Opinion: Russia is rightly under fire again, but responsibility lies on both sides
Today, Romania — a NATO member — was struck by a drone carrying explosives. The alliance’s response? Strong words. It seems the military group’s mantra of “an attack on one is an attack on all” is perhaps reserved for large economies. It will forever be a boys’ club that admits a select few.
While it’s welcome to see such restraint from NATO (for once), the reason retaliation in any shape or form is off the table is Russia. NATO retaliation is essentially a group of bullies ganging up to steal dinner money from global constituents of the playground: Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, and likely a string of covert operations we will never know about.
NATO’s membership encompasses a cohort of formidable players — mostly nuclear-weapon-wielding cowboys — who admit members only to firm up the boundaries of an ever-expanding territory. Its borders are little more than warning shots to Russia: a zone of influence designed to poke the bear, so to speak.
From Cold to Hot War
The Cold War is long over, and NATO’s enemy, Russia, is now a capitalist state. In its place, the West sought a new adversary and chose the Arab and Muslim world, using terrorism as a mask to conceal a variety of nefarious exploits.
“This crusade, this war on terrorism is going to take a while.” – US President George Bush’s statement following 9/11
President Vladimir Putin’s aims are largely the same: to control territory, resources, and influence, resulting in the invasions of Georgia and Ukraine, as well as operations in the Middle East. The proof is in the pudding, and no matter which side of the world you look at, the two sides exercise the same values — to pillage and plunder with no recourse and seek territorial influence and expansion.
Russia’s actions in Romania further underscore the excessive nature of a global conflict now spilling into the lives of everyday people who never consented to Washington and Moscow’s lethal war games. The solution is no longer clear-cut when both sides insist on the endless demolition of one another, especially while the villainy of both Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump continues unchecked.
Vladimir Putin started a war he could not finish, reaping what he sowed through a collective European and Western response. But diplomacy was only given a flicker of hope and the coalition of Ukrainian backers had years to provide the country with deterrents, which it only delivered at the very last minute. Prior to that, it was in many places, supplied with disused and ageing equipment — a sign, some argue, of what the West truly thought of its value.
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