Category: Struggle for Peace
Victory’s Test of Time
worker | May 9, 2021 | 8:28 pm | struggle against fascism, Struggle for Peace, struggle for socialism, USSR | Comments closed

https://sputniknews.com/columnists/202105081082833275-victorys-test-of-time/

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The Russian people have every right to proudly proclaim victory over Nazi Germany and fascism in Europe. Every year, celebrations of Victory Day remain as vibrant as ever. And for good reason.

This weekend marks the 76th anniversary of the Nazi defeat on May 9, 1945. Victory parades are held all across Russia with the most splendid display of honor in Moscow’s Red Square.

What is rather telling is how commemorations in the United States and Britain have become relatively dimmed over time. Every year there seems to be less importance given to the anniversary. Why is that? In Western news media, there are even reminder articles about the history of Victory Day and why events are held to mark the occasion.

The contrast with the vibrant and dedicated celebrations in Russia is down to one main fact: it was the Russian people and the Soviet Red Army that were the main victors over the Nazi regime. It is crucial to reiterate that and to never lose sight of the historical truth because Western politicians and media would have us believe otherwise.

The Soviet Union’s allies during World War II, the US and Britain, played a role in defeating Nazi Germany, but that role was secondary in the achievement. Put in another way: essentially, the defeat of the Third Reich would not have happened without the Red Army hammering the eastern front all the way to Hitler’s Berlin bunker. Whereas the Western allies were more auxiliary in the victory.

It was the Hammer and Sickle that flew over the smoldering Reich Chancellery not the Stars and Stripes nor the Union Jack.

The Banner of Victory on the Reichstag building in Berlin, May 1, 1945.
© SPUTNIK / VLADIMIR GREBNEV
The Banner of Victory on the Reichstag building in Berlin, May 1, 1945.

In short, it was the Soviet people who liberated Europe from Nazi tyranny and fascism. It was the Soviet people who largely brought an end to the infernal death camps.

  • Soviet tank crew during Victory Day Parade on Red Square.
  • Soviet and Polish Armia Krajowa soldiers in Vilnius, July 1944.
  • Soviet soldiers liberating Auschwitz
  • US soldiers congratulating Soviet officers with the victory in the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945.
  • Czestochowa (Poland) residents meet Soviet soldiers. January 1945. The Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945
1 / 7
© SPUTNIK / RIA NOVOSTI
Soviet tank crew during Victory Day Parade on Red Square.

 

In spite of that glorious fact, the American and British political establishments have the arrogant audacity to claim that they were the liberating heroes. Based on this distortion of history, these Western powers claim a false moral authority. 

We saw this arrogance displayed this week in London at the so-called G7 summit. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his British counterpart Dominic Raab declared that their countries had established the rules-based international order that followed WWII. As always, the Americans and British imply that they are the moral superiors, which is derived from their false belief or delusion about their role in defeating Nazi Germany.

Victory Parade on Red Square on June 24, 1945 marking the defeat of Nazi Germany during WWII (1939-1945)
© SPUTNIK / EVGENY HALDEI
Victory Parade on Red Square on June 24, 1945 marking the defeat of Nazi Germany during WWII (1939-1945)

What is even more reprehensible, the US and Britain use this historical fraud to disparage and demonize Russia. They accuse Russia of “aggression” and other malign conduct when in fact no other two countries have waged as many wars and killed as many people in the 76 years following WWII.

Indeed, it can be argued that the American and British-led NATO military alliance is posing an existential threat to Russia by encircling its borders with increasing forces. Ironically, the last time such a threat was manifest was when Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union in June 1941.

There are other reasons why Russia’s commemorations of Victory Day are far more important to its people than in the West. The war destroyed the lives of many more Russians – nearly 27 million – and therefore the memory of families and the sacrifices of their loved ones is that much stronger. Each year, there are fewer and fewer war veterans alive to commemorate the anniversary, but in Russia, millions of families carry on the memory with heartfelt devotion. The incomparable suffering of the Russian people is testimony to the fact that they bore the burden of defeating Nazi Germany and liberating Europe from fascism.

The test of time shows clearly who were the primary victors in the worst war that the world has ever seen.

