If all else Fails, Blood
and Guts will Win
Except for the pomp and circumstance, the annual fall ritual of debates in conjunction with the latest United Nations General Assembly session – the 79th this year – will get under way on Tuesday in New York City.
World leaders, the regular ones that we see habitually on television or read about in newspapers and news magazines, will be presenting their points of view about the most important topics that pertain to the planet and their nations.
President Joe Biden, as the leader of the host country, will kick off the slew of speakers tomorrow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak on Wednesday. Other world leaders or their designees will line up on either side of the great global political divide and give it their best – the free world plus the former captive nations of Russian subjugation vs. the undemocratic world or Russian-lead evil empire and the uncertain developing world.
With major wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East all other topics that have been addressed at the United Nations such as health, underwater resources, space exploration, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, climate and ecology, poverty, social inclusion, equality and inequality, civil society, even the elusive aim of peace, security and development will undoubtedly be relegated to the “also ran” bin.
The two wars that I cited previously, that are separated by the Mediterranean and Black seas and different cultures, are united by the fact that Russia and Iran are deeply involved in both. Iran is making an untold amount of money manufacturing missiles and drones for Russia and Hezbollah and its supporters. Those missiles and airborne projectiles kill civilians, destroy their homes and contaminate the environment in Ukraine and the Middle East. According to intelligence sources – among them Ukrainian – Russia and Iran have shaken hands on a deal to eliminate each other’s nightmares: Ukraine for Russia and Israel for Iran. That chessboard offers a lot of military and civilian targets for both inhuman criminal perpetrators.
Experts and amateurs alike are watching developments in both regions as well as the words that will be spoken this week in the hallowed halls of the United Nations.
About a dozen years ago the UN General Assembly used the term “aggressor-nation” in reference to Russia and its seizure and occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula Crimea. That derogative moniker has taken to Russia like the term Holocaust to Nazi Germany. In peaceful and passive ways, the UN and its agencies have reminded the member-states and the international community that Russia is a pariah nation that should be expelled from all regional and global institutions. But the UN is not likely to do that. Newspapers like the New York Post and The New York Times also denounce Moscow for its crimes against humanity in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Inside the UN headquarters, on the eve of the UNGA, Russia has been left badly isolated, reported The Guardian, when it made a surprise move to derail an ambitious pact designed to revive the UN – a favorite topic of discussion about revitalizing the UN – but Moscow failed. Russia’s move to defer adoption of the agreement on the grounds that it supposedly represented western interests was rejected on Sunday by 143 votes to seven with 15 abstentions. With a bloodied nose, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will mount the stage to say his piece.
Three positive developments have occurred against the backdrop of events at the UN. First, Ukraine enjoys the White House’s comprehensive military and moral support; second, Ukraine has successfully and noticeably taken the war to the enemy by invading Kursk and launching long-range missiles and drones against 200 military targets deep in Russia. And finally, President Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena, arrived in the United States diplomatically armed to the teeth with new proposals about ending the war in Ukraine. For Zelenskyy and Ukrainians around the world this is a significant point about ending the war. It’s not about doing anything detrimental to Ukraine and the nation, giving up Ukrainian acreage or negotiating an end, he clarified. He wants to apply diplomatic pressure on Russia to give up the war against Ukraine and leave. Zelenskyy emphasized on television today that he does not intend to surrender any Ukrainian land that Russia is temporarily occupying.
He also poignantly visited a munitions factory in Scranton, PA, that’s manufacturing arms for Ukraine. The significance lies in the fact that he negated all nay-sayers and Russian sympathizers’ comments about America’s wasteful and useless support for Ukraine’s war effort. That factory in Pennsylvania employs hard-working Americans who take home salaries to feed their families while making weapons for the Ukrainian army. That’s a win-win.
While Zelenskyy, Ukraine and the war still occupy a favorable and central point in the attention of the world, the President of Ukraine must be given the leverage to push his plan to a fair and victorious conclusion for the nation.
The latest iteration of Russia’s war against Ukraine has been going on since February 2022 and before that since 2014 and before that for a millennium. Ukrainians, in the words of the late Israeli Prime Minister Gold Meir, have no choice but to fight against this or any other aggressor because the alternative is death.
As for hoping against hope that the UNGA will come up with a solution? It’s better to put your faith in the blood and guts of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.
