In the last few days much has been said about a New Zealand soldier on leave from the NZ Defence Force who went to fight in someone else’s war and lost his life.
Despite it being illegal, according to the Defence Force, for him to be there whilst on unpaid leave the New Zealand Defence Force has effectively praised him. And both the Prime Minister and the Minister of Foreign Affairs have spoken about this ‘tragedy’. Now all diplomatic stops are out to bring his body home.
I doubt this soldier knew the full story of the conflict. Did he know the cause was the incessant US pushing to expand NATO into Ukraine and the US role in helping overthrow the democratically elected pro-Russian Ukrainian government in 2014? Or was he just swept up in the anti-Russian jingoism which has resonated around the western world?
Nothing justifies the Russian invasion of Ukraine but we should at least understand the reasons for it.
Meanwhile Russia is understandably unimpressed. This soldier went to Ukraine to kill Russian soldiers so why would we expect assistance from Russia to bring his body back here?
Should I have the misfortune to die overseas you can be sure that no State department is going to concern itself about getting my body home even though I would be legitimately somewhere overseas.
Rather than endless cheerleading for Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, the comedian turned politician, we should look more closely. Is he really a modern-day Churchill?
Recently Zelensky compared the struggle his country has with Russian dictator Putin to that which Winston Churchill, the British wartime leader, had with Hitler. In fact much of what he said came straight from Churchill’s mouth. A Texan republican endorsed Zelensky and the similarities to Churchill on Fox News. Later George W. Bush said likewise.
This is a very odd comparison in my view given it is meant to indicate that both Churchill and Zelensky are ‘good, great men’. Earlier this year Zelenskyy outlawed 11 political parties, all of them left wing and stated that “there would be consequences for collaborators” – in other words anyone who doesn’t support the current Ukrainian Government.
Anyone of any real status in Ukraine who has suggested that there should be negotiations with Putin has been gagged, many of them killed, some following torture. Eleven mayors of Ukrainian towns are currently missing presumed dead while back at his office Zelensky is promoting law changes to roll back workers’ rights and expand the SBU powers (The SBU is the equivalent to the CIA and is known for its participation in kidnapping, torture and assassination overseen by none other than Zelensky)
Let’s keep our eyes open to all of this.
Meanwhile the on-going reverence of Winston Churchill annoys me greatly. It’s a blot on the western world. Tariq Ali in his book ‘Winston Churchill: His Times, His Crimes’, talks about a few of these crimes from a man who is still considered a great war hero.
For example, Churchills zealous support of British imperialism caused a man-made famine in Bengal in 1943 where 3 million people died. Churchill blamed the famine on Indians ‘breeding like rabbits’. Racism and genocide would be better descriptions of the reasons for the famine.
One Response
I can’t agree with ; “Nothing justifies the Russian invasion of Ukraine but we should at least understand the reasons for it.” Approximately 2000 dead every year for the last 8 years with the prospect of that continuing seems like a good reason. The failure of the Kiev govt to try to uphold the Minsk 1 and 2 agreements would be another(Not that the Donbass republics were completely innocent either on that score). The existence of US biological weapons labs also. The Kiev govt’s plans for an offensive in the Donbass.. The increasing likelihood of Nato expansion into Ukraine. (the Chinese merely wanted an emergency police presence and permission to have their navy boats stop by..)
But it’s nice to know the NZ Parliament gave a few million to the Nazi dominated Kiev govt. with it’s extreme racial ideas.
Regarding the soldier there is certainly no cause for the taxpayer to be involved in retrieving what’s left of this individual. Read about artillery effects in the First World War…Doubt that he knew the ins and outs of the situation, but good on him for having a go.