Back to my traditional pursuit of Q&D translations (banned be algo/ai-translators ;-) with an op-ed in the Italian quality paper Domani, which tells quite well in which phase we have landed in the 'Ukraine crisis': a bad one, with worse possibly to come ('le pire n'est jamais certain' is the proverb the French console themselves with ...)
Domani points to mer things which I do not see mentioned very much - but then I don't read everything, by far. For instance that weapons send to Ukraine might well end up in wrong hands, since there is no control whatsoever on the stuff once it has crossed the Ukraine border - and no way 'we' would cross ... (for the time being). Some French and Italian ordnance has already been traced back to Donbass separatists. Wholesale sympathy and solidarity with Ukraine has also overshadowed the fact corruption there has diminished since the early 2010s but has - by far - not disappeared. And a crisis always provides a golden opportunity for miscreants to ply their trade, as shown by fleeing children and single women being targeted by sexual predators and human traffickers, who do not appear to be very much hounded down.
Well, 'enyvej', here's the article (no url, since Domani is pretty well paywalled, and I got it in 'analog' format. (for €1,50)
Optimism of the Generals, Lucid Fear of the Ignorants.
Giorgio Meletti, Domani, April 29, 2022.
It would be a grave error to undervalue the impact on popular sentiment of the Ramstein Summit on 26 April. On the US largest military basis in Europe, in Germany, 43 countries (30 of which NATO members, plus 13 others) have decided to increase many times their arms deliveries to Ukraine to help that country to fight against Putin. “We need to move at the speed of the war”, said the American minister of defence, Lloyd Austin, behaving as if he was conducting an orchestra. The Italian minister of defence, Lorenzo Guerini did not stay behind in making promises in the name of the Italian People. After Ramstein it becomes difficult to deny that we stand at the cusp of a lengthy, wide-ranging, and unpredictable war. Experts are talking in terms of ‘escalation’, but non-experts are afraid - and they have every reason to be.The great majority of European citizens (f/m) with voting rights are not able to inform themselves thoroughly about the Ukraine crisis, either because they are ignorant, or have to work full time, or simply do not want to. Yet to all of them, wether informed by the TV news, the car radio or the social media on their phones, the news from Ramstein tells them of a dangerous turn and the message is being received loud and clear. Their opinion, given that exams in geopolitical science are not part of what entitles one to civil rights, should count for just as much as that of the generals. Above all what needs to be considered are hypotheses about a nuclear war and the destruction of the planet and of the human species. The dangerousness of the moment is - possibly involuntarily so - is well represented by the headlines in some newspapers. The word ‘war’ is no longer tabu, the objective appears no longer to save Ukraine, but to topple Putin. ‘Winning’ has become the parole du jour. We now have an enemy. There is a ‘we’, and there is a ‘them’, the others. Those we have missed out on the lectures in geopolitics might well, and with every reason, figure that it would be nice if their national governments would explain that part a bit more. First: ‘we’ want to win against Putin, but what if he wins? And: if ‘we’ win, do 150 million Russians suddenly become subjects of the White House, or are they going to reorganise themselves in order to exact revenge? And in the meanwhile, what would be the costs of victory, and what will it cost to humanity to rebuild entire nations that have been levelled by bombs? The dread of war is a founding principle of united Europe, grown out of the reconciliation between France and Germany, which were at others throat during two world wars, and Italy which fought against both in the second. War is not only vicious, it is also stupid. Where are those geopolitical geniuses, first in the Soviet Union, then in the United States, who went to war in Afghanistan? War being a terrible thing is a popular and reasonable opinion, but missiles are being fired by generals and their political leaders who have fallen prey to totally irrational superstitions, as can be seen from the outcomes. This contradiction might well explode in the era of social networks.
[OK it’s always difficult to conclude an op-ed … -PR ;-)]
Q&D translated by yrs truly
Fiesole (FI)
April 29, 2022