Editorial -- NATO Calls for Perpetual Warfare in Ukraine

On Friday, emboldened by Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive that gained them 1,000 to 2,000 square miles of territory that had been captured by the Russians, the NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, called for perpetual warfare there Friday. Speaking to BBC Radio, his exact words were, “This is not the beginning of the end of the war, we have to be prepared for the long haul.” He called for flooding Ukraine with more military aid for the foreseeable future.

The problem is that nowhere does Mr. Stoltenberg offer any kind of attempt or plan to bring about an end to the conflict. The Christian Just War Theory allows for self-defense, or even sending military aid in self-defense. But if the object is perpetual warfare, then it doesn’t matter if the other side is in the wrong.

Either side could stop this war today if they wanted to. Russia could proclaim that the objectives of its “Special Military Operation” have been accomplished and that it will go home. The US and NATO could say that although Russia’s “Special Military Operation” violates every tenet of International Law, Ukraine does not meet their standards for ascension (they are one of the most corrupt nations in Europe) and their human rights record is more similar to Hungary of the Philippines. 

But neither side will budge. The US and NATO need Russia as a boogeyman to justify NATO’s existence, justify continuing to feed the gravy train known as the Military Industrial Complex, and take everyone’s focus off the fact that manmade climate change is a threat to us all. Russia needs the threat of US and NATO aggression to keep its citizens in line. 

Meanwhile, inflation continues to go through the roof, mortgage rates are now at a 14 year high, unemployment is starting to creep up, and there is the underlying fear that this could, at some point, turn into a nuclear conflict. But the US cares more about carrying out Joe Biden’s personal vendetta against Putin than they do about ending the war against Rural America. The latest step was revealed Thursday by the Financial Times, which reported that the US and EU are claiming veto power over the ability of Turkish banks to do business with Russia. While Turkey is a NATO member, they have close relations with both Russia and Ukraine and have refused to participate in the gravy train that puts all of us at risk. When the right-wing autocratic leader of Turkey shows more sanity on this issue than Joe Biden does, the President needs to think long and hard about his assumptions about the conflict.