This ad is classic misinformation: The U.S. Should Be a Force for Peace in the World

This ad is classic misinformation: The U.S. Should Be a Force for Peace in the World

Friends,

On May 16, I and others were at our weekly vigil calling on Putin to remove all military forces from Ukraine. In fact, I was holding a sign “Putin stop the killing” which generated a number of honks from passing cars.  Another member of the vigil, Stan Becker, gave me a copy of the ad which appeared that day in the New York Times: “The U.S. Should Be a Force for Peace in the World.”  I read it with much disbelief as the authors engaged in a classic misinformation scheme.  I told Stan that the signatories spent an estimated $20,000, and it needed serious editing.

  Note that the signatories waited until paragraph five to inform the reader that Russia invaded Ukraine.  Those involved made this claim: “The solution to this shocking violence is not more weapons or more war, with their guarantee of further death and destruction.”  Yes, Putin should be denied more weaponry, but Ukraine has a basic right to defend itself.

 There is no mention that Putin’s three invasions of Ukraine violate the UN Charter as wars of aggression. There is no mention that the three invasions violated the Budapest Memorandum. There is no mention that Ukraine is the decision-maker regarding any diplomatic efforts. There is no mention that Putin invaded and occupies Moldova, the poorest country in Europe.  There is no mention of the destruction of Grozny or Aleppo by Putin’s war machine.  There is no mention of the Wagner Group sending former prisoners to the front lines to be cannon fodder.

“We advocate . . . specifically an immediate ceasefire and negotiations without any disqualifying or prohibitive preconditions.”  Have the authors tried to have a dialogue with Putin? Macron has been rebuffed, so has Pope Francis.  I look forward to Putin announcing a ceasefire, as he is the only one able to call off his war machine. As the diplomats know, the US continued its devastating attacks on Vietnam while the negotiations to end the war went on for years.

The ad presents the US government as a monolith.  In actuality each administration is different, and some are wildly different regarding foreign policy.  I still tremble that Trump had sole responsibility for launching a nuclear weapon or two.

I was stunned to see Henry Kissinger, responsible for the deaths of millions, described as a “venerated diplomat.” When he spoke years ago at a downtown hotel in Baltimore, I was arrested with two others for calling him a war criminal.  How can anyone look to Kissinger for advice on foreign policy matters?

Another false claim is this: “Experts tell us that Russia is particularly worried that the strong divisions in Ukraine over NATO membership, with much of the ethnic-Russian community against membership, could lead to a major split, involving violence or at worst, civil war.” Ukraine is a very corrupt country, and has no chance of joining NATO anytime in the near future.

The ad comes to this conclusion: “This reality is not entirely of our own making, yet it may well be our undoing, unless we dedicate ourselves to forging a diplomatic settlement that stops the killing and defuses tensions.”  Fine.  Please lead the way and show how you plan to do it. The final sentence is this: “Let’s make America a force for peace in the world.”  The USA, like China and Russia, are imperial powers.  I need details how the signatories on the ad plan to bring to an end the US Empire.

The timeline is very misleading.  The is no mention of some one hundred protesters killed by Yanukovych’s forces.  A vast majority of the violence was directed at the protesters. There is no mention of Putin’s threat to use nuclear weapons. There is no mention that Putin suspended its participation in the New Start Treaty.

Unless we all understand the history of the subjugation of Ukraine and other former members of the Soviet Union, we will not have the information to rectify the situation.  Without an understanding of the situation, it is extremely difficult to come to a strategy that can end the warmongering.  I sincerely hope that Lula or Ramaphosa or the Chinese are able to negotiate an end to this war of aggression.  However, I see Putin as the stumbling block.  I really hope for the sake of the people of Ukraine that I am wrong.  And please, as Bill fletcher said, many anti-war voices must stop supporting a “graveyard of peace in Ukraine.”

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