Nick, your guidance as always is wise and perceptive.
I would like to add our neighbors, Central American families, struggling in the face of gun violence by drug cartels, their suffering enabled by many in the US.
When then President Calderon of Mexico spoke to Congress years ago asking to stop the trafficking of deadly weapons from the US, the Republicans in Congress and on Fox attacked him.
And, of course, many Americans here actually support the deadly drug cartels by sending them financial support in the form of drug purchases.
In the meantime, Republicans push policies that distract our border guards from fighting drugs trafficking, instead demanding we spend resources on blocking the dreams of families who in desperation try to come here to escape the violence enabled by the lack of sufficient attention to guns and drugs at our borders.
I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when I read news accounts of school employees and students lining the school entrance, with applause of welcome, for Ukraine refugee children arriving on their first day in an American school. Do they applaud the arrival of child refugees from Central and South American countries, from Haiti, Nigeria, Syria? It could be that those same schools do that for every refugee child regardless of origin and it’s just that the media has not covered it until now or such stories have been less visible. But somehow I doubt it.
Yes Nick, there seems to be a double standard if one looks and sees what unfolds in Ukraine versus other places you've seen firsthand. I am sobered, astonished and appalled at what is happening at the hands of Putin. He and his henchmen must be stopped from further war crimes. Now . . . maybe this is "unpopular" but I will say it. Ethiopia-Tigray is not a "white war" . . . Ukraine/Russia is a "white on white" war. Thousands of innocent people have died in the Ethopia-Tigray war . . . do we get the same news coverage? No. Could it be because that is not a "white war" but is a "black war" and we know without a doubt how race plays a role in new International news coverage. I live half the year in Sub-Saharan Africa and I see what happens there and what little news coverage it gets in western news coverage. Racism? Yes.
Thanks for the latest update from you. And no there is not a double standard. Russia is on the vege of using Nuclear weapons and chemical warfare - against a country that just wants to join NATO. I can relate to this area since My grandparents came from a small town on the border between Poland, Russia and the Ukraine ( area formally known as the Pale of the Settlement ) . And as a person of the Jewish faith , I fear Putin with his remarks reminiscent of Hitler.
Let's also acknowledge that there is a clear aggressor here that is a foreign entity. Syria, Ethiopia, Myanmar, etc are all internal conflicts. It's not so easy choosing sides. Go watch Black Hawk Down if you think it's so easy. We tried choosing sides in Iraq and Afghanistan and that didn't work out so well.
What about the wars that another Nuclear Super Power i.e. the USA forced upon poor countries like Afghanistan and Iraq? What about Colin Powell shamelessly lying in the UN about Saddam Hussein's weapons of Mass destructions? what about Madeleine Albright replying that killing of half a million kids in first Iraq war was worth it ? What about killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Afghanistan and Iraq ? What about Joe Biden giving half of the 7 billion dollars of poorest Afghan people money to 911 families (when they have got a lot in compensation over 20 years) ... where people are forced to sell their daughters as young as 5 years old to feed their families? You very conveniently forgot that some of the worst atrocities in the world are committed by the largest and most power country on the planet, the United States of America, in the name of spreading democracy, and for blood thirsty revengeful wars . How are the likes of George Bush, Dick Chenny , Donald Rumsfeld and Tony Blair better than Vladimir Putin. If Putin is a war criminal so are these leaders of the "Free world" ... Free World for only the white folks...
Thoughtful & balanced as always, thank you … Also, with Poland taking in Ukrainian refugees — there are cultural similarities that make the burden of immigration much easier on both parties. They speak similar languages & can understand each other without a translator to a certain degree; their culture is similar, making adaptation much easier; their religion is broadly the same, and there’s a sense of a brotherly tribe with a common ancestry. To sum this all up as just racism, as many are doing, is to assume that countries & people have infinite resources, which they don’t.
It's quite crazy that grown adults genuinely believe the Ukraine crisis is about the West's noble and valiant struggle to defend Ukraine's freedom, democracy and sovereignty against the delusional megalomania of Vladimir Putin. This just sounds like a comic book plot. I suppose these people also believed the US govt when they claimed to be invading Iraq to overthrow their former allied dictator Saddam Hussein and give the Iraqi people "freedom" and "democracy." It must be nice inhabiting a world of American Exceptionalism fiction. The propaganda surrounding the war in Ukraine is absolutely unhinged, with unprecedented levels of hypocrisy and exceptionalism. US officials at least used to pretend that sanctions were not intended to harm civilians. Now the Biden Administration openly admits that harming Russian civilians is their intent, and liberals vociferously cheer. In the cool math of Geopolitical Power, innocent civilian lives don’t really matter. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, just to name a few of the countries where thousands of innocent civilians have died in the US pursuit of its own geopolitical interests (and where the US has gotten away without “crushing economic sanctions”, or any other consequence).