The leaders of nations that claim otherwise are imposters and frauds. Their dimming victory parades over time evince their hijacking of history and the hollowness of their presumed role of “liberators” and champions of “international order” and “virtuous values”. Most damningly, these same people are capable of starting another world war from their arrogant delusions of superiority over Russia.

Which raises disturbing questions about the history of postwar fascism.

The views and opinions expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

Unlearned History Lessons
worker | April 25, 2021 | 9:00 pm | struggle against nuclear war, Struggle for Peace, USSR | Comments closed

https://sputniknews.com/columnists/202104231082704184-unlearned-history-lessons/

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“Avoiding a clash with great powers does not indicate cowardice, but wisdom, because sacrificing oneself is never an advantage anywhere”. Preface to “The Art of War” by Sun Tzu by N. Konrad

In recent years, relations between Russia and the US have shifted from competitiveness to confrontation, effectively going back to the Cold War era. The sanctions pressure, threats, conflict behaviour and defence of selfish interests are plunging the world into a state of permanent instability.

If relations between the two countries have been in the situation described above for a long time, it is called a crisis. Such crises provide a fertile ground for even more acute periods in the relationship – a “crisis of all crises”. Under such circumstances, any faux pas, any lack of patience, and any strategic understanding of the “weight” of each word could plunge not just two countries, but the entire world, into an abyss of the gravest challenges, threatening it with a direct military clash.

This has happened before in our common history. The time was a little different than now, and the scene was in the Caribbean, but the spirit of what was going on was very similar.

US foreign policy at the time forced our country to respond accordingly. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, it manifested itself in the deployment of American missiles in Turkey, in South Vietnam, and in Lebanon. And, as well, in the failed policies toward Cuba that sparked the revolution and then again, in an attempt to regain control of the Island of Freedom. And, in many other things.

Today, it has manifested itself in anti-Russian sanctions, an orchestrated harassment campaign against Russia, US policy towards our neighbouring countries, NATO’s final approach to our borders, opposition to Nord Stream 2, concerns about our country’s development of the Northern Sea Route, and finally the Ukrainian crisis. We see examples of such policies on a daily basis.

The Russia of today, as with the Soviet Union of the past, has always been in a catch-up position with the United States on the level of threats to its counterpart.

CIA reference photograph of Soviet medium-range ballistic missile (SS-4 in U.S. documents, R-12 in Soviet documents) in Red Square, Moscow. The weapon was deployed to Cuba in October 1962, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis.
© CC0 / CENTRAL INTELLIGENCE AGENCY
CIA reference photograph of Soviet medium-range ballistic missile (SS-4 in U.S. documents, R-12 in Soviet documents) in Red Square, Moscow. The weapon was deployed to Cuba in October 1962, sparking the Cuban Missile Crisis.

In the early 1960s, the Soviet Union responded to the Americans by deploying strategic offensive weapons to Cuba. The United States, as we know, had taken a further confrontational step by bringing in warships, imposing a naval blockade on the island and even preparing for a full-scale invasion. That became known as the Cuban Missile Crisis.

There are two key points in its framework.

  • The first, a long-term response, involved more than just the deployment of missiles off the coast of the United States. Above all, it was a demonstration and, more importantly, a realisation by Western countries of our state’s infrastructural capabilities to deploy military bases anywhere in the world at short notice.
  • The second, a situation, just “five minutes from war”, was saved by the leaders of the two superpowers retaining a sober assessment of the standoff, who recognised and accepted the “wisdom” of compromise and hence were prepared to make concessions.

At some points, the leaders communicated directly, at others – they did not, but in any case, there was dialogue between the Soviet Union and the US on an equal footing, pursued not through the language of threats and ultimatums.

After the resolution of the 20th century Cuban Missile Crisis, there has never been a situation since where the two countries were this close to war. Because both had learned the lesson that cooperation in solving international problems was better than confrontation.

But today the situation is somewhat different: the US has slid into an unstable foreign policy. This manifested itself in the rejection of the Iran nuclear deal. And in the US withdrawal from the Open Skies Treaty and several other international treaties. And, at this moment, in the rhetoric of the new US president.

