As I See It
Putin’s war shows democracy key to world peace
It is not at all clear how Russia’s war with Ukraine will end. There are certainly reasons for concern. Concerns that Russia’s President can no longer be reasoned with, that he has become unhinged, and that he may be willing to resort to the use of nuclear weapons. What has happened so far is already a worldwide disaster. There are no easy answers about what can be done to stop him. But one thing has become abundantly clear during this hostility. Russia, and in fact the authoritarian idea, is being condemned on the world stage. There is great unity among the majority of the world powers that Vladimir Putin is wrong and needs to be stopped. Even Switzerland has tossed aside its traditional neutrality to condemn the Russian invasion. The world is largely galvanized. Russia has become increasingly isolated, diplomatically and economically. The Russian people are overwhelmingly against Putin and his war. That sentiment will no doubt grow when bodies of Russian soldiers are returned to their homeland to be buried. Perhaps when this war is over, hopefully sooner rather than later, the world will see even more clearly that democracy, not imperialism, is the key to peace in the world.
Kent Porter
March 7, 2022 at 5:16 am
AS I SEE IT !!!!!!!!! Democracy will not work with a murder dictator , There comes a time when you have to fight for what is right , I will not be what some crazy dictator wants me to be , seems this kinda stuff has been going on the the USA since Joe Biden has come into office , Watch the movie RED DAWN , Then you will get whats going on now .
Chip DeNure
March 7, 2022 at 5:20 am
The US would do the same thing if Putin sent troops and missiles to Mexico. This was a US provocation, an entirely idiotic provocation by the US.
nick
March 7, 2022 at 11:46 am
I was in the LaCrosse Tribune as a contributor to the editorial page. The mistake at the beginning was that Romney in 2012 stated that Russia and Putin was the largest geopolitical threat and typed 2021 instead. Romney was ridiculed by all for that opinion. In 2014, Putin annexed Crimea and received inconsequential sanctions. He did not respect Obama. Trump was a buffoon who did so much damage internationally that aided Putin. Biden is not respected by Putin at all. Biden has been a disaster not only domestically but internationally as well. You do not wage war on American oil and gas and then turn to Putin and ask him to pump more oil so our prices do not have to increase as much as they have. You do not go to OPEC for the same reason.
I had hope when Biden took over but not any more. We are dealing with the fact that we have two had two disastrous Presidents in a row and worry if we can recover.
As usual, the individuals that could be a good President will never get close to winning the nomination from either party let alone win a national election.
Chip DeNure
March 7, 2022 at 1:34 pm
Putin a threat? Well, let’s draw a comparison. Did Putin invade Vietnam as Lyndon Johnson did in 1965 with combat troops? Did Putin overthrow Allende? Did Putin support the death squad governments of Central America? Did Putin invade Panama in 1989 killing some 4,000 civilians? Did Putin bomb Yugoslavia as Clinton did killing over 2,000 civilians? Did Putin invade Iraq in 2003 where over a million civilians died? Did Putin occupy Afghanistan for 20 years? Did Putin invade Libya as Obama did? Has Putin used chemical weapons as the US did in Vietnam and Iraq? Perhaps we need take a hard look at US behavior. I mean if you’re going to demonize Putin, you’re going to have to demonize LBJ, Nixon, George Bush 1, Bill Clinton, George Bush 2, and Obama. Again, in comparison to those US presidents, Putin is looking almost angelic.
Chip DeNure
March 9, 2022 at 12:39 pm
I see this has been bumped up to Number 5 so I’ll add another comment. A wise man once said that there’s a big difference between what the US is actually doing in its foreign policies, and what the American people believe its doing. What explains this difference? The mainstream media, which totally downplays the millions of civilian deaths caused by our interventions, invasions, and CIA sponsored coups to get rid of leaders that put their own people’s welfare ahead of that of American corporations. And there is no mainstream media challenge to the BIG LIE-that we just want to spread democracy all round the world. The mainstream media has been a servant of those in power since America became an empire in 1898, and they…from the NY Times to the Washington Post to the television networks, and now the big tech companies have innocent blood on their hands for not telling us the truth about American foreign policies.