A Skunk at a Garden Party
Maryland Peace Action held its annual meeting on
Saturday, Nov. 12 at 17715 Meeting House Road, Sandy Spring (Montgomery
County). Medea Benjamin, co-founder of Code Pink, discussed her new book, War
in Ukraine, Making Sense of a Senseless Conflict. Since February 24, when Putin
invaded Ukraine for the third time, I have been at odds with Code Pink's opposition
to allowing Ukraine to defend itself.
Code Pink is not alone, as numerous groups,
obviously there are those who support Putin, but also some "peace"
advocates who have denounced the US government for sending US weapons to
Ukraine. These groups would permit "humanitarian aid" to be
funneled to the people being bombarded by the Russian military. But what
is humanitarian aid? I presume it would be bandages, hospital beds, blood
supplies, medications, heart monitors and other items one sees in a hospital.
But how do these supplies prevent the bombs from falling on apartment
buildings, museums, nuclear power plants, schools or playgrounds? As more
and more destruction takes place, I presume these opposition groups would allow
more medications, more bandages, and maybe even more blood supplies to be sent
to devastated areas of Ukraine. Of course, if these groups were able to
convince Congress to send no weapons to Ukraine, Putin would be able to occupy
the entire country as part of his dream for a Greater Russia.
From news reports, it seems North Korea, Iran,
Belarus, China and presumably other countries are providing weapons to Putin's
forces. I have not seen any of these "peace" groups condemning
the supply of weapons going to Russia. These organizations unite under a
banner of Do not Escalate. I find that to be farcical, as Putin continues
to strike Ukraine with the same mentality he used to destroy Grozny and
Aleppo. Putin is the escalator. As Matt Duss told Ray McGovern on Democracy
Now it is very simple, Russia should pull out of Ukraine.
Medea’s perspective on the war in Ukraine
Medea began her talk at the annual meeting by
indicating that we must pressure our government. She added that we would
not be able to have any influence on Putin. As an example of a successful
negotiation, she cited the fact that an agreement was reached to allow grain
shipments to leave the area.
She promoted contacting members of Congress to
demand that they vote against weapons sales to Ukraine and inform the Biden
administration to negotiate. She claimed that the Russians are ready to talk,
but did not provide much in the way of specifics. She also claimed that
Boris Johnson and Lloyd Austin went to Kiev and told Zelenskyy not to
negotiate. She also trotted out the argument that a casus belli was NATO
encroachment on Ukraine.
Near the end of her talk, she did admit
that the invasion has been disastrous for the environment. However, she then
thought environmentalists might join the movement to stop US weapons from being
sent to Ukraine.
She closed her presentation by excoriating the
Progressive Caucus for refusing to stand by the Jayapal letter. Jayapal claimed
her staff sent out the letter before clearing it with her.
The letter pressed President Biden to engage
directly with Russia to bring the months-long conflict in Ukraine to “a rapid
end.” The letter urged Biden to make vigorous diplomatic efforts in
support of a negotiated settlement and ceasefire, engage in direct talks with
Russia, explore prospects for a new European security arrangement acceptable to
all parties and get a rapid end to the conflict and reiterate this goal as
America’s chief priority. Code Pink supported the letter and urged all to
contact their representatives to show support for Biden to negotiate with
Russia.
She then indicated her disdain for the
Democrats who backtracked and disassociated themselves from the contents of the
letter. She was furious with the “worst” of them all, Jamie Raskin.
Max’s rebuttal
I indicated in the Q & A that I would be a
skunk at this garden party. As a long-time activist, I have not had much
of an influence on my government’s policies, especially regarding the military
budget and the warmongering. I also disagreed with her about protesting
Putin's war of aggression. For example, I have been arrested protesting
Indonesia’s assault on East Timor, Israel’s apartheid policies and the white
minority government in South Africa’s subjugation of the indigenous people.
I informed the gathering that John Pfeffer and Michael
Klare pointed out that they have seen no information that the British prime
minister or the US Secretary of War told Z not to negotiate. Claiming
NATO as a thorn in Putin’s side is inaccurate. Ukraine cannot become a
member of NATO as the country is too corrupt. Blaming the governments of
Ukraine, the USA or the European Union or the CIAand NATO is of little
value. Some 98 percent of the Ukrainian people played no role in poking
the Russia bear, but are suffering greatly from an invasion aimed at
noncombatants with the idea of breaking the will of the people.
Yes, Joe Biden should be indicted for his role
in promoting the invasion of Iraq, and Joe Stalin for invading Poland and
Finland. But of course, the victors are generally untouched by
international courts.
While I am a pacifist, I have no right to tell
the Ukrainian people not to take up arms. In fact, Howard Zinn, Phil
Berrigan, George McGovern and Kurt Vonnegut all chose to fight against fascism.
Finally, I turned my attention towards the
flaws in the Jayapal letter. The Biden administration has no right to
promote a cease fire or negotiations without the consent of the administration
in Ukraine. That is why I did not ask Rep. John Sarbanes to sign on to
the letter.
Yes, the Biden administration should be
negotiating with Russia about nuclear disarmament treaties. And
apparently, according to the Washington Post, this is happening. Also the
president should remove US nuclear weapons from five European countries.
This could jumpstart disarmament negotiations.
Medea did not appreciate my perspective.
And said, do you support the latest weapons sales to Ukraine? I then
asked her if she supported armed intervention in Uvalde where a child with an
AR 15 slaughtered schoolchildren and two teachers as armed men waited some
forty minutes in the hallways? She did not answer that question.
In the real world, ultraviolence is
rampant in many countries. It would be naïve to suggest these conflicts
can be solved by ceasefires and negotiations. I was thrilled to read
about a cessation of hostilities in Ethiopia. However, negotiations to
end the brutal invasion of Vietnam by my government took years before US forces
pulled out. I have no immediate plan for peace in Ukraine. However,
I hope the pope or an United Nations official somehow brings Putin to the table
to engage in serious and constructive negotiations. In the meantime, I
will continue to stand with the people of Ukraine and call for the immediate
withdrawal of all Russian forces.
Kagiso, Max
Donations can be sent to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore
Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206, Baltimore, MD 21212.
Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at] comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class has always declared the wars; the
subject class has always fought the battles. The master class has had all to
gain and nothing to lose, while the subject class has had nothing to gain and
everything to lose--especially their lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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