The new strategic reality – the instability of Washington’s foreign policy – is largely caused by domestic reasons but also by a certain decline in the credibility of the US as the leader of the Western world.

Police release tear gas into a crowd of pro-Trump protesters during clashes at a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021.
© REUTERS / SHANNON STAPLETON
Police release tear gas into a crowd of pro-Trump protesters during clashes at a rally to contest the certification of the 2020 U.S. presidential election results by the U.S. Congress, at the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington, U.S, January 6, 2021.

A new tactic of the American administration is to signal the need for dialogue, on the one hand, and increase pressure with the other. It can speak both of the fulfillment of the Democrats’ campaign promises and a lack of unity in policymaking and decision-making in the new team, and of an American “holy mission”. “We are always right, you must listen to us”. Both partners and opponents ought to take this course for granted, with a sense of gratitude for the “lesson” learned.

We heard the call for dialogue during a telephone conversation between the two presidents. And then tough rhetoric kicked in, new anti-Russian sanctions were imposed, diplomats were expelled, and an executive order on the ‘Russian threat’ was signed. This should also include the artificially-fueled conflict in eastern Ukraine, militaristic statements by the US leadership, and the redeployment of military equipment to our region. To put it simply, the situation is escalating.

It was clear that the United States perceived the Soviet Union as an equal opponent, which should undoubtedly be reckoned with. This was because the parties had military-political parity, and the system of international organisations was set up to preserve this balance. Two military blocs – NATO and the Warsaw Pact – accounted for this, too.

But after the collapse of the Soviet Union, this parity was lost for a while. The US, having lived for one and a half decades in a coordinate system where no other country in the world not only had no comparable power to it, but not even the hypothetical right to have such power, had simply become unaccustomed to equitable dialogue.

The new US administration, re-establishing its position as the world leader and protector of the Collective West (while in parallel persuading itself of this), does not have the fortitude to recognise that someone in the world may have infrastructural capabilities and military-political capacity comparable to them. For example, China or Russia.

The question on the agenda is whether the current US administration will find the “wisdom of compromise” that the leaders of the Caribbean crisis of the 1960s reached?

And what can help to defuse problems when the situation is heated to the breaking point?

There are three such points.

  • First, an understanding of the price of a “fatal decision”. If the damage from winning is so extensive that it raises doubts about the continued existence of the winner, then it is not a victory.
  • Second, direct communication. It is not just a phone you can use, but an opportunity to speak frankly and, more importantly, to hear your counterpart. And to understand their logic and arguments.
  • And third, which is most important. Not only an understanding of the necessity and possibility of compromises but also a willingness to make these compromises. A willingness to reject the language of ultimatums and disgraceful behaviour that drives the dialogue down below ground level.

This is why rhetoric boiled down to the crude phrase “Russia will pay the price”, while sounding very American, leads straight to a dead end. There is no way out of this tunnel. This mantra will offers no enlightenment to anyone.

The views and opinions expressed in the article do not necessarily reflect those of Sputnik.

US Diplomacy
worker | April 18, 2021 | 9:36 pm | struggle against imperialism, Struggle for Peace | Comments closed

US Diplomacy

The US is right and you are wrong.

If you don’t do it the US way,

You’re not going to live very long.

 

Watch out for the drones!

Biden Beats the Drums of War
worker | February 27, 2021 | 11:19 am | Jeremy Corbyn, Joe Biden, Struggle for Peace, Syria | Comments closed

Peace activists condemn Biden air strike and Labour’s military pledges

https://www.morningstaronline.co.uk/article/b/activists-condemn-biden-air-strike-and-labours-trident-and-nato-pledges

PEACE campaigners today condemned US President Joe Biden’s first bombing raid in the Middle East while Labour’s new management announced its “unshakeable” commitment to Nato and nuclear weapons.

Stop the War Coalition (StWC), which is holding its annual general meeting tomorrow, said that there was “no justification” for the air strikes launched just 35 days after Mr Biden was inaugurated.

The Thursday night strikes, aimed at groups the US said were responsible for attacks on its troops in Iraq, led to multiple deaths – with 22 fatalities recorded by a war monitor.