Except for the pomp and circumstance, the annual fall ritual of debates in conjunction with the latest United Nations General Assembly session – the 79th this year – will get under way on Tuesday in New York City.
World leaders, the regular ones that we see habitually on television or read about in newspapers and news magazines, will be presenting their points of view about the most important topics that pertain to the planet and their nations.
President Joe Biden, as the leader of the host country, will kick off the slew of speakers tomorrow. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy will speak on Wednesday. Other world leaders or their designees will line up on either side of the great global political divide and give it their best – the free world plus the former captive nations of Russian subjugation vs. the undemocratic world or Russian-lead evil empire and the uncertain developing world.
With major wars raging in Ukraine and the Middle East all other topics that have been addressed at the United Nations such as health, underwater resources, space exploration, the 17 Sustainable Development Goals, climate and ecology, poverty, social inclusion, equality and inequality, civil society, even the elusive aim of peace, security and development will undoubtedly be relegated to the “also ran” bin.
The two wars that I cited previously, that are separated by the Mediterranean and Black seas and different cultures, are united by the fact that Russia and Iran are deeply involved in both. Iran is making an untold amount of money manufacturing missiles and drones for Russia and Hezbollah and its supporters. Those missiles and airborne projectiles kill civilians, destroy their homes and contaminate the environment in Ukraine and the Middle East. According to intelligence sources – among them Ukrainian – Russia and Iran have shaken hands on a deal to eliminate each other’s nightmares: Ukraine for Russia and Israel for Iran. That chessboard offers a lot of military and civilian targets for both inhuman criminal perpetrators.
Experts and amateurs alike are watching developments in both regions as well as the words that will be spoken this week in the hallowed halls of the United Nations.
About a dozen years ago the UN General Assembly used the term “aggressor-nation” in reference to Russia and its seizure and occupation of the Ukrainian peninsula Crimea. That derogative moniker has taken to Russia like the term Holocaust to Nazi Germany. In peaceful and passive ways, the UN and its agencies have reminded the member-states and the international community that Russia is a pariah nation that should be expelled from all regional and global institutions. But the UN is not likely to do that. Newspapers like the New York Post and The New York Times also denounce Moscow for its crimes against humanity in Ukraine and the Middle East.
Inside the UN headquarters, on the eve of the UNGA, Russia has been left badly isolated, reported The Guardian, when it made a surprise move to derail an ambitious pact designed to revive the UN – a favorite topic of discussion about revitalizing the UN – but Moscow failed. Russia’s move to defer adoption of the agreement on the grounds that it supposedly represented western interests was rejected on Sunday by 143 votes to seven with 15 abstentions. With a bloodied nose, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov will mount the stage to say his piece.
Three positive developments have occurred against the backdrop of events at the UN. First, Ukraine enjoys the White House’s comprehensive military and moral support; second, Ukraine has successfully and noticeably taken the war to the enemy by invading Kursk and launching long-range missiles and drones against 200 military targets deep in Russia. And finally, President Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena, arrived in the United States diplomatically armed to the teeth with new proposals about ending the war in Ukraine. For Zelenskyy and Ukrainians around the world this is a significant point about ending the war. It’s not about doing anything detrimental to Ukraine and the nation, giving up Ukrainian acreage or negotiating an end, he clarified. He wants to apply diplomatic pressure on Russia to give up the war against Ukraine and leave. Zelenskyy emphasized on television today that he does not intend to surrender any Ukrainian land that Russia is temporarily occupying.
He also poignantly visited a munitions factory in Scranton, PA, that’s manufacturing arms for Ukraine. The significance lies in the fact that he negated all nay-sayers and Russian sympathizers’ comments about America’s wasteful and useless support for Ukraine’s war effort. That factory in Pennsylvania employs hard-working Americans who take home salaries to feed their families while making weapons for the Ukrainian army. That’s a win-win.
While Zelenskyy, Ukraine and the war still occupy a favorable and central point in the attention of the world, the President of Ukraine must be given the leverage to push his plan to a fair and victorious conclusion for the nation.
The latest iteration of Russia’s war against Ukraine has been going on since February 2022 and before that since 2014 and before that for a millennium. Ukrainians, in the words of the late Israeli Prime Minister Gold Meir, have no choice but to fight against this or any other aggressor because the alternative is death.
As for hoping against hope that the UNGA will come up with a solution? It’s better to put your faith in the blood and guts of Ukrainian soldiers and civilians.
No comments:
Post a Comment