Unlike the novices installed by the previous administration, we now have people heading departments in the federal government with knowledge and experience in dealing with these issues. And they have the benefit of a lot more information from intelligence sources that we readers do. Not to say we shouldn’t be wary, but it seems like so many of us on the outside rant and regale our officials over what we consider too conservative an approach in dealing with issues than what we think is the better, faster, more effective approach. We’re like fans in a football game, second guessing a more knowledgeable and informed coach while we stuff our mouths with hot dogs and beer.
#1 Click here for a curated list of organizations you can choose from to support the people of Ukraine. These have been vetted by partner organizations we trust and our friends on the ground.
Russia's at war with Ukraine. Here's how we got here (NPR) - A detailed overview of what's happened between Russia and Ukraine since Ukraine gained independence.
I copied the lists from two substack members I believe are reliable. If you have any doubts about any of the suggested organizations, don't contribute to them.
Putin's ability to wage war is directly related to the economic health of Russia, which is dependent upon oil revenues. Keep in mind that Russia's GDP is less than that of California; he basically funds his military and state (and personal wealth) from oil. The oil shale industry very nearly broke Russia in the last decade. Putin can and will act as long as he has revenue from oil. Stop is ability to sell oil, you'll cripple Russia and stop Putin. As far as the excuses he's offering (American aggression, European NATO alliances), they are a sop to his citizens. If the economic sanctions start to bite, how will he afford his shiny new tanks and planes, let alone pay his soldiers? If Russia is cut off from SWIFT, they'll have even a harder to feeding their people. It is a question of guns or butter; with no oil revenue, he'll have to sacrifice either his imperialistic pretensions of a "new greater Russia" or his people. I'd suggest that, given his delusions of power (from a state less wealthy than California), it might be a bad time to be a Russian.
Just as we supplied the Mujahideen in Afghanistan with shoulder fired missiles that brought down helicopters and ultimately drove the Russians out, we should supply Ukraine with thousands of small drones. Imagine a drone with a cargo of nitroglycerin crashing into a tank or truck full of soldiers.
Sometimes laughingstocks take themselves very seriously, even if serious people don’t, and turn out to be more harmful than funny. (See Trump, Donald.)
Europe must find an alternative to purchasing energy from Russia. Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine was funded in large part with the trillions of dollars Europe is paying them for oil and gas. And we must eliminate those payments. Venezuela has the largest petroleum reserves in the world, three times the reserves of Russia. We have nearly eliminated Venezuela‘s ability to supply Europe with oil. As bad as the Venezuelan regime is, they have not invaded their neighbors, nor committed the human rights abuses that Russia has. I think we must pursue the possibility of supplying much of Europe’s energy needs from Venezuela. We trade with regimes far worse than Venezuela
May the brave and courageous Zelensky and the people of Ukraine defeat madman criminal Putin, and may he be brought to justice and convicted in the International Criminal Court.
War is expensive and disruptive. There is no way Russia can recoup the expenses of this war by occupying Ukraine. This has something to do with Trump, with Trump running for re-election. What if Ukrainians are sacrificial lambs, and the purpose of this invasion is really to de-stabilize America for Trump's potential benefit?
Putin's purpose is definitely to destabilize America as well as grab more land and resources for Russia. He tried using Trump as a puppet but now that he is not in office, Putin must be even more overt. tfg is praising Putin and that may work to his detriment in the long run. Most Americans don't have a favorable opinion of Russia and don't think Putin is a genius.
Agree that all to frequently the U.S. doesn’t live up to its ideals (‘All men are created equal’ written by slave owner, etc., etc.,etc.,etc.). Sometimes we just violate our ideals; sometimes we try to uphold them the wrong way. We’re a work in progress. Despite our failures, I don’t think our primary motivation is aggression, greed, or the desire for power. We took our missiles out of Turkey so the Soviets would take theirs out of Cuba. Even in attempting to kill Castro or bring about the fall of his regime we were responding to his violent, Soviet sponsored take-over of the country.
