Concerned Families of Westchester Newsletter
February 28, 2022
Hello All – Apologies at the beginning. I have been distracted by the war news this week, and have not prepared a full Newsletter. But I want to share with Readers a short statement about the Russian invasion of Ukraine that was passed out as a leaflet at our vigil in Hastings last Saturday. While to me it is full of "common sense," it differs from the mainstream framing of the issue by stressing that we need to transition from shooting to diplomacy as soon as possible, AND that dogmatic assertions by the USA and the EU that NATO has an inalienable right to expand to the east, even to Russia's borders, are a fundamental obstacle to peace.
Since the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, successive Russian leaders have made it clear that this is unacceptable to Russia; and the refusal of the USA to engage this issue in the months of semi-negotiations leading up to the Russian invasion may have played a role in provoking the Russian invasion. Whatever the strength of this argument, I think it is clear that a near-term diplomatic settlement of the war will have to seriously address the "expansion of NATO" issue. If the USA – Ukraine – NATO refuses to do this, it is foreseeable that the war/Russia's occupation of Ukraine will be prolonged and cause great suffering. Or that Russia will suffer near/collapse under the weight of sanctions and of losing a war. Or that Russia and NATO forces will somehow find a way to collide, with an escalation towards a nuclear exchange being a possibility. None of these is an acceptable alternative to negotiations.
Is this common sense or heresy? At the moment, no one in Congress or connected with the Biden administration, or who is prominent in the mainstream media (other than the Far Right) is talking about diplomacy and give-and-take. Perhaps they are right, and that somehow magical thinking will take this war to a Happy Ending. But I don't think so, and I encourage everyone to speak up for a cease fire in Ukraine and a re-start of serious negotiations.
There have been many protests against Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and admirable resistance by antiwar stalwarts in Russia. Next Sunday, March 6th, Code Pink and allies will have a "Global Day of Action." The slogans for the action are "Stop the War in Ukraine. Russian Troops Out. No to NATO Expansion." To find an Action near you, go here. The closest event to the Rivertowns that I know of will be in Riverdale, at the Russian Diplomatic Compound, Mosholu Avenue and W. 255th St., starting at 3 pm. ALSO, CFOW will have a similar protest on Saturday, March 5, in Hastings (Warburton and Spring St.), from noon to 1 pm. Hope to see you!
CFOW Statement on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Saturday, February 26, 2022
STOP THE WAR!
START THE DIPLOMACY!
We condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine. It is a violation of the United Nation's charter and is illegal under international law. Just as we condemned the US invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, so now we condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
We join with millions of people across the globe to demand an immediate cease-fire and the withdrawal of Russian soldiers from Ukraine. It is clear that, if war continues, it will lead to thousands of civilian deaths and perhaps a million refugees.
Russia's President Putin denies that Ukraine is a real nation. He states that the Ukrainian government must be changed and that "Nazis" running the government must be purged. This is a formula for a puppet police-state and a bloody military occupation. We admire and support the thousands of Russian citizens protesting this war, and we join with them.
The Roots of War
With the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine, once a Soviet republic, became an independent country. At that time U.S. and European leaders promised Russia's leader Gorbachev that NATO – the military union of 14 European countries and the United States and Canada – would not move "one inch" to the east. But this promise was not kept, and over the next 25 years 14 more countries joined NATO, most of them former Soviet satellites in Eastern Europe. Russian leaders saw the eastward expansion of NATO as a threat to Russian security.
The immediate background to today's war reflects deep divisions within Ukraine. Does its future lie with joining Europe or remaining as a close partner with Russia? The US-supported coup in Ukraine in 2014 overturned a Russian-leaning government with one seeking to join Europe. Russian leaders responded by annexing Crimea and supporting break-away movements in southeastern Ukraine. Negotiations between Russia, Ukraine, the European Union, and NATO failed, and now we have war.
Return to Diplomacy
Since the end of the Soviet Union, neither the United States nor NATO has conceded any legitimacy to Russian concerns that the expansion of NATO threatened Russian security. We think this is a mistake, and a dangerous one. From Russia's point of view, it is obvious that they would be concerned about US/NATO military bases on its borders, within Ukraine, just as the US found Soviet nuclear weapons in Cuba unacceptable in 1962. Negotiations should support a process by which Ukraine becomes a "neutral" state, like Austria or Finland, and not part of a military alliance.