I’m old enough to remember the fire-bombing of Hamburg during WW2. No doubt many civilians were killed. But it meant that “we were closer to winning” the war against the Axis powers. Now, when Russia deliberately bombs civilians, we are rightfully outraged—it is “the other side” killing innocent children and adults.
Thank you Nick for summing up the situation so well. If there is any "silver lining" to all this, we can hope that the the suffering in Ukraine will open up people's eyes to the suffering currently happening in Myanmar, Syria, Tigray, Yemen and elsewhere.
Actually, what the Biden Administration is doing in Myanmar now is enabling the Burmese Army / Air Force (Tatmadaw) to slaughter defenseless people. When the military coup took place, the Biden Administration froze $1 billion dollars in financial assets of the previous Myanmar government in the US. If the Biden Administration would recognize the National Unity Government, the NUG would then have access to the $1 billion dollars of frozen assets to supply their fight against the Burmese Army and Air Force.
The Burmese people are fighting against the military junta through People's Defense Forces. In addition, Ethnic Armed Organizations are also fighting the military junta. However, the PDF forces opposing the military junta are desperately short of military arms and equipment. For example, in the Karenni State, one PDF battalion of 400 members only had 35 rifles. There are 18 other Karenni PDF battalions with the same shortages. These shortages are typical throughout the PDF forces in Myanmar. They are highly motivated to defend their people, villages, and towns, but badly handicapped in doing so without proper military equipment.
Currently, the Burmese Army and Air Force are killing and bombing civilians and committing war crimes in a wanton manner according to a recently released UN report. The UN report states, “Particularly, the Tatmadaw has continued to conduct attacks apparently directly targeting civilians and civilian objects, or which were carried out indiscriminately, in flagrant disregard of civilian populations.” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said, “The appalling breadth and scale of violations of international law suffered by the people of Myanmar demand a firm, unified, and resolute international response.” Also, the UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said, “We have really been able to identify a pattern over the past year, which indicates that this is planned, coordinated, systemic attacks; that there are clear indications that they would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Whole villages are being burned down by the Burma Army.
Peaceful protestors have been gunned down in cities and towns.
Detainees and prisoners are tortured to include rape and sexual abuse.
There are 440,00 displaced people and 14 million people in need of food, shelter, and medical care. However, humanitarian shipments to people in need and displaced people are blocked by the Burma Army.
The Biden Administration must recognize the NUG immediately and enable the Burmese people and ethnic minorities to defend themselves against the depredations of the Burmese Army and Air Force as noted in the UN report. To leave the People’s Defense Forces woefully under armed as they face a ruthless, vicious Burma Army is completely unacceptable. In addition, the US House and US Senate should invite the leader of the NUG to Washington to address them in joint session as they did with the leader of Ukraine.
A criteria not mentioned is the closeness of U.S. relations with the country where the humanitarian crisis is occurring. As mentioned, there are many ties between the U.S. and Ukraine including ancestry. Also, Ukraine is a (flawed) democracy. Neither of these apply to Syria, Ethiopia, or Myanmar.
This analysis is also applicable to how ready the U.S. will be to defend Taiwan. The U.S. has quite deep ties to Taiwan based on ancestry and economic connections (Taiwan is the largest microchip maker in the world and also makes some of the most hi-tech chips). U.S. ties to Ukraine are thinner with ancestry but the economic connection is indirect, based on agriculture that does not directly affect the U.S. Most important, U.S. ties with Taiwan go back to the late 1940s, whereas the ties to Ukraine government are much shorter.
Nick, Without disagreeing with your perspectives in the suffering in the world - in this instance, from war. But when you outline current, and long-standing atrocities from war in other countries, I ask that you also include South Sudan. The humanitarian crisis there is every bit as horrendous as in Darfour Sudan.
Nick, your guidance as always is wise and perceptive.
I would like to add our neighbors, Central American families, struggling in the face of gun violence by drug cartels, their suffering enabled by many in the US.
