Bodies in the Streets

The news tonight showed horrific pictures of bodies in the streets after Russian troops retreated from the sites near Kyiv, where they had bombarded the urban and suburban cities. Some bodies showed shots to the head while handcuffed. The authorities found hundreds of bodies in mass graves after an apparent city-wide massacre; the troops planted the area with land mines, while some bodies were booby-trapped with explosives.

Merriam Webster defines a massacre as “the act or an instance of killing a number of usually helpless or unresisting human beings under circumstances of atrocity or cruelty.”

The authorities in Ukraine claim these actions are genocide and even more heinous than the excesses of ISIS or a single war crime-these are systematic and deliberate multiple crimes-killings of civilians. The refusal in the south to allow the Red Cross, or Doctors without Borders into the devastated and besieged city of Mariupol for humane rescues of civilians and delivery of medicines and food, is also beyond what the civilized world sees as acceptable behavior. When the rescue corridors were set up and residents came out to escape, frequently the exits were denied for no apparent reason or the caravans were fired on. Polls state that Russian citizens support Putin and this war as they are being lied to and told that no civilians or cities are harmed and Nazis are being defeated. I wonder if they will ever learn the truth or react differently when their sons do not return.

I believe that you, ‘gentle reader’, as they say, are as troubled by these photos as am I. But, I wonder, do you also feel as powerless as I do? I see an organized, democratic country that offered no military threat to Russia, being invaded, its populace traumatized and its urban centers pummeled into dust at the whim of a tyrant. Since no country in the West will battle the Russian dictator with armed forces, (and I do understand that nuclear weapons threats are real deterrents), just what can these countries do? Sanctions are long-term issues, but what will stop this madman? I see more heavy arms being sent to Ukraine but agree that some airplanes are necessary, even as I also agree that a NATO no-fly zone is not workable because of the greater risk of confrontation with Russian pilots. The U.S. and others in NATO are trying to find which are the best options moving forward. There are no simple answers here. Pundits have said that Putin thought Zelensky would leave the country and his countrymen would welcome the Russians. When that did not happen, and the Ukrainians fought back fiercely, Putin then leveled the cities, hoping would topple the President or drive him to beg for respite. So far that has not happened and the Ukrainians have conceded nothing. However, many of their cities are destroyed. Who will put them back together again? Will I assess reparations against Russian holdings? What will happen to the millions who have fled; will they have a country to return to? Think how long it took Europe and England to recover from the last continent-wide war; it took decades.

The Ukrainian forces killed many Russian soldiers during the various battles, but frequently the invading troops left the bodies at that spot. As one who grew up placing flowers on the graves of fallen relatives and veterans from World War II, I cannot imagine the pain the families of these soldiers will have in never finding closure for their deaths. However, Russian propaganda claims military deaths have been only in the low hundreds, while NATO and the Ukrainians claim that up to 15,000 Russian soldiers have died so far. All Russian males between 18 and 27 are subject to military conscription for one year, depending on the needs of the state. Currently, U.S. estimates are that up to one-quarter of the active-duty Russian troops in Ukraine are conscripts, even though Putin has denied that they are being used in messages to his country. Last week Russia announced that around 130,000 conscripts are being called up now. Reports show he is also looking for mercenaries and has asked Chechen and Syrian forces to volunteer to help in his invasion. Belarus was also asked to provide troops but has held back because of domestic insecurities; Russia even held pre-invasion exercises in Belarus and many thought its troops would join, but since the fraudulent election there recently, Belarus is unstable.

Other reports note that possibly the Wagner troops are being activated for use in Ukraine. Wagner troops are Putin’s answer to the private forces used by the U.S. in Iraq, then called Blackwater. According to the Intercept, Wagner provided mercenaries to assist Russian forces when they invaded the Crimean area of Ukraine. It is important to note that the Wagner forces have been under U.S. sanctions for murders and military activities since 2014. The EU has also sanctioned this group for mercenary activities, according to Lawfare.com. The Economist reports that over 400 mercenaries from this shadowy group were sent to Ukraine to murder Zelensky and others important in the government. A leader of the secret Russian Troll farm, the Internet Research Agency, is thought to be a funding source for this group. Others, however, have called the group Putin’s private army. Its’ presence across Africa is growing; as both China and Russia are looking to control the precious minerals yet to be discovered in many parts of this under-explored continent.