NATO is a military alliance, so Putin’s cover story is plausible. But he’s made no secret of his ambition to restore the empire that Soviet Russia controlled.
Membership in NATO is voluntary, and people wouldn’t feel the need to join NATO if Putin wasn’t trying to subvert their democracies, intimidate them, and force them to submit to his will. People in Canada and Mexico do not choose to align themselves with Russia or China to protect themselves from U.S. aggression, but people in Eastern Europe do choose to join NATO because Putin poses a threat. He shows his true colors by invading Ukraine.
Obviously we are in a war with whatever Putin represents. While we should be forever hopeful that it doesn't degenerate into Direct conflict, it is still war and war demands sacrifices. So maybe Americans Should quit whining about rising gas prices and inflation. The United States should take every step possible to stymie the war making and financial institutions of the Soviet Union, oops. I mean Putin's Russia. Or maybe we should come to some kind of compromise with him, and we can hear "Peace In Our Time" repeated again.
Dear Mr Kristof, on another note, do you buy the argument that Putin's actions in Ukraine are triggered by fears of Ukraine being invited to join NATO? Russia has repeatedly asked for assurances about this, which NATO/US have not offered. If this is antagonizing Russia into aggression, then why not back off and let things be as they were before 2014?
Putin sees NATO as threat because he thinks the U.S. operates the way he does, seeking to expand and dominate, forcing smaller nations to bend to its will, and believes NATO is an instrument of this purpose. What he doesn’t get is that NATO membership is voluntary, unlike whatever ‘cooperative’ agreement he hopes to reach with Ukraine. Or, more likely, he does get it and just accuses the U.S. of imperialism to pre-empt the accusation being leveled at him—sort of like Trump calling people corrupt! (All that hoo-ha about Hillary’s email server and then he’s flushing documents down the toilet and carting classified material off to Mar-A-Lago.)
My point is simply that sometimes one is unilaterally aggressive, and sometimes one is pushed to be aggressive. Often the reality lies somewhere in between and each side will posture that its not their fault. If I heckle and needle someone into punching me, that person will get all the blame while I look like a hapless victim--but that is only a partial truth.
The US has a long history of breaking or blocking international actions to suit its needs, of changing regimes, funding rebels and providing weapons etc--but the US is very sophisticated and subtle in all this and in managing media perceptions, unlike many others--so perhaps Putin does see the US exactly as you say. And he wouldn't be entirely wrong about it.
The US risked nuclear war at the height of the Cold War when USSR tried to get too close to Cuba. Why should Russia be unhappy when the US wants to use Ukraine for missile bases? Would the US be just fine if Canada or Mexico "voluntarily" allowed to China to set up missile bases near the US border?
It seems to me that the wider and longer perspective we have on an issue, the less clear it becomes who is "good" and "bad." It takes two hands to clap--and ignoring the role of each hand, only leads to misunderstandings, ignorance and poor solutions and outcome.s
I think you’re right on Mr. Kristoff! My only question pertains that removing Russia from Swift be quite detrimental to the US and Europe. And you are. Advocating doing that. Can you explain why there would not be serious consequences in removing Russia from Swift? Thank you!
Unlike the novices installed by the previous administration, we now have people heading departments in the federal government with knowledge and experience in dealing with these issues. And they have the benefit of a lot more information from intelligence sources that we readers do. Not to say we shouldn’t be wary, but it seems like so many of us on the outside rant and regale our officials over what we consider too conservative an approach in dealing with issues than what we think is the better, faster, more effective approach. We’re like fans in a football game, second guessing a more knowledgeable and informed coach while we stuff our mouths with hot dogs and beer.
You are absolutely correct. I too trust the professionals, but I still write to my legislators. They want to know the mood of their constituents.
I copied these numerous suggestions about HOW TO HELP UKRAINIANS from two commenters on a substack post:
The below list are international charities working in Ukraine who can take donations from credit cards:
Libereco Partnership for Human Rights, evacuation and medical assistance
https://www.lphr.org/.../humanitaere-soforthilfe-fuer.../
Caritas, humanitarian assistance
https://www.caritas.org/ukraine-appeal-22/
Malteser International, evacuation assistance. (Make sure you have selected "Ukraine")
https://www.malteserinternational.org/.../donation...