Mr Biden is “following in the footsteps of his predecessors” who have all executed military action in the Middle East, StWC said.

The group’s convenor Lindsey German said: “Decades of US intervention in the region are cast-iron proof that bombing raids do nothing to bring about peace.”

As the air strikes were launched, Labour’s shadow defence secretary John Healey pledged “unshakeable” loyalty to the US-led Nato military alliance and “non-negotiable” support for Britain’s nuclear arsenal in a speech to the Royal United Service Institute.

Nuclear weapons had been a contentious issue while Jeremy Corbyn was Labour leader because of his opposition to them.

He is a life-long supporter of nuclear disarmament who has voted against renewing Trident.

At the StW meeting tomorrow, Mr Corbyn, an independent MP after having the Labour whip withdrawn by his successor, is to stress that there are global problems – such as pandemics, environmental destruction, and inequality – that war cannot fix.

“The public consensus is changing, 120 countries have signed the Treaty on the Prevention of Nuclear Weapons at the UN this year. Three out of five people in the UK think we should join them,” he will say.

His newly founded Peace and Justice Project is set to campaign against the arms trade, militarism and nuclear proliferation.

But under the leadership of Sir Keir Starmer, Labour is returning to support for British militarism and subordination of our foreign policy to the United States.

Labour is also pledging to reverse Tory cuts to defence spending.

Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) general secretary Kate Hudson said Labour’s support for nuclear weapons is “out of touch with public opinion,” pointing to CND polling showing that 83 per cent of party voters and 77 per cent of the public support a total ban on all nuclear weapons globally.

A spokesperson for Campaign Against Arms Trade said that it is “disappointing” that Labour is “clinging to a military-centred view of security” that is “reliant on weapons of mass destruction.”

The SNP is using Labour’s commitment to Trident against Scottish Labour, as the submarines are on the banks of the River Clyde and the cost of keeping them is set to rise to £200 billion.

Scottish Labour leadership hopefuls Monica Lennon and Anas Sarwar have been challenged by the SNP to “prove they will be more than just a branch office manager and diverge from the UK party’s support for nuclear weapons.”

Aspokesperson for Mr Sarwar said: “Scottish Labour’s policy has been agreed by party conference and that debate will not be reopened.”

The leadership result will be anounced online tomorrow at 11am.

27 in Congress ask Biden to reign in sanctions warfare
worker | February 12, 2021 | 8:25 pm | Cuba, Struggle for Peace | Comments closed
27 in Congress ask Biden to reign in sanctions warfare

Emphasizing its impact on pandemic victims. They wrote: “Far too often and for far too long, sanctions have been imposed as a knee-jerk reaction without a measured and considered assessment of their impacts.”

The letter was led by Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Rep. Chuy García (D-Ill.), and Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.).

It was also signed by Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) and Democratic Reps. Karen Bass (Calif.), Earl Blumenauer (Ore.), Cori Bush (Mo.), Joaquin Castro (Texas), David Cicilline (R.I.), Adriano Espaillat (N.Y.), Raúl Grijalva (Az.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Barbara Lee (Calif.), Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Mondaire Jones (N.Y.), Ro Khanna (Calif.), Zoe Lofgren (Calif.), Alan Lowenthal (Calif.), Jim McGovern (Mass.), Gwen Moore (Wis.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), Mark Pocan (Wis.), Ayanna Pressley (Mass.), Jan Schakowsky (Ill.), Rashida Tlaib (Mich.), Nydia Velázquez (N.Y.), and Peter Welch (Vt.).

The groups Alliance for Cuba Engagement and Respect, American Friends Service Committee, Center for Economic and Policy Research, Demand Progress, Just Foreign Policy, Mennonite Central Committee, National Iranian American Council, Peace Action, and Win Without War supported the letter.

Read it all at:
https://www.commondreams.org/news/2021/02/11/citing-moral-and-public-health-imperative-progressive-lawmakers-press-biden?

No To War In Venezuela – U.S. Peace Council
worker | January 31, 2019 | 8:23 pm | Nicolas Maduro, Struggle for Peace, US Peace Council, Venezuela | Comments closed
PLEASE CIRCULATE WIDELY!

