This morning, I thought of Margaret Thatcher, when reading a report in the Wall Street Journal: “In Major Advance, Ukraine Drives Russians Out of Key Eastern City.” In April 1982, Thatcher said, “Rejoice.”
British forces had just retaken South Georgia from Argentina. The Union Jack was once more flying over that island. For details, consult the “Rejoice” entry in Wikipedia.
Once more, the Ukrainian flag is flying over places that for months have been occupied by Russia.
• Videos capture scenes of Ukrainians weeping for joy, as their soldiers liberate their villages, towns, and cities. In one such video, I was struck by the word “ours.”
A woman asks whether the soldiers are “ours.” Then she starts weeping.
For a long time, we were told by people in Western countries — maybe we still are — that people in the east of Ukraine really want to be ruled by Russia. That Ukraine, really, is not separable from Russia. That Ukrainian independence is a myth, created by “neocons” and “neoliberals” in the democracies.
The people of Ukraine have put the lie to this. And Russian war crimes have been heaviest, of course, against Russian-speaking Ukrainians.
• Vladimir Putin is terrified of a democratic example along his border. As well he should be. “Tankies” everywhere share his fear. (Tankies left and right.) As well they should.
• It is extraordinary that Ukrainians are still standing, as a nation, to say nothing of making actual gains against Putin’s forces. This is thanks to two things: the courage and determination of the Ukrainian people; and the support of the United States.
Obviously, many Americans are hostile to this support. Survey the media. Survey the social media. Survey the political scene. It is up to other Americans to ensure that this support not flag, for these are critical days.
• Of interest is a report from the New York Times: “The American Guided Rockets Helping Ukraine Destroy Russian Forces.” Putin launched his all-out assault on February 24. If the U.S. administration in place had been unfriendly to Ukraine, the world would look a lot different right now.
A previous secretary of state (Albright) called America “the indispensable nation.” A lot of Americans regret or resent this, and for some understandable reasons, too. Regardless, it is so.
• One of the most amazing things about the Ukraine debate is this: Supporters of Ukraine’s effort to defend itself against Russia’s war of annihilation are often called . . . “warmongers.”
Even Orwell would get dizzy.
• Michael McFaul, the Russianist who served as our ambassador to Moscow, wrote the following in early August:
The real party of peace is not those advising Zelensky to give Putin more land. It is those pushing the West to supply the Ukrainian army with more and better weapons, and as fast as possible. Without stalemate on the battlefield, Putin will never negotiate. The faster Ukraine’s army can stop Russia’s, the sooner Putin’s war will end.
This strikes me as true. (For McFaul’s article, go here.)
• A Ukrainian victory, and a Russian defeat, would be a tremendous boost to the democratic world. To a lot of people, might makes right. They see Vladimir Putin as a strong muscly man, superior to the democratic weenies in the Free World, with their constitutions and rule of law and all that weak beer. This is a pathetic fact about human nature. But it is, I’m afraid, a fact.
The stakes in Ukraine are very high. Including for people in Taiwan, far away.