Global tension
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Kurt Johnson
Vladimir Putin is a madman.
What other conclusion can a peace-seeking world come to after watching the events of the past week unfold? The Russian dictator is bent on a power-grab mission driven by no other logical motivation than his own sense of authority, which means he’s not likely to back down quickly or quietly.
Watching coverage of Ukraine under attack from its bully neighbor to the north is hard to stomach, though the whole world knew it was coming. Just as we learned, again, in the Beijing Olympics, Russian leaders simply cannot be trusted to play by the rules, or to speak with any genuine credibility.
Facing stronger-than-expected resistance from Ukrainians, Russia is also seeing intensified isolation from much of the rest of the world. Putin seemingly hears none of that, responding only with more baseless claims. He is lying to himself, to his own people, and most certainly the rest of the civilized world, though that glaring look of disdain suggests that he simply does not care what anyone else thinks.
Surely history will prove that Putin is a gun-slinger out of touch with own country, but for now he’s got both guns drawn and is pulling the trigger. The greater risk as this conflict unfolds is that he has added the nuclear card to his hand, putting the world perhaps that much closer to unthinkable disaster while he wages his own selfish form of high-stakes poker.
Placing his country on its highest state of nuclear alert is one thing, but would he actually consider pushing the button? That’s the ultimate question in the nuclear arms race.
“To threaten nukes cost him nothing. To use them, that will cost him everything,” said the former commander of US Army forces in Europe, retired Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges, appearing Monday on CNN. Cost him, and perhaps who knows how many more innocent lives.
Sadly, another generation now knows what war looks like, even if protected from harm by the separation of a television screen. As if the stress of a global pandemic, supply chain uncertainty, rising gas prices and soaring cost of living aren’t enough, people of all ages now have to watch and wonder how Putin’s actions will impact them here at home.
This Russian tyrant will ultimately fail in whatever he’s trying to accomplish. We can only hope and pray that his downfall will come sooner than later, and that his selfish antics don’t suck the world into a broader war.
Kurt Johnson