If you want to participate in crowd sourcing by the Ukrainian Army, go to
https://armysos.com.ua/en/help-the-army
To fund protective and other defensive gear for the Ukrainian army, go to
https://savelife.in.ua/en/donate/
Please help them.
--------------------
Also:
Here are some additional resources from Valarie Kaur of The Revolutionary Love Project (https://www.revolutionarylove.net/):
HOW TO HELP IMMEDIATELY:
#1 Click here for a curated list of organizations you can choose from to support the people of Ukraine. These have been vetted by partner organizations we trust and our friends on the ground.
https://docs.google.com/.../1CdrWLAkEaOMV7fBb.../mobilebasic
*******
#2 Contact your elected officials to voice your support for peace in Ukraine.
https://www.uacrisisresponse.org/events
*******
To learn more, read these:
Russia's at war with Ukraine. Here's how we got here (NPR) - A detailed overview of what's happened between Russia and Ukraine since Ukraine gained independence.
https://www.npr.org/.../12/1080205477/history-ukraine-russia
*******
I'm interested in the last 2 sources on your list. Are they credible and how do we know? Thanks.
I copied the lists from two substack members I believe are reliable. If you have any doubts about any of the suggested organizations, don't contribute to them.
I love this woman with the sunflower seeds! How brave!
Putin's ability to wage war is directly related to the economic health of Russia, which is dependent upon oil revenues. Keep in mind that Russia's GDP is less than that of California; he basically funds his military and state (and personal wealth) from oil. The oil shale industry very nearly broke Russia in the last decade. Putin can and will act as long as he has revenue from oil. Stop is ability to sell oil, you'll cripple Russia and stop Putin. As far as the excuses he's offering (American aggression, European NATO alliances), they are a sop to his citizens. If the economic sanctions start to bite, how will he afford his shiny new tanks and planes, let alone pay his soldiers? If Russia is cut off from SWIFT, they'll have even a harder to feeding their people. It is a question of guns or butter; with no oil revenue, he'll have to sacrifice either his imperialistic pretensions of a "new greater Russia" or his people. I'd suggest that, given his delusions of power (from a state less wealthy than California), it might be a bad time to be a Russian.
Why no sanctions against Belarus?
Canada has sanctioned Belarus
Just as we supplied the Mujahideen in Afghanistan with shoulder fired missiles that brought down helicopters and ultimately drove the Russians out, we should supply Ukraine with thousands of small drones. Imagine a drone with a cargo of nitroglycerin crashing into a tank or truck full of soldiers.
please be sure President Biden sees this newsletter! I wish you were at his side giving suggestions to him in person!
Sometimes laughingstocks take themselves very seriously, even if serious people don’t, and turn out to be more harmful than funny. (See Trump, Donald.)
Europe must find an alternative to purchasing energy from Russia. Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine was funded in large part with the trillions of dollars Europe is paying them for oil and gas. And we must eliminate those payments. Venezuela has the largest petroleum reserves in the world, three times the reserves of Russia. We have nearly eliminated Venezuela‘s ability to supply Europe with oil. As bad as the Venezuelan regime is, they have not invaded their neighbors, nor committed the human rights abuses that Russia has. I think we must pursue the possibility of supplying much of Europe’s energy needs from Venezuela. We trade with regimes far worse than Venezuela
Indeed, we Europeans, use oil and gas from Russia.
May the brave and courageous Zelensky and the people of Ukraine defeat madman criminal Putin, and may he be brought to justice and convicted in the International Criminal Court.
War is expensive and disruptive. There is no way Russia can recoup the expenses of this war by occupying Ukraine. This has something to do with Trump, with Trump running for re-election. What if Ukrainians are sacrificial lambs, and the purpose of this invasion is really to de-stabilize America for Trump's potential benefit?
