A tiny minority view on Ukraine

Opinion: A tiny minority view on Ukraine

Father Jerry J Pokorsky

https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/08/26/opinion-a-tiny-minority-view-on-ukraine/

There is an occupational danger for a priest living close to Washington, DC. A predisposition for politics and foreign affairs can eclipse his religious mission. Of course – as Abraham Lincoln (or was it Mark Twain?) alleged to have said – “Better to remain silent and thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt.” Call me a naïve, uncredentialed, armchair foreign policy amateur. But please consider the questions.

With risks of naivety and foolishness in mind, I distilled my views from many conversations. My outlook is a tiny minority view, so it can be easily dismissed by the many (far more astute in geopolitics than I) who object. But over time, my gnawing reservations about the war in Ukraine are growing.

In an extensive Catholic World Report article earlier this year, I expressed views rooted in just war principles that did not necessarily go contrary to mainstream Ukraine advocacy. I argued that there was a moral imperative for an early negotiated settlement to stop the carnage. Zelensky’s earlier promotion of compromise has changed. With American assistance, he now expects a restoration of Ukraine to include its historical Russian-speaking peoples.

Hollywood has doubled down on its advocacy. In many parts of America, the Ukraine flag and the slogan, “We stand with Ukraine!” has replaced the American flag. The mainstream media supports American funding of the war, as do most of Congress, Republicans, and Democrats. Indeed, support for Ukraine is even more intense among the elites than international support for the alleged dangers of Climate Change and support for Anthony Fauci as science personified.

Those who advocate increasingly repeated American foreign interventions invoke the responsibilities as a superpower, the victories in two world wars, the Cold War triumph, and “American exceptionalism.” Most of our elites see our Ukraine policies as the latest example of an infallible foreign-policy intervention. In the main, those who craft and manipulate public opinion have absolved the US of overreach and NATO expansion. They overlook religious and cultural dispositions that have led to the war. They dismiss dissidents to NATO policies as Putin stooges. As an American, it is hard to judge the historical and political intricacies that even Europeans cannot sort out.

Most perplexing is that NATO doesn’t have an end game other than pouring in money and military stuff (and covert personnel). Aside from the likely corruption, massive assistance adds fuel to the fire and prevents a negotiated settlement. There are troubling anomalies. Increasingly, the media is reporting the US is waging a proxy war with Russia.

Are not the Europeans the more probable proxies? Ukraine is in their backyard. Why should the US be prominent among them? Have we discovered a national interest in the sovereignty of Ukraine in the emanation of the penumbra of the new world order? Do we want to prove that our oligarchs have more power than their oligarchs? Or has Captain America become an international busybody?

Despite widespread American and NATO support and the efforts of the mainstream press to keep alleged Ukrainian victories alive, many Americans are losing interest. The pattern is familiar with the Afghanistan debacle providing the template. After 20 years of occupation, the country immediately fractured and collapsed upon US withdrawal. Despite our best efforts to instill democracy, self-rule, and LGBTQ diversity, the surrender was instantaneous and complete. Decades earlier, the foreign policy elites dismissed any who advocated the merits of a limited punitive strike and immediate withdrawal as missing opportunities for nation-building and new world order (both in Iraq and Afghanistan).

The war in Ukraine will probably end as a burned-out shell, with the Americans losing interest and the Russians holding on to their burned-out gains in the east. That’s optimistic. Russia could resort to its tactical nukes in desperation. The Europeans, as usual, will mostly sit on the sidelines, fanning the flames, cutting deals with Russia to prop up their economies and count on American funding. But American funding will always fall short. The notoriously corrupt Ukrainian regime will swallow up military and financial assistance. The oligarchs will suffer little or flourish in exile.

There is no reason to expect the pattern of American foreign adventures to change. The Europeans will blame us for a) extending the war with our proxy aid or 2) not sending enough assistance — we should have sent stealth fighters and American troops. War debt — and every other kind of debt — will saddle our country for decades to come. I hope the real end game won’t be the radical transformation of America into the “socialist paradise” of Venezuela — an LGBTQ socialist paradise.

We’ve learned in recent months that the pandemic policies were duplicitous. We’ve seen the FBI morph into authoritarian secret police and white supremacy, allegedly fueling concerns for election integrity. The rosary has become an extremist terrorist weapon of rad-trads, and lack of access to safe, legal abortion can result in forced [sic] pregnancy.

In ancient times — the 2000 Presidential campaign — George W. Bush declared: “If we are an arrogant nation, they will resent us; but if we’re a humble nation, but strong, they’ll welcome us.” That was then. Now, we are supposed to believe our motives for another foreign entanglement are as pure as the invasion of Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria. As a reasonably educated American, I cannot account for these many anomalies and unresolved questions.

A non-Catholic Congressman used to attend Mass in my parish. We were friends, and we frequently chatted about the political topics of the day. I said that when we speak about religion, I will call him by his first name, and he should call me Father. When talking politics, I will call him Congressman, and he should call me Jerry.

So, the concluding observation is offered under the Jerry nomenclature: When two scorpions are fighting on the other side of the world without violating a persuasive or demonstrable American interest, it is best to stay out of their way.