Right from the Middle: The challenges the Free World faces over Ukraine
By Bill Lipinski
The Ukraine-Russian entanglement is an enormous and dangerous challenge for this Land of the Pilgrims Pride to grasp, understand, and bring to a satisfactory and successful conclusion.
That has been made even more difficult because of our chaotic withdrawal from Afghanistan, and our perceived weakness by China and Iran.
We must realistically understand the individual we are dealing with – Vladimir Putin.
A former KGB agent, a man of the 19th century, a man who has had opponents assassinated, a man who has stated as his goal: the re-establishment of the Soviet empire; and a man who is more interested in his own ambition than the good of his fellow countrymen.
A man who has contempt and repugnance for Democracy. A man that must be stopped by America and the rest of the West.
This 19th century dictator has let us know what his demands are: the West must pledge to never allow Ukraine to become part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization; to remove the military assets the West has deployed in Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, to remove intermediate range missiles from NATO’s eastern frontier, and to stop joint military exercises also on NATO’s eastern frontier.
These are demands America and the West cannot, and should not, accept.
What should we do to stop this 19th century dictator from invading his neighbor and thereby embolden him to further aggression to reestablish the USSR?
First, we reinforce Ukraine with additional military supplies.
Second, we tell Putin that if he attacks Ukraine, the West will place sanctions on exports to Russia such as semiconductors used in the latest technology, suspend the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline from Russia to Germany, and eliminate Russia’s ties to the international banking community.
We must also tell Putin that Russia will be removed from all international and European organizations and commissions and Russian oligarchs will be denied access to the global financial system.
Lastly, we must place the possibility of direct military intervention by the West on the table. We must remember sooner or later that it is our responsibility to confront and stop the dictators in this world. They never stop themselves, and the longer we appease them, the greater the cost to stop them will be.
I am also extremely delighted to say that I had the help of my grandson, Conor, in putting this column together. Conor’s interest, knowledge, and understanding of the Russian-Ukraine challenge to our Land of Liberty for a 22-year-old college student is amazing to me and shows that young people can be concerned with and understand international issues that impact our nation.
His great interest in foreign affairs, and other issues that affect our American way of life gives me real hope that his generation will take very good care of us, that is spelled capital U.S. in future decades.
I hope that more young people will engage in these issues and I remind readers that I am proud to sponsor the All American Eagles Essay Contest on who is America’s greatest president. Go to AllAmericanEagles.com to find the information on how to enter if you are a 6th, 7th and 8th grade student. Or email me at BillLipinski@hotmail.com
Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.
Email Ray Hanania at rghanania@gmail.com.
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