Must Ukraine stand alone?

Speaking of emperor wannabes [Walt is referring to Trudeau II, Emperor of Canada. Ed.], it seems Vlad "The Impaler" Putin has his heart set on revivying the old Russian Empire, or at least the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The invasion that many Western pundits said would never happen started at 0500 local time on Wednesday. 

In the largest attack seen in Europe since World War II, Russia invaded Ukraine from three directions, advancing toward the capital city of Kyiv. Kyiv's main Boryspil International Airport was hit in Wednesday night’s first wave of attacks. By this evening, Russian paratroopers appeared to have taken control of the city's Hostomel cargo airport after a battle that involved a squadron of Russian attack helicopters. Control of Hostomel allow Russia to fly more troops to the edge of Kyiv, Mr Putin's main target. 

After encountering fierce resistance from Ukrainian forces in the Chernihiv region north of Kyiv, Russian troops massed across the border with Belarus opened a separate line of attack through the exclusion zone created by the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster. Why they would want to go anywhere near the radioactive waste storage facility there is a mystery, but they seem to have it under control.

Russian troops also pushed into Ukraine from the east – in the direction of Ukraine’s second largest city, Kharkiv – and from the south, pushing towards the city of Kherson from the Crimea, which Russia seized and illegally annexed from Ukraine in 2014. 

Amphibious commandos were also reported to have landed near the Black Sea port of Odessa. Explosions, possibly caused by missile strikes, have been recorded in numerous other urban areas, including Ivano-Frankivsk oblast, which is home to the families of two of Walt's agents. Our thoughts and prayers are with them!

Russia's dictator has attempted to justify the invaion by claiming that Kyiv's longstanding request to join NATO poses a threat to his country’s security. Therefore, he told the controlled media, Ukraine must be "demilitarized". He went on to warn outside countries not to intervene, saying any interference with his plans would "lead to consequences you have never seen in history."

So far, there have been no meaeningful consequences. The response of NATO and all the liberal democracies has been a lot of fine words, and the imposition by some of sanctions which (we are assured) will hit Vlad the Impaler where it hurts, in the pocketbook. 

Germany has frozen the controversial Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline project, but since the pipeline, finished in September, has yet to be commissioned, that means little, except to German consumers who are already paying record prices for energy.

Military intervention, it seems, is out of the question. Although some NATO countries have sent a few hundred more troops to eastern Europe, they have not been positioned in Ukraine itself, but in neighbouring Poland, Romania and the Baltic republics which look to be next in Mr Putin's gunsights.

Canada, in fact, actually withdrew the couple of hundred troops it had in Ukraine on a training mission. They are now safe in Poland, along with Canuckistan's embassy staff, who had moved first from Kyïv to Lviv, then decamped the country entirely. Chyristia Freeland, Canada's Diplomat of the Year 2018 is half Ukrainian, but doesn't let her ethnicity get in the way of liberal politics. [??? Ed.]

Speaking of liberal politics, the world awaits with bated breath for President Brandon to push the button to protect his family's extensive interests in Ukraine. Mr Ten Percent and his feckless son Hunter have had a good thing going there for years, and you'd think he'd want to spring to the aid of his benefactors. So far, except for talk of "increased sanctions", he's doing nothing. Nada. Zilch.

Sleepy Joe's reluctance or inability to do anything meaningful is probably what Vlad was counting on when he launched this attack now. With less than nine months until the mid-terms, Mr Brandon would be crazy to send American boys and girls [etc. Ed.] into another disastrous overseas adventure. Right?Yes, he'd have to be crazy! Oh... wait...

Late Wednesday night, President Trump was interviewed by Laura Ingraham on Fox News. She asked him if he thought there's "a lot of weakness in the United States", which would explain President Brandon's hesitation to take stronger action. Mr Trump said, "I think you're exactly right. I think that's what happened. [Putin] was going to be satisfied with a peace, and now he sees the weakness and the incompetence and the stupidity of this administration, and, as an American, I'm angry about it, and I'm saddened by it. And it all happened because of a rigged election. This would have never happened."

For the moment, then, it appears Ukraine stands alone. The leaders of the Western democracies are going to do little more than hold the Ukrainians' coats! So, dear readers, it's up to us to do what we can. 

How you can help

First, pray for the Ukraine. Walt recommends invoking the help of St Michael the Archangel, St Josaphat, and maybe St Vladimir, although he is patron of both the Ukraine and Russia.

Then pray some more.

After that, consider making a donation to support the work of any legitimate organization working to keep Ukraine free. If you see a crowd-funding appeal, check it out thoroughly before donating. Here are some that we know are worthy of your contribution.

Médecins sans frontières (Doctors Without Borders): a humanitarian group that’s been supporting Ukraine’s COVID-19 response 

Come Back Alive Foundation: a Ukrainian NGO (aka Save Life in Ukraine) that supports veterans and co-organizes the Invictus Games in Ukraine

Canada-Ukraine Foundation: A Toronto-based group that co-ordinates Canadian charitable aid to Ukraine.