When then President Calderon of Mexico spoke to Congress years ago asking to stop the trafficking of deadly weapons from the US, the Republicans in Congress and on Fox attacked him.
And, of course, many Americans here actually support the deadly drug cartels by sending them financial support in the form of drug purchases.
In the meantime, Republicans push policies that distract our border guards from fighting drugs trafficking, instead demanding we spend resources on blocking the dreams of families who in desperation try to come here to escape the violence enabled by the lack of sufficient attention to guns and drugs at our borders.
I absolutely agree that it is better to inconsistently do the right thing .I just wish we could do the right thing more often.
I couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow when I read news accounts of school employees and students lining the school entrance, with applause of welcome, for Ukraine refugee children arriving on their first day in an American school. Do they applaud the arrival of child refugees from Central and South American countries, from Haiti, Nigeria, Syria? It could be that those same schools do that for every refugee child regardless of origin and it’s just that the media has not covered it until now or such stories have been less visible. But somehow I doubt it.
Yes Nick, there seems to be a double standard if one looks and sees what unfolds in Ukraine versus other places you've seen firsthand. I am sobered, astonished and appalled at what is happening at the hands of Putin. He and his henchmen must be stopped from further war crimes. Now . . . maybe this is "unpopular" but I will say it. Ethiopia-Tigray is not a "white war" . . . Ukraine/Russia is a "white on white" war. Thousands of innocent people have died in the Ethopia-Tigray war . . . do we get the same news coverage? No. Could it be because that is not a "white war" but is a "black war" and we know without a doubt how race plays a role in new International news coverage. I live half the year in Sub-Saharan Africa and I see what happens there and what little news coverage it gets in western news coverage. Racism? Yes.
Thanks for the latest update from you. And no there is not a double standard. Russia is on the vege of using Nuclear weapons and chemical warfare - against a country that just wants to join NATO. I can relate to this area since My grandparents came from a small town on the border between Poland, Russia and the Ukraine ( area formally known as the Pale of the Settlement ) . And as a person of the Jewish faith , I fear Putin with his remarks reminiscent of Hitler.
Let's also acknowledge that there is a clear aggressor here that is a foreign entity. Syria, Ethiopia, Myanmar, etc are all internal conflicts. It's not so easy choosing sides. Go watch Black Hawk Down if you think it's so easy. We tried choosing sides in Iraq and Afghanistan and that didn't work out so well.
Nick,
What about the wars that another Nuclear Super Power i.e. the USA forced upon poor countries like Afghanistan and Iraq? What about Colin Powell shamelessly lying in the UN about Saddam Hussein's weapons of Mass destructions? what about Madeleine Albright replying that killing of half a million kids in first Iraq war was worth it ? What about killing of hundreds of thousands of innocent people in Afghanistan and Iraq ? What about Joe Biden giving half of the 7 billion dollars of poorest Afghan people money to 911 families (when they have got a lot in compensation over 20 years) ... where people are forced to sell their daughters as young as 5 years old to feed their families? You very conveniently forgot that some of the worst atrocities in the world are committed by the largest and most power country on the planet, the United States of America, in the name of spreading democracy, and for blood thirsty revengeful wars . How are the likes of George Bush, Dick Chenny , Donald Rumsfeld and Tony Blair better than Vladimir Putin. If Putin is a war criminal so are these leaders of the "Free world" ... Free World for only the white folks...
Thoughtful & balanced as always, thank you … Also, with Poland taking in Ukrainian refugees — there are cultural similarities that make the burden of immigration much easier on both parties. They speak similar languages & can understand each other without a translator to a certain degree; their culture is similar, making adaptation much easier; their religion is broadly the same, and there’s a sense of a brotherly tribe with a common ancestry. To sum this all up as just racism, as many are doing, is to assume that countries & people have infinite resources, which they don’t.
It's quite crazy that grown adults genuinely believe the Ukraine crisis is about the West's noble and valiant struggle to defend Ukraine's freedom, democracy and sovereignty against the delusional megalomania of Vladimir Putin. This just sounds like a comic book plot. I suppose these people also believed the US govt when they claimed to be invading Iraq to overthrow their former allied dictator Saddam Hussein and give the Iraqi people "freedom" and "democracy." It must be nice inhabiting a world of American Exceptionalism fiction. The propaganda surrounding the war in Ukraine is absolutely unhinged, with unprecedented levels of hypocrisy and exceptionalism. US officials at least used to pretend that sanctions were not intended to harm civilians. Now the Biden Administration openly admits that harming Russian civilians is their intent, and liberals vociferously cheer. In the cool math of Geopolitical Power, innocent civilian lives don’t really matter. Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, Panama, Guatemala, Nicaragua, El Salvador, just to name a few of the countries where thousands of innocent civilians have died in the US pursuit of its own geopolitical interests (and where the US has gotten away without “crushing economic sanctions”, or any other consequence).