The former leader of the Blackwater forces, Erik Prince, (brother of our former education secretary, Betsy DeVos) was said to have offered to join with the Wagner mercenary troops in actions in Libya, Syria, and several African nations where Russia is attempting to gain a foothold. There is no information about what relationship the previous administration had with Prince although, he donated to the MAGA campaign and held shadowy meetings outside the U.S. with some administration associates. There have been claims he was involved with shady operations and arms sales. A jury acquitted his Blackwater forces of the unprovoked murder of Iraqi citizens; he renamed the mercenary group Xe Services and sold it to a private investor group. At one time, it held contracts for the State Department and the CIA for security services worth millions of dollars and was considered the largest private military force in the world. He has now formed a third force called Academi and, according to the Atlantic, even offered to take over the security in Afghanistan to allow U.S. forces to be sent home. He tried to oust the UN troops in Libya but failed in this attempt a few years ago.

When the U. S, military fights in a conflict, it is supposed to follow the Military Code of Conduct. Other countries follow a similar code as well; it allows for fair treatment of prisoners and captured civilians and stands against massive devastation and murder of non-combatants as is now happening in Ukraine. Private armies are seldom under such restraints and are often answerable to no codes of conduct, nor are they acknowledged by those who hired them in many cases. I do not know what kind of training the Russian forces have had, but I know that they have engaged in unrestrained savagery previously in Chechnya and Syria. The Taliban defeated them in Afghanistan and the Russians left Chechnya without a victory. Perhaps the lack of any consequences after these actions and the invasions in Crimea made the Russian government and Putin believe they could act savagely, with impunity, and have no pushback.

Maybe, because this war is now happening in a Western-leaning democratic government in Europe and not in some far-off land that many cannot locate on a map, the reactions feel closer to us all. This should not be the case; any unnecessary human death diminishes us all as we should believe that we share a common humanity. Some have faulted television reporters for feeling closer to these tragedies because many of the fleeing families look like theirs; they might be blonde and blue-eyed and speaking English. But it seems to be true that these deaths are being presented as more horrific than those victims of Buddhist riots against the Rohingya or ISIS slaughtering the Yazidi, or the killing of schoolgirls by extremists in Nigeria. Each death in these unnecessary and also horrific events causes a parent, child, or spouse to have pain and mourn.

We call ourselves civilized, but sometimes, I wonder just what can we each do to make this world better when so much energy is spent on making it worse.

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COVID notes: China is having a significant outbreak of the Omicron variant and has locked down parts of several urban centers. The BA.2 variant is active across Europe and is now the dominant force in the U.S. The CDC is advising residents over 65 to get a second booster of either the Pfizer or the Moderna vaccines. Moderna is close to requesting preliminary approval for a children’s vaccine for the 2-5-year-old range. Maryland has seen an 8% rise in cases over the last two weeks. One in six Marylanders has contracted this virus. Washington DC is also among the areas showing higher recent case numbers. This variant is said to be easily transmissible, but not as virulent. Scientists have voiced amazement at the speed with which the virus is mutating into more unique variants and are concerned that it is here to stay in multiple forms. Vaccine producers are trying to find a vaccine that is more widely applicable to these changes.

COVID Stats – NY Times

U.S. Total cases: 80,056,903.  New Cases: 27,088.

Total Deaths: 980,027.  New Deaths: 649.

Maryland Total Cases: 1,012,621. New Cases: 323.

Total Deaths: 14,347. New Deaths: 4.

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So that is about all for now. 

Tidbits: 

Hopefully, some Republicans will vote their conscience and not their party and approve of Judge Jackson. Meanwhile, the January 6^th Committee is finding gaps in White House record-keeping; are you surprised? Justice Thomas’ wife lobbied the White House before and after the last election, but he has not recused himself about issues concerning the election. And last, the former disgraced president held a rally using the theme-Save America (from or for what I am unsure). He claimed The Russians would not have invaded had he been president. Oh, and there is another caravan coming just in time for the mid-terms!

“Til next week-Hope for Peace!