Phoenix Wings: a charitable foundation that supplies the Ukrainian army with medical treatment and defensive equipment such as vests and helmets

Revived Soldiers Ukraine: a nonprofit that funds medical rehabilitation for Ukrainian soldiers 

Razom for Ukraine: a pro-democracy group that’s fundraising for medical supplies in Ukraine

Kyiv Independent: a Ukraine-based, English-language independent news media outlet. Walt is following the news from this trusted source.

VIDEO: Johnny Carson as the Great Carnac

I see Mickey Flynn has resigned, in the middle of the night no less. He is carrying the can, and rightly so, not for having talked to the Russkis about sanctions before he and President Trump were sworn in, but for being less than candid about having done so. It seems to me that Mr Flynn's resignation indicates that the new administration will indeed be different from the last quarter-century. The Clinton, Bush II and Obama administrations were all the same, in terms of stonewalling, denial, and a refusal of anyone to take responsibility for anything. Those who have high hopes for the Trump administration should be encouraged.

And now for something incompletely different. A number of readers welcomed Walt's posting of a clip from the old Tonight show in which Johnny Carson interviewed Robyn Hilton, a very budding starlet. One of my favourite segments of the show was the occasional appearance of the Great Carnac, a mystic seer from the pre-Islamist Middle East, who could divine the questions preceding the answers printed on the outside of hermetically sealed envelopes which had been stored on the front porch of Funk & Wagnall's, yada yada yada. The questions were inside the envelopes, see. The answers were printed on the outside. This was actually a refinement of the "Question Man" gag pioneered by Steve Allen, the first host of Tonight. Betcha didn't know that...

Anyhoo, here's the Great Carnac, featuring Johnny and Ed McMahon, he of the hearty laugh. Only geezers like me will get some of the jokes, but the funniest one -- SIS BOOM BAH is the answer -- seems to tie in nicely with Mike Flynn's resignation. Enjoy.



[Ed., I told you I'd tie it all together at the end!]

Petition to FIFA to take 2018 World Cup away from Russia

Mrs Agent 5 has sent us a message saying that, in support of the Ukrainian people and for world peace, she has signed the following petition to Joseph Sepp Blatter, President of FIFA:

"Russia has invaded a foreign country, Ukraine, with the pretext of protecting its foreign nationals. This was the very same reason that Adolf Hitler used to invade Czechoslovakia which started World War II. To protest this violation of international law I believe we should petition FIFA to move the 2018 World Cup to another country and give Ukraine host status as a show of support."

Please sign this petition, she asks, and circulate it far and wide. Walt doesn't give two hoots about football or soccer -- what kind of "sport" is it where you can't use your hands? -- and thinks the petition has two chances of success -- slim and none -- but has signed it anyway, in solidarity with the Ukrainian people! Please do the same!

Putin: "Are you talkin' to me?!"

For US Secretary of State John Kerry, it must seem like Groundhog Day all over again. Throughout 2004, when he was campaigning against Bush the Younger, he kept talking and talking and talking, but no-one listened. Now, faced with the Russian invasion of its next-door neighbour, he's still talking -- he should be arriving in Kiev right about now -- and still no-one is listening.

No-one includes Russian President Vlad "the Impaler" Putin. He's not listening to Kerry's warnings of dire (but unspecified) consequences. Nor is he paying any attention to the organ-grinder. President Hussein Obama made a statement a couple of days ago warning of dire (but unspecified) consequences. Yesterday he called Putin on the phone. What reception did he get? "Talk to the hand!"

Putin says he's on a "humanitarian mission" to protect the ethnically Russian citizens of the Ukraine -- in particular the Crimea, which coincidentally is a major Russian military base -- from the predations of the Ukeys and Crimea's terrible Tatars. It's all about peacekeeping, you see, and he "reserves the right" to use military force to keep the peace. (Does any of this sound familiar?)

Alas, Obama (and Kerry and all the other "leaders" of the West) have decided to not employ military force to make the Russians withdraw to their side of the border. Obama specifically ruled that out. So what will the USA/UK/EU do? Weellll... there could be sanctions of course, which would have "economic consequences". And there will be "diplomatic action" -- an oxymoron, surely -- such as, errr, not going to the next G8 summit, scheduled for Sochi later this year. Yeah! That will teach those Russkis a thing or two!

What it's taught them, evidently, is that they can do as they damn well please, and no-one in the USA/UK/EU is going to lift a finger -- let alone put boots on the ground -- to stop them. They have already occupied pretty much all of the Crimea and recognize a puppet government which helpfully has asked Russian troops to stay in the "country" to (of course) keep the peace. Ukrainian troops have been given an ultimatum to surrender, and are effectively prisoners in their own bases. The Russians are in control.

Today, Crimea. Tomorrow? Walt guesses tomorrow's target is the rest of the Ukraine east of the Dniepr River. The Ukrainians will be lucky if the Russians stop there, because there is no-one...no-one...with the cojones to stand up for an independent and democratic Ukraine. It's very, very sad.

Further reading: Russia enabled by West’s foreign policies of vacillation, uncertainty -- excellent commentary by Andrew Coyne in Canada's Notional Post.