Running away is easy it the leaving that's hard
Canada should back away from NATO
“As Russia continues its ongoing illegal and unjustifiable war against Ukraine, Canada will continue to be there to support Ukraine and its people. I would like to thank President Zelenskyy for hosting this visit, but also more importantly, for his leadership. Together with Ukrainians, President Zelenskyy is defending the values at the very heart of democracies. His courage and the courage of Ukrainians is inspiring, and we will continue to do everything we can to make sure Ukraine gets the support it needs.”
-Trudeau, Prime Minister of Canada
Does Canada really need to be at war with Putin? Yes (Canada has been at war with Putin) but not for the reasons you think. It’s business, its irrationality and a plan gone wrong. This war is against a man not a country. If only the regime could be changed then Russia could finally meet the end of history.
Putin won’t be defeated by us and he won’t be defeated by Ukraine… he won’t be defeated by anyone except, maybe, the full military might of NATO (but that won’t really be a victory for anyone). Until then, a commitment from Canada to Ukraine is like England committing defense assistance to Poland in 1939, it’s not really coming.
Read/watch any Canadian speech to a NATO member or any of the Federal literature in regards to NATO commitment and aid to Ukraine and it is plastered with platitudes of “defending democracy” and standing up to “state actors” in the name of sovereignty and democracy. Has there ever been a cause more noble? Will Russia be tamed like Germany and shamed for the rest of time for its history?
Of course, Russia has its claim to the moral high ground as well (
).
War is diplomacy by other means. The Ukraine War is the result of decades of diplomatic decisions that lead to this conclusion. Russia, Nazi Germany and later NATO have been corrupting Ukraine its whole history. It is located in such a geo strategic place that it attracts war and interest of great powers. This conflict was, quite tragically, always meant to be and both sides made it happen.
Whether it be control of the black sea, a land corridor to threaten attack on China, Russian resources, the military Industrial Complex etc. Ukraine is a crucial point in the war path. Now it lies on the border between two ideologies: The Globalist American Empire (GAE) and Putinism.
I remember at the start of the war (Should have saved the clip) an MSNBC segment in which the hosts were using WWII propaganda to sell the commitment to Ukraine and set Putin up as the new Hitler. The rhetoric around Putin’s tyranny goes way back and has been programming political talk in the West in regards to Russia for decades. Although I don’t disagree that Putin is a dictator in some way or another it needs to be said that dictatorship is the norm not the exception. In regards to Russia, Putin came not long after the fall of the preeminent Totalitarian Tyranny. He is of that world and cannot act without this history behind him. Not all Russians agree, to be sure, but this is a country that has always charted its own course and has never been made to submit to the power of another nation.
Canada, on the other hand, goes where it is told. Whether, it is Harper, Trudeau or possibly Poilievre Canada will be shackled to NATO until the bitter end. In the Early days of the war the Canadian Parliament quite unitedly condemned Russia of Genocide against the Ukrainian people as if Hitler himself was back at it again.
Nobody ever wants to confess guilt that they are under some kind of propaganda but we know we all consume some and express some form of it every day and so what is it that the Canadian government (whether it be Harper, Trudeau. Pollivier etc.) tell us that is convincingly delusional?
That is a whole other series of conversations but for now in regards to Ukraine it is predominantly that they ever really stood a chance. I know this war is not over but if Ukraine ever had military might to repel Russia back to the pre-war borders would they not have done it by now? Since just before winter Russia went back to its creeping advancements and encirclements preceded by immense artillery bombardments that are fundamental to Russia’s strategy in Ukraine. This war is not really about territorial gains, it’s about defeating the Ukrainian army. NATO needs to keep the UAF alive for as long as possible and prolong the point where Putin gets what he wants. There is no victory day for Ukraine. Even if they did “win” it would be catastrophically pyrrhic. Diplomacy will mean that Putin has to get something he wants….
So, if the war is lost and is only being perpetuated to buy time at the cost of thousands of lives why is there no one in government condemning or even criticizing NATO and its inglorious mission?
It’s no secret Justin is firm in his NATO commitment and Pierre will be as well. Parties always come together on matters of war. The “alliances” are set and we go where NATO goes. Christia Freeland holds the Slava Ukraine banner, we condemn a genocide that is not really happening… It’s all very emotional and we have the fortunate place in the world to sit outside and away from it and judge from afar.
We contribute $8.2 billion in NATO commitments for wars that we have no need to be in and that we would never start in the first place and due to our NATO commitment, we have been shipping weapons to Ukraine for years. As stated by Ukraine foreign Minister Oleksii Reznikov said “Ukraine as a country, and the armed forces of Ukraine, became [a] member of Nato. De facto, not de jure. Because we have weaponry, and the understanding of how to use it."
Before the war there was no problem with reporting on the deep corruption of Ukrainian politics. It has been alleged as well that only 30% of most weapons actually reach the front line. How do we know that all the money and weapons we have been sending for years has not been given to the terrorist AZOV battalion? The Trudeau Administration has denounced every detail of Rightism from its progressive high horse on many occasions but in this supposedly crucial area they seem to be blind.
And we do this because we must. Probably not because Putin would attack Europe but because America would lose hegemony across the world. Should this happen? Not necessarily….. another topic for another day.
America does not need the destruction of others countries just their subservience. Russia has vast resources that America wants free, easy access to but the “State Actor” that runs the Russian Federation just won’t submit to NATO expansion like they were supposed to.
If and when the Ukrainian army collapses or the government falls what will the rhetoric will be like? We were told over and over again that Russia was nearly out of tanks, that the HIMARs marked a turning point, that Ukraine would recapture Crimea and the Ghost of Kiev was securing the skies etc. The collective West has assets in Ukraine. It needs Ukraine as an outpost to threaten attack against Russia.
So, when the Canadian Parliament accuses Russia of Genocide and calls Putin a “state actor” it doesn’t really mean anything at all. This war is being fought over many things but the “defense of democracy” is not one of them. Democracy does not really exist in the halls of power because power is never shared. If direct war between NATO and Russia starts then Canada is to be dragged into it to whatever end.
Some would argue that opposite and say that if Canada is not part of NATO then how are we to do our part on the international stage in condemning the bad behavior of the world or ensuring the Rules Based International World Order. These are just euphemisms for maintaining American global hegemony. We are still accusing Putin of an illegal war despite Putin invoking UN article 51. When has the Canadian government ever mentioned this/ When has CTV or Global News or, god forbid, the government funded CBC ever mentioned this in their reports Ukraine?
When have any of these outlets ever told you about the last eight years of the Ukrainian government shelling civilians in the Donbass?
Running away from NATO sounds easy, it sounds logical and it should happen if Canada ever decides it wants sovereignty over its military. But leaving NATO, leaving the Western mission to dominate the world is the hard part.