Re-starting diplomacy is urgent. Accidents happen in wartime. Between them, the United States/NATO and Russia have enough nuclear weapons to end civilization. The war must be stopped. The world can't wait
And Some Useful Reading/Viewing on the Russian Invasion of Ukraine
Respond to Putin's Illegal Invasion of Ukraine with Diplomacy, Not War
By February 25, 2022]
The illegal Russian invasion of Ukraine is already causing enormous suffering. Our first concern must be for civilians across the country, now facing violence and displacement. And our first call must be for an immediate ceasefire, a pull-back of Russian troops from Ukraine, and international support for the humanitarian challenges already underway in the region. As for resolving the conflict, that requires understanding its causes — which has everything to do with when we start the clock. If we start the clock in February 2022, the main problem is Russia's attack on Ukraine. If we start the clock in 1997, however, the main problem is Washington pushing NATO — the Cold War-era military alliance that includes the United States and most of Europe — to expand east, breaking an assurance the U.S. made to Russia after the Cold War.
Many foreign policy experts and peace advocates have called for ending the anachronistic alliance ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. But NATO remains and has only encroached toward Russia further, resulting in new NATO countries — bristling with NATO arms systems — right on Russia's borders. Russia sees that expansion — and its integration of neighboring countries into U.S.-led military partnerships — as a continuing threat. Ukraine is not a member of NATO. But in the past the U.S. and other NATO members have urged its acceptance, and Russia regards Ukraine's drift toward the West as a precursor to membership. None of that makes Russia's invasion of Ukraine legal, legitimate, or necessary. President Biden was right when he called Russia's war "unjustified." But he was wrong when he said it was "unprovoked." It's not condoning Putin's invasion to observe there certainly was provocation — not so much by Ukraine, but by the United States. [Read More]
(Video) Putin Puts Russian Nuclear Forces on High Alert as Resistance to Ukraine Invasion Grows
From Democracy Now! [February 28, 2022]
---- Following a wave of peace rallies held across the globe this weekend, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has agreed to diplomatic talks with Russia. This comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin placed Russia's nuclear forces on high alert on Sunday, citing increasingly tightened international sanctions. We speak with Anatol Lieven, senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, who says it's not clear whether Putin is using a nuclear threat to topple the Ukrainian government or pressure them into a deal. Lieven also speaks about Belarus's support of the Russian invasion and argues future protests inside Russia against the war will be greatly influenced by Western sanctions. [See the Program] For additional insights from Anatol Lieven, read "Worse than a crime; it's a blunder," American Prospect [February 25, 2022] [Link]
America's Collusion With Neo-Nazis
By Stephen F. Cohen, The Nation [May 2, 2018]
[FB – At the time of his death in September 2020, Stephen Cohen was a leading historian of modern Russia and one of the few scholars who publicly questioned US policy toward Russia.]
---- The orthodox American political-media narrative blames "Putin's Russia" alone for the new US-Russian Cold War. Maintaining this (at most) partial truth involves various mainstream media malpractices, among them lack of historical context; reporting based on unverified "facts" and selective sources; editorial bias; and the excluding, even slurring, of proponents of alternative explanatory narratives as "Kremlin apologists" and carriers of "Russian propaganda." … No less important, however, is the highly selective nature of the mainstream narrative of the new Cold War, what it chooses to feature and what it virtually omits. Among the omissions, few realities are more important than the role played by neofascist forces in US-backed, Kiev-governed Ukraine since 2014. [Read More]
How Did We Get Here?
By
---- Ukraine's sovereignty cannot be questioned. The invasion of Ukraine is illegal and must be condemned. The mobilization of civilians ordered by the Ukrainian president can be read as a desperate act, but it does suggest that a guerrilla war looms in the future. Putin should remember the experience of the US in Vietnam: no matter how powerful, an invader's regular army will ultimately meet with defeat if the people being invaded rise in arms against it. All this makes us anticipate an incalculable loss of innocent human life. Still barely recovered from the pandemic, Europe is bracing itself for a new challenge, one of unfathomable proportions. In the face of all this, one's perplexity could not be greater. The question to be asked is this: how and why did we get here? [Read More]
CFOW Nuts & Bolts
Please consider getting involved with Concerned Families of Westchester. Weather/covid permitting, we meet for a protest/rally each Saturday in Hastings, at 12 noon at the VFW Plaza (Warburton and Spring St.) A "Black Lives Matter/Say Their Names" vigil will be held on Monday, March 7th from 5:30 to 6:00 pm in Yonkers at the intersection of Warburton Ave. and Odell. If you would like to join one of our Zoom meetings, each Tuesday and Thursday at noon, please send a return email for the link. Our newsletter is archived at https://cfow.blogspot.com/; and news of interest and coming events is posted on our CFOW Facebook page. If you would like to support our work by making a contribution, please send your check to CFOW, PO Box 364, Hastings-on-Hudson, NY 10706. Thanks!
That's it from me, for now.
Best wishes,
Frank Brodhead
For CFOW