Putin's purpose is definitely to destabilize America as well as grab more land and resources for Russia. He tried using Trump as a puppet but now that he is not in office, Putin must be even more overt. tfg is praising Putin and that may work to his detriment in the long run. Most Americans don't have a favorable opinion of Russia and don't think Putin is a genius.
Agree that all to frequently the U.S. doesn’t live up to its ideals (‘All men are created equal’ written by slave owner, etc., etc.,etc.,etc.). Sometimes we just violate our ideals; sometimes we try to uphold them the wrong way. We’re a work in progress. Despite our failures, I don’t think our primary motivation is aggression, greed, or the desire for power. We took our missiles out of Turkey so the Soviets would take theirs out of Cuba. Even in attempting to kill Castro or bring about the fall of his regime we were responding to his violent, Soviet sponsored take-over of the country.
NATO is a military alliance, so Putin’s cover story is plausible. But he’s made no secret of his ambition to restore the empire that Soviet Russia controlled.
Membership in NATO is voluntary, and people wouldn’t feel the need to join NATO if Putin wasn’t trying to subvert their democracies, intimidate them, and force them to submit to his will. People in Canada and Mexico do not choose to align themselves with Russia or China to protect themselves from U.S. aggression, but people in Eastern Europe do choose to join NATO because Putin poses a threat. He shows his true colors by invading Ukraine.
Obviously we are in a war with whatever Putin represents. While we should be forever hopeful that it doesn't degenerate into Direct conflict, it is still war and war demands sacrifices. So maybe Americans Should quit whining about rising gas prices and inflation. The United States should take every step possible to stymie the war making and financial institutions of the Soviet Union, oops. I mean Putin's Russia. Or maybe we should come to some kind of compromise with him, and we can hear "Peace In Our Time" repeated again.
Dear Mr Kristof, on another note, do you buy the argument that Putin's actions in Ukraine are triggered by fears of Ukraine being invited to join NATO? Russia has repeatedly asked for assurances about this, which NATO/US have not offered. If this is antagonizing Russia into aggression, then why not back off and let things be as they were before 2014?
Putin sees NATO as threat because he thinks the U.S. operates the way he does, seeking to expand and dominate, forcing smaller nations to bend to its will, and believes NATO is an instrument of this purpose. What he doesn’t get is that NATO membership is voluntary, unlike whatever ‘cooperative’ agreement he hopes to reach with Ukraine. Or, more likely, he does get it and just accuses the U.S. of imperialism to pre-empt the accusation being leveled at him—sort of like Trump calling people corrupt! (All that hoo-ha about Hillary’s email server and then he’s flushing documents down the toilet and carting classified material off to Mar-A-Lago.)
My point is simply that sometimes one is unilaterally aggressive, and sometimes one is pushed to be aggressive. Often the reality lies somewhere in between and each side will posture that its not their fault. If I heckle and needle someone into punching me, that person will get all the blame while I look like a hapless victim--but that is only a partial truth.
The US has a long history of breaking or blocking international actions to suit its needs, of changing regimes, funding rebels and providing weapons etc--but the US is very sophisticated and subtle in all this and in managing media perceptions, unlike many others--so perhaps Putin does see the US exactly as you say. And he wouldn't be entirely wrong about it.
The US risked nuclear war at the height of the Cold War when USSR tried to get too close to Cuba. Why should Russia be unhappy when the US wants to use Ukraine for missile bases? Would the US be just fine if Canada or Mexico "voluntarily" allowed to China to set up missile bases near the US border?
It seems to me that the wider and longer perspective we have on an issue, the less clear it becomes who is "good" and "bad." It takes two hands to clap--and ignoring the role of each hand, only leads to misunderstandings, ignorance and poor solutions and outcome.s
What doyou think about holding Belarus culpable as well?
I think you’re right on Mr. Kristoff! My only question pertains that removing Russia from Swift be quite detrimental to the US and Europe. And you are. Advocating doing that. Can you explain why there would not be serious consequences in removing Russia from Swift? Thank you!