OPINION:
It begins. Remaining to be seen following Russia’s attack on Ukraine is where and when it will end. Beyond the reckoning of those who transgress into war, the demons of resentment and retribution, once released, are not easily recaptured and restrained. As the world beholds the flash of destruction, the haunting realization reemerges: The consequence of weakness is war. It did not have to be this way.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent his military to rampage through a sovereign nation, fulfilling his long-held vow to undertake the reconstitution of the former Soviet Union. Other former satellites like Poland, Slovakia and the Baltic States wonder whether he intends to devour them as well while they huddle under the protective shield of NATO. That purely defensive organization has never before faced the Russian threat for which it was created.
Americans old enough to have studied World Wars I and II when high school history was still required are left to wonder whether they are witnessing the ignition point of the next global conflagration. With a lifetime spent in the comforting embrace of global peace initiatives, they have rarely imagined they would witness this unsettling moment.
President Biden has done little to alleviate the dread: “President Putin has chosen a premeditated war that will bring a catastrophic
loss of life and human suffering,” he wrote in a statement that simply enunciated the obvious. Thus far, his weapon of choice — economic sanction — has left Mr. Putin scoffing.
For his part, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has deployed the full weight of Twitter against the aggressor: “President Putin, in the name of humanity, bring your troops back to Russia. This conflict must stop now.” A strongly worded order with little to enforce it but moral authority is no match for hardened steel.
For three-quarters of a century, the U.N. has implored the planet’s authoritarians to forgo the clash of arms. At times, the world body
has even deployed blue-helmeted peacekeeping troops to accentuate its wish. The U.N.’s primary concern of late, however, has been related to saving the planet from climate change.
Younger Americans who never knew life under the Cold War threat of nuclear conflict with the Soviet Union are getting a taste of the fear that lingering in the hearts of their parents. Familiar or not, an uneasy feeling stirs as social media speculation surfaces over whether
high-ranking U.S. officials will react to the threat to Europe by withdrawing to blast-proof bunkers.
Amid the global alarm over Ukraine, responsibility for shattering the world’s prevailing peace must be charged to Mr. Putin. It cannot be
denied, though, that Russia behaves itself when U.S. muscles are flexed. Moscow’s despot annexed Crimea during Barack Obama’s “leading from behind” presidency, but he sat with folded hands when square-jawed Donald Trump ran Washington.
In the wake of Mr. Biden’s feckless 2021 retreat from Afghanistan, the Russian bear is once again on the loose. Sadly, weakness has ripened conditions for war.
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