I’m old enough to remember the fire-bombing of Hamburg during WW2. No doubt many civilians were killed. But it meant that “we were closer to winning” the war against the Axis powers. Now, when Russia deliberately bombs civilians, we are rightfully outraged—it is “the other side” killing innocent children and adults.
There is rarely a mention of Chechnya. It was destroyed.
Thank you Nick for summing up the situation so well. If there is any "silver lining" to all this, we can hope that the the suffering in Ukraine will open up people's eyes to the suffering currently happening in Myanmar, Syria, Tigray, Yemen and elsewhere.
Actually, what the Biden Administration is doing in Myanmar now is enabling the Burmese Army / Air Force (Tatmadaw) to slaughter defenseless people. When the military coup took place, the Biden Administration froze $1 billion dollars in financial assets of the previous Myanmar government in the US. If the Biden Administration would recognize the National Unity Government, the NUG would then have access to the $1 billion dollars of frozen assets to supply their fight against the Burmese Army and Air Force.
The Burmese people are fighting against the military junta through People's Defense Forces. In addition, Ethnic Armed Organizations are also fighting the military junta. However, the PDF forces opposing the military junta are desperately short of military arms and equipment. For example, in the Karenni State, one PDF battalion of 400 members only had 35 rifles. There are 18 other Karenni PDF battalions with the same shortages. These shortages are typical throughout the PDF forces in Myanmar. They are highly motivated to defend their people, villages, and towns, but badly handicapped in doing so without proper military equipment.
Currently, the Burmese Army and Air Force are killing and bombing civilians and committing war crimes in a wanton manner according to a recently released UN report. The UN report states, “Particularly, the Tatmadaw has continued to conduct attacks apparently directly targeting civilians and civilian objects, or which were carried out indiscriminately, in flagrant disregard of civilian populations.” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet said, “The appalling breadth and scale of violations of international law suffered by the people of Myanmar demand a firm, unified, and resolute international response.” Also, the UN human rights office spokeswoman Ravina Shamdasani said, “We have really been able to identify a pattern over the past year, which indicates that this is planned, coordinated, systemic attacks; that there are clear indications that they would amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.”
Whole villages are being burned down by the Burma Army.
Peaceful protestors have been gunned down in cities and towns.
Detainees and prisoners are tortured to include rape and sexual abuse.
There are 440,00 displaced people and 14 million people in need of food, shelter, and medical care. However, humanitarian shipments to people in need and displaced people are blocked by the Burma Army.
The Biden Administration must recognize the NUG immediately and enable the Burmese people and ethnic minorities to defend themselves against the depredations of the Burmese Army and Air Force as noted in the UN report. To leave the People’s Defense Forces woefully under armed as they face a ruthless, vicious Burma Army is completely unacceptable. In addition, the US House and US Senate should invite the leader of the NUG to Washington to address them in joint session as they did with the leader of Ukraine.
The double standard in the US can be directly tied to CRT and is an excellent example of systemic racism and Eurocentrism.
I agree.
A criteria not mentioned is the closeness of U.S. relations with the country where the humanitarian crisis is occurring. As mentioned, there are many ties between the U.S. and Ukraine including ancestry. Also, Ukraine is a (flawed) democracy. Neither of these apply to Syria, Ethiopia, or Myanmar.
This analysis is also applicable to how ready the U.S. will be to defend Taiwan. The U.S. has quite deep ties to Taiwan based on ancestry and economic connections (Taiwan is the largest microchip maker in the world and also makes some of the most hi-tech chips). U.S. ties to Ukraine are thinner with ancestry but the economic connection is indirect, based on agriculture that does not directly affect the U.S. Most important, U.S. ties with Taiwan go back to the late 1940s, whereas the ties to Ukraine government are much shorter.
Nick, Without disagreeing with your perspectives in the suffering in the world - in this instance, from war. But when you outline current, and long-standing atrocities from war in other countries, I ask that you also include South Sudan. The humanitarian crisis there is every bit as horrendous as in Darfour Sudan.