It is impossible to support the invasion of Ukraine and the attacks on population centers. But, there is much more to the story of what has transpired. It is important to keep an open mind at a time when media coverage is fanatically anti Russian.
When we say anti Russian we are not talking about Vladimir Putin or the policies of the Russian government. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and to criticize any and all governments and political figures. In America and Europe there is a climate of hatred against individuals who happen to be of Russian ancestry. A Russian conductor in Germany was forced out for refusing to give an opinion on Putin. In Italy, a course on Dostoevsky was cancelled at a University as if a writer who died in the nineteenth century has anything to do with current events.
I have experience as a Greek American writer with the media and the distorted way they have presented Greece and Cyprus to the American public. For example, in 2006 I made phone calls to the editorial offices of the New York Times to complain about an editorial on Cyprus. Two years earlier Cyprus had rejected a UN Plan for Cyprus that would have solidified the Turkish occupation.
The Times editorial said that Cyprus had rejected a reunification plan for Cyprus. This was flat out wrong and is an example of how the media has misrepresented Greek issues with bias. The best example of media misrepresentation if the example of Serbia. During the 1990’s, a hate campaign was directed against the Serbs (much like the Russians today).
Serbia was bombed by NATO for seventy eight days and the fact is that civilians were DELIBERATELY targeted. General Wesley Clark of the US supported the bombing of civilian targets. By all rights Clark, Bill Clinton, Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Undersecretary of State Richard Holbrooke should have been charged with war crimes.
America and NATO do not apply the standards they set for others to themselves. We know about the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis. We could discuss the use of torture at Abu Ghraib prison by the war criminals George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, and others.
Again, one does NOT endorse Russian actions in Ukraine by raising other matters to provide clarification and greater context. In the fall of 2020, Azerbaijan invaded Armenia and slaughtered Armenian civilians and prisoners of war. Few people are aware of this because the media selectively chooses what to cover and henceforth the media decides what people should see.
In 2016, Hillary Clinton wife of the sexual predator and narcissist Bill Clinton lost the Presidential election. The media uncritically accepted her bogus claims that Russia stole the elections for Trump. This is EXTREMELY IMPORTANT in light of current events. Federal Prosecutor John Durham recently released a report making it clear there was NO RUSSIAN INTERFERENCE in the 2016 elections.
How many people know this? Very few because CNN, MSNBC, and the other frauds did not highlight this as they overplayed the false accusations against Russia. Prosecutor John Durham indicted Hillary’s campaign aide Michael Sussman for lying to the FBI about the Russians and the elections.
The media and the Democratic Party turned public opinion against the Russians YEARS before last week’s invasion of Ukraine. Imagine a country’s media spending years espousing anti semitism and hatred of Jews. Would the state of Israel be friendly of that country and its media or would it become hostile and strengthen its defenses in light of the suffering of Jews throughout history.
Well informed people keep up with all viewpoints and look for evidence and facts. There are opposing facts being declared in American media and other sources more friendly to the Russians. It is very hard to figure out what is true and what is not. Some of us have seen the way that Greece has been depicted in the media and we have seen how the Serbs and Arabs have been depicted.
One must always keep an open mind in a wave of hysteria. During the Second World War, Japanese Americans were placed in internment camps. One of the most deplorable policies of the Trump administration was banning people from some Muslim countries from entering the US.
The media have not done anybody any favors by the way they have depicted Russia and Russians in general over the past few years. Much could be said about the American efforts to split the Greek Churches from the Russian Church but that would take too much space. One more thing before concluding.
Russia is a country worthy of admiration and respect. I am proud to be a Russophile. Russia is the last bastion of Christianity in the world. This is the country that has suffered horrendously in history. The is the country that defeated Napolean. This is the country that lost twenty million lives and crushed Hitler while suffering the loss of millions to the Communists.
The slander of Russians by the western media whose expertise is based on the Kardashians is a moral outrage! Serious people want an end to the war that should never have been started. The Russians are in the wrong for invading and to an extent they have made things worse.
But the years of NATO expansion and years of anti Russian hatred have contributed to the events that are transpiring. It should not be forgotten that in 2017 former Clinton advisor Paul Begala recommended that Donald Trump bomb Russia because of the now disproven allegations that Russia interfered with the elections.
The holy synod of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church under his beatitude Metropolitan Onuphrios has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Orthodox Patriarchs and Archbishops have asked President Putin to stop the war. The Orthodox Church is conciliar and always under the influence of the holy spirit. Therefore, Russia must end the war!