SIGN THE STATEMENT HERE —–> nowaronvenezuela.org

Desplácese hacia abajo para leer la versión en español.

 

No U.S. War on Venezuela!

Support National actions on Saturday, February 23 – the one month anniversary of U.S. attempted coup.

 

We cannot be silent in the face of the latest U.S. aggression against the Venezuelan people.

 

Nicolás Maduro is the president of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, chosen twice by the people as part of an internationally observed electoral process. Since the 1998 election of Hugo Chávez, the United States has been relentless in its pursuit of regime change in Venezuela. With Donald Trump in the White House, these efforts have escalated to threats of all-out military violence, the plundering of billions of dollars in wealth from the Venezuelan people and pushing a multitude of outrageous lies in the global media.

 

For hundreds of years, the U.S. has waged war against the people of the world through coups, invasions and economic warfare. Juan Guaidó is a U.S. puppet. He is not a representative of the Venezuelan masses. The idea that a person can swear themselves in as president at a rally in the interest of “defending democracy” is laughable. The right wing in Venezuela claim the Bolivarian elections are rigged because they refuse to participate in them. Instead they engage in voter intimidation using violence reminiscent of Jim Crow terrorism against African-Americans in the Deep U.S. South.

 

U.S.-led sanctions and currency manipulation are responsible for the suffering in Venezuela. Marco Rubio and right-wing media guide the Venezuelan opposition from Miami. The U.S. cannot stand for any country on the planet to enjoy its natural wealth or the fruits of its labor independent of Wall Street and the Pentagon. Venezuela has the largest proven oil reserves in the world and is rich in gold and other mineral wealth. Iraq war architect John Bolton said that regime change in Venezuela would be a tremendous opportunity to gain more profits for Wall Street. We believe him.

 

Since the Bolivarian Revolution in 1998, massive strides have been taken to uplift the working class, Afro-Venezuelans and Indigenous populations in Venezuela. The working poor have made tremendous gains because the government implemented policies and passed laws to fight racism, sexism, homophobia and economic inequality. Despite sanctions and sabotage, Venezuela has maintained a transparent and democratic system through many elections. Venezuela provides aid to struggling people worldwide through subsidized fuel and by leading the way with progressive labor laws. Their gains are part of the global struggle waged by workers and the oppressed against the wealthiest and most powerful capitalists on the planet.

 

Therefore, we demand:

 

● The U.S. immediately cease all hostile actions against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela — lift all sanctions, stop backing a coup, cease efforts to destroy the Venezuelan economy and respect the right of the Venezuelan people to self-determination.

● All countries involved in the plunder of Venezuelan wealth immediately return what they have stolen to the democratically elected government of Venezuela and its people.

● Wall Street must immediately pay reparations to the Venezuelan people for their suffering under genocidal sanctions and currency manipulation.

 

In the internationalist and liberatory spirit of Simón Bolívar, we pledge to mobilize and fight on the side of Venezuela’s right to sovereignty, understanding that the gains won under the Bolivarian Revolution are gains for all the world’s workers and oppressed.

———————–

¡No a la guerra de EE.UU. contra Venezuela!

 

No podemos permanecer callados ante la última agresión de los Estados Unidos contra el pueblo venezolano. 

 

Nicolás Maduro es el presidente de la República Bolivariana de Venezuela, elegido dos veces por el pueblo como parte de un proceso electoral internacionalmente observado. Desde la elección de Hugo Chávez en 1998, Estados Unidos ha sido implacable en su búsqueda del cambio de régimen en Venezuela. Con Donald Trump en la Casa Blanca, estos esfuerzos han escalado a amenazas de violencia total militar, el saqueo de la riqueza de miles de millones de dólares del pueblo venezolano y el impulso de una multitud de escandalosas mentiras en los medios de comunicación globales.

