The race does not always go to the swiftest or so we are told in Ecclesiastes. The cold reality is that it usually does and smart money bets it that way. 

Those words are a grim reminder that the bloody war in Ukraine continues to ooze across that smashed nation and there seems no sign in sight of the Russians even thinking about a cease fire.

Moral support for Ukraine fighters after the Russian invasion is all over the place but they, the Ukrainian fighters,  are essentially on their own. I know you do not like to hear that, in fact I don’t like writing it; but it is true. Also true is that as horrible as it is in Ukraine the lead story these days is from Texas and yet another attack by a gunman on children. Such is news.  

Uneven Struggle

Now the last two world wars were settled and won by the guys with the most men and the most bullets. You look back to history and it is but a rare conflict where that does not happen. The great exception was Vietnam where the Americas were beat up despite the fact they had every weapon on the face of the earth but lost anyway because they just were not sure where to point those guns. That tragic war was fought in jungles often and all solders were not in uniform. 

It was an uneven struggle in terms of weapons, but it was not at all like the Ukrainian situation. Russian invasion is more a conventional battle where raining firepower on towns and cities is not necessarily doomed to failure.

Fighting Alone

Moral condemnation of the Russians will not win the war. In the absence of a sea-change in how the war is going the Russians should win because the Ukrainians are fighting alone. Yes, generous nations like Canada are doing what they can to help with weapons and sheltering people forced from their homeland. It is admirable and they are doing remarkably well at saving people, but I am reminded of what Winston Churchill said after the Allies were squeezed and driven out of Europe by the Germans at Dunkirk. While England marvelled at how the English were able to get many soldiers out of harms way, he said, ‘’ Wars are not won by evacuations “ 

path of victory

I look at the situation and I watch the Russians and I watch the battles and I wonder where the path of victory lies without the current limited war becoming something else. How long does the informal coalition of forces against the Russians hold? Ukraine will continue to exist I expect but not with its present borders. That is not a popular position but in war the good guys do not always win. 

This is an important time for our world. This is serious business. We are going to find out something about ourselves here on earth over the next weeks and months. 

There’s emerging from the brutal Russian invasion of Ukraine a deep question that speaks to the notion of who exactly we are and what it means to be human.

It also asks of us if we know the difference between right and wrong. We do not know the answer yet, but we will. 

Witness to war 

The central question is whether Russian President Vladimir Putin can do whatever he likes in Ukraine and get away with it as long as the shooting stays within Ukraine. Can Putin bomb that nation into oblivion while the  world stands by and watches? 

In the 21st century is it possible that one nation can take over another while the world stands around and talks about it and waves flags and gives standing ovations? What if Putin ups the ante and takes to using chemical weapons against the Ukrainians? Will there be action then or more talk?

Is there any point at which the world yells STOP!!!!!  I ask the question today honestly and I have no answer at this stage. Perhaps the nations of the world standing together WILL solve the situation. Perhaps the economic squeeze on the Russians from so many directions will do the trick. I do not know. 

Line in the sand

I do know from our history books how we in a self-congratulatory manner talk of World War II when Hitler invaded Poland. It was the place in time where words stopped, and a line was drawn in the sand and England declared that if the Nazis did not withdraw from Poland a state of war would exist. They did not withdraw. The world went to war. 

Today we know the hearts of most of the rest of the world is with Ukraine, but this is 2022. The world is not going to war over it … at least not yet, because hanging over it all is the grim spectre of a mushroom cloud. There has been massive support both moral and in “military materiel.” That however is not the question. 

In the 21st century is it possible that one nation can take over another by force of arms? That’s the question. 

Imagine if you will, rockets and shells from a foreign power landing on Elizabeth Avenue or West Street. Imagine Newfoundland refugees and the images of a Newfoundland civilian population being targeted and apartments bombed, and thousands of people including women and children dying. 

What would you want from the rest of world? Speeches? Flags? Moral support?    

We do not know how this will end, but before it is over, we will know a lot more about ourselves and who we are.