The War In
Ukraine Grinds On
MAR 4,
2023
ROLLAND KIDDER
Putin miscalculated.
He thought that the war would be a “slam dunk” and that
his mighty Russian Army would roll over the Ukrainians. He totally misjudged
the resolve of the Ukrainian people. They don’t want to go back into the
Russian/Soviet orbit. They want their freedom and their own country.
I have two
thoughts about President Biden’s recent secret trip to Kyiv. (1) It could
provoke Putin even more in pursuing his mis-guided venture. (2) It properly
reflected American resolve to not let Putin and the Russians crush eastern
Europe like they have in the past.
I think both
reactions are probably correct, but I would come down on the side of endorsing
the President’s visit. It reminded me a bit of President Kennedy’s visit to
Berlin during the height of the Cold War when he said: “Ich bin ein
Berliner!” “I am a Berliner!”–a speech made to bolster West
Germany after the Russians had built the Berlin Wall. In a way, President Biden
was saying by his visit: “I am a Ukrainian!”
Having said
that, we all should be concerned about the calamity of war, especially against
a foe where there is no freedom of the press. Putin controls the media in
Russia. He feeds his people what he wants them to hear, and doesn’t allow
dissenting voices. This is the path of the dictator. People (think Germany or
Japan in World War II) can easily be led to believe in a false narrative when
their government controls the press.
Freedom is
sometimes hard to describe, but it “rings bells” with
people when they are threatened with having it taken away. Ukrainians have, for
centuries, been under the brutal heal of Russian dictatorship. Whether it was
the Czars, Communism under the old USSR, or Putin’s latest invasion– and
Ukraine doesn’t want to go back to the old days of dictatorship and Russian
domination. They have seen enough of democracy to know that even with its
shortcomings–it is a far better governmental system to live under.
I was hopeful,
back in 1985, when Chautauqua Institution sponsored its week-long conference on
U.S.-Soviet relations, that things would work out differently. Unfortunately,
Russia’s experience at democracy was short-lived, and the country returned to
its autocratic, strong-arm approach to government. It was a time of lost
opportunity.
Now, their
current dictator, Vladimir Putin, has them backed into a corner with no clear
outcome in sight. How can it all end? I wish we had the answer. Wars are like a
tar-baby. Once they start, it is hard to end them. We have to hope that
Ukrainian democracy can be saved and that, perhaps, in the end, that might even
lead to another opportunity for political freedom within Russia itself.