 

Durante cientos de años, los Estados Unidos han librado una guerra contra los pueblos del mundo a través de golpes de estado, invasiones y guerras económicas. Juan Guaidó es un títere de los Estados Unidos. No es representante de las masas venezolanas. La idea de que una persona puede auto juramentarse como presidente en un mitin en interés de “defender la democracia” es risible. La derecha en Venezuela afirma que las elecciones bolivarianas están amañadas porque se niegan a participar en ellas. En vez, se involucran en la intimidación de los votantes mediante el uso de la violencia que recuerda el terrorismo de Jim Crow contra los afroamericanos en el sur de los EE. UU.

 

El llamado al “diálogo” entre el gobierno venezolano elegido democráticamente y la oposición respaldada por los Estados Unidos oculta la verdadera naturaleza de esta guerra. Las sanciones lideradas por los Estados Unidos y la manipulación de la moneda son responsables del sufrimiento en Venezuela. Marco Rubio y los medios de comunicación de derecha guían a la oposición venezolana desde Miami. Los Estados Unidos no puede tolerar que ningún país del planeta pueda disfrutar de su riqueza natural o del fruto de su esfuerzo laboral independiente de Wall Street y el Pentágono. Está comprobado que Venezuela tiene las reservas de petróleo más grandes del mundo y es rica en oro y otros minerales valiosos. El arquitecto de la guerra de Irak, John Bolton, dijo que el cambio de régimen en Venezuela sería una gran oportunidad para obtener más ganancias para Wall Street. Le creemos.

 

Desde la Revolución Bolivariana en 1998, se han dado pasos masivos para elevar la clase trabajadora, los afrovenezolanos y las poblaciones indígenas en Venezuela. Los trabajadores pobres han logrado enormes avances porque el gobierno implementó políticas y promulgó leyes para combatir el racismo, el sexismo, la homofobia y la desigualdad económica. A pesar de las sanciones y el sabotaje, Venezuela ha mantenido un sistema transparente y democrático a través de muchas elecciones. Venezuela brinda ayuda a personas con dificultades en todo el mundo a través de combustible subsidiado y liderando el camino con leyes laborales progresivas. Sus logros son parte de la lucha global emprendida por los trabajadores y los oprimidos contra los capitalistas más ricos y poderosos del planeta.

 

Por lo tanto, exigimos:

 

● Los Estados Unidos cese de inmediato todas las acciones hostiles contra la República Bolivariana de Venezuela: levanten todas las sanciones, dejen de respaldar un golpe de estado, cesen los esfuerzos para destruir la economía venezolana y respeten el derecho del pueblo venezolano a la libre determinación.

 

● Todos los países involucrados en el saqueo de la riqueza venezolana devuelvan inmediatamente lo que han robado al gobierno elegido democráticamente de Venezuela y su pueblo.

 

● Wall Street debe pagar de inmediato reparaciones al pueblo venezolano por su sufrimiento bajo las sanciones genocidas y la manipulación de la moneda.

 

En el espíritu internacionalista y liberador de Simón Bolívar, nos comprometemos a movilizarnos y luchar por el derecho a la soberanía de Venezuela, entendiendo que los logros y beneficios obtenidos durante la Revolución Bolivariana son ganancias para todos los trabajadores y oprimidos del mund

Beware of Trumps bearing gifts
worker | December 23, 2018 | 8:45 am | Afghanistan, Donald Trump, Struggle for Peace, Syria | 1 Comment

By J. Thompson

Leftists and Peaceniks everywhere are celebrating Trump’s order to withdraw troops from Syria and Afghanistan. It should be celebrated as it is the right thing to do.

Does this mean that people of conscience can now rest with this apparent victory?

Hell, no! Trump is still Trump. Fascism is still fascism. A wolf in sheep’s clothes is still a wolf. Evil is still evil. Genocide is still genocide.

Trump is pulling the troops out, but where will they go? Trump has given us some hints. He has shut down the government because he wants money for his shameful wall. He recently sent troops to the border with Mexico. Does he want to send more troops to the border? Is the US preparing plans to invade our neighbors to the South?

It is clear that the US has its sites set on Cuba, and Venezuela. What is the US preparing for the new leftist President of Mexico?

People of conscience need to prepare to oppose any further military aggression by the US. Otherwise, our fearful leaders will flush workers down the toilet of a devastating World War.