and commerce.
8. Ukraine’s US installed government allowed ultra-nationalists and Nazi paramilitary organizations to unleash a reign of terror against those who opposed the 2014 coup d’etat. One memorable incident was trapping and killing at least 41 anti-coup protesters in a trade union headquarters in Odessa, burning them alive (and to death).
9. A huge majority of people in Crimea supported annexation of Crimea to Russia in a 2014 referendum.
10. The 2014 coup d’etat, repressive measures by the government and activities of ultra-nationalist and Nazi terrorist organizations inspired an armed rebellion in the provinces of Donetsk and Lugansk on Ukraine’s eastern border of Russia.
11. Ukraine is a signatory to the Minsk accords in 2014 and an updated version in 2015. The goal of the Minsk accords is to recognize Donetsk and Lugansk as autonomous regions of Ukraine in exchange for disarmament of the rebel military units
12. Ukraine’s government has been unwilling to implement terms of the Minsk Accords, which includes a cease fire and suspension of laws oppressive to ethnic Russians and Russian speaking citizens in Donetsk and Lugansk.
If you say “US NATO hands off Ukraine” and “Russia out of Ukraine,” the implication is that keeping the US-NATO from intervening is contingent on the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukraine. US sanctions and military intervention are justified if Russia does not withdrawal from Ukraine.
If you say, “negotiations not war,” the questions arise, which parties are to be engaged in negotiations? and who is going to broker the negations?
The antiwar movement in the US and in other NATO member states are effectively giving political cover to the US and NATO to wage a war on Russia via sanctions, military intervention in Ukraine and even a military invasion of Russia by advancing the demand “Russia out of Ukraine” and “Negotiations not war.” When you couple those demands with “No to a US-NATO war against Russia,” you are authorizing the US to go to war if negotiations fail.
It must be understood that the US-NATO has been at war with Russia for years, including via open economic warfare and the expansion of NATO to Russia’s borders. Vladimir Putin, the president of the Russian Federation has warned the US and its NATO allies that the admission of Ukraine to NATO crosses a “red line” and that Russia will take all necessary measure to prevent that from happening.
It cannot be said that the Russian government did not give diplomacy a chance before resorting to military intervention in Ukraine for the following reasons
1. The US has not been interested using its influence with Ukraine’s government to end the Civil war the has been raging in eastern Ukraine for the past 8 years.
2. The US is not interested in using its influence with Ukraine’s government to adopt a policy of detente toward Russia and stay out of the NATO alliance.
3. Ukraine has already become a de facto member of NATO and has applied for NATO membership
In my opinion, the Russian intervention in Ukraine is legally justified. The eastward expansion of NATO, a build up of offensive military capabilities by NATO in nation-states bordering Russian and economic warfare by the US represent a serious threat to Russia’s security.
Vladimir Putin has reminded the US and its NATO allies of Russia’s publicly stated policy regarding the use of nuclear weapons. A military intervention by NATO in Ukraine against Russian forces meets the criteria to nuke the US and its NATO allies. Do you think that Putin is bluffing? Is the ruling class in the US willing to find out?
It is important that the “anti-war” movement take a firm stand against any further hostile action by the US and NATO against Russia. We must demand that the US and its NATO allies keep their hands off Ukraine, unconditionally and unilaterally. There is a danger that coupling demands on the US and NATO with demands on Russia to get out of Ukraine and / or negotiate with the US will give the US sufficient political cover to get into a hot war with Russia.
We should not forget that prior to the US invasion of Iraq in 2003, there were enormous demonstrations across the US, largely advancing the slogan, “Give negotiations a chance.” However, the pretext for invasion was non-existent weapons of mass destruction. Negotiations were bound to fail. A major part of those who protested the impending invasion bought the lie about WMD’s. The antiwar movement collapsed the moment that George Bush gave the order to invade Iraq. The Democratic Party endorsed the invasion and “critically supported” the occupation.
The United States has a totally unhinged ruling class. The Democrats and Republican in Congress sound like they are hell bent on going to war with Russia. Pacifist slogans such as “No War,” “Negotiations not war” and the condemnation of both sides in the conflict, eg “US-NATO and Russia out of Ukraine” will do nothing to deter the US from starting World War 3 over Ukraine.
No to war against Russia! US-NATO out of Ukraine, unconditionally and unilaterally!