Year End Reflections, Part II (This Is A Deal?)

I cannot understand the proposed Russia-Ukraine peace proposal put forth by Trump and the Russians.  My initial reactions - if this is not a joke, then it's insane.  Some background.  Ukraine had possessed some nuclear weapons as part of the Soviet Union.  Following the breakup of the USSR, these now independent countries, such as Ukraine, agreed to give up the nukes that were held on their soil.  

So, in 1994, Ukraine signed onto the Budapest Memorandum, agreeing to give up its nukes and agreeing to non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.  In exchange, Ukraine was given "security guarantees" by the US, the UK and Russia.  Of course, we know that "agreements" made by dictators are nothing more than worthless promises.  As such, Russia invaded Ukraine in 2014 and seized the Crimea.  Who provided the security guarantee to Ukraine at that time?  No one.  Not the USA.  Not the UK.  

Now, we are told that after 4 years of fighting, during which the "mighty" Russian army has been unable to defeat Ukraine, the Ukrainians must give up much of their territory.  Forego the Crimea.  Forego even parts of the Donbas that Russia has yet to conquer.  Give up other territories as well.  Ukraine must reduce the size of its army by one half.  And Ukraine must agree, and NATO must agree, that Ukraine shall never be a member of NATO.  What does Ukraine get?

Ukraine gets "reliable security guarantees."  Right.  Just like before.  Anybody believe that when Russia attacks again (not if but when) the US will send soldiers to Ukraine to fight the Russians?  Not a chance.  And the Europeans?  This is in their backyard.  Pretty much consistently worthless.  As the conservative New York Post opined:  "Kyiv could demand the ouster of Putin's regime and it would still be less one-sided than this nonsense."  

An Op-Ed by one writer really resonated with me.  "In Munich in 1938, the UK and France likewise pressured Czechoslovakia into giving up the mountainous region of Sudetenland, together with its advanced system of fortifications, which had made a previous invasion by Nazi Germany impracticable.  Less than seven months later, Czechoslovakia ceased to exist."

Putin has repeatedly and openly said that the end of the Soviet Union was the biggest tragedy of the 20th century.  He has repeatedly said that he seeks a return to the old Soviet Union.  If Ukraine falls, who's next?  If next up are NATO members on the Baltic Sea, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, who will come to their defense?  Whatever treaty commitments there are as a member of NATO (an attack on one shall be treated as an attack on all), I do not see any NATO countries coming to their defense.  Definitely not the US.

What's the alternative?  Let the fighting continue?  Trump says he wants to end the killing.  But Russia started this war.  Russia has no problem targeting civilians and even children.  So that's where the pressure should be - all on Russia.  (The fact that the Ukrainian government has issues regarding corruption is irrelevant to this fight, and to the right of the Ukrainian people to self-determination.)  Greater sanctions on Russia are needed.  Provide more offensive weapons to Ukraine.  Or, be like Neville Chamberlain, and believe that appeasement results in "peace for our time."  Because it doesn't.  Peace through strength is the only sure path to peace.  Like George Washington said.  Like Ronald Reagan said.  Like I thought Trump believed.

Teddy Roosevelt had it right:  "Peace is generally good in itself, but it is never the highest good unless it comes as the handmaid of righteousness; and it becomes a very evil thing if it serves merely as a mask for cowardice and sloth, or as an instrument to further the ends of despotism or anarchy."   

Year End Reflections, Part I (What's In The News)

(I know.  I usually start these Year End Reflections in December.  But it's been 3 weeks since my last posts - busy trying to retire and being sick - and there is so much to cover, that I thought I'd cover a lot this way.)

It was rather shocking to see six members of Congress (two Senators and four House members) in an ad telling our military and intelligence community that they need to disobey illegal orders.  In the ad they say:  "stand up for our laws," and "refuse unlawful orders."  They finish with "you can refuse illegal orders," and "you must refuse illegal orders."  While it's true about not following illegal orders, it's also clear that this ad was intended to undermine any orders given by the current Commander in Chief.  

As Senator Eric Schmitt (R-Mo) said:  "At the end of the day, they're mad the American people chose Trump and now they're calling on the Military and Intelligence Community to intervene.  Sounds a little subversive to democracy-ish."  Sounds a lot subversive to me.  Participating in the ad were the following two Senators:  Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich), and Mark Kelly (D-AZ).  The four House members were:  Chris DeGuzio (D-Pa), Maggie Goodlander (D-NH), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa) and Jason Crow (D-CO).  

There was an interesting news item reported by ABC.  The average cost of a McDonald's menu item jumped 40% from 2019 to 2024.  A friend and I have both noticed this, as we occassionally go to McDonald's.  It is fairly easy to spend 10 dollars or more there.  I suspect some of the price increase was a result of the pandemic.  But whatever the cause, it is clearly just one example of the affordability issue now being discussed by both sides of the political spectrum.  And anyone who dines out has undoubtedly noticed the jump in prices (except at In 'N Out).  Jackie Mason used to joke about how you could order a fancy coffee at Starbucks, and then be told it was 9 bucks!  We're not that far away.   

A lot of news items surprise me, although I suppose nothing should surprise me anymore.  The Palestinian flag was recently raised outside the Toronto City Hall.  Apparently, the idea was to commemorate the 37th anniversary of the Palestinian Declaration of Independence, which occurred on November 15, 1988.  You know what else was happening at that time in Israel?  The first intifada, when Palestinians were killing and injuring Israelis.  As usual, the Palestinians did not hesitate in attacking civilians.  Sad to say that other cities in Canada also raised the Palestinian flag.  Calgary.  Winnipeg.  Brampton.  I guess it should not be surprising as Canadian PM Mark Carney recently joined the UK and France and others in recognizing a Palestinian state.  As previously discussed in this blog, the West has lost its way.

Meanwhile, Fox reported that in 2025 to date, over 7000 Christians have been killed in Nigeria,  That number soars to 125,000 killed since 2009.  Where is the world outcry over the murders of these black Christians?  Where indeed.  As a Jew I know, as many Jews know, "no Jews, no news."  These Nigerian Christians are being slaughtered by radical Muslim terrorist groups.  Muslims killing Christians.  No Jews involved.  So no news.  Fox also reported that over 19,000 churches in Nigeria have been burned down since 2009.

I saw a post by someone on LinkedIn that said Lebanon used to be a Christian country, Pakistan was Hindu and Afghanistan was Buddhist.  Now they are all Islamic.  Then the post referred to the "Path of Islam":  1.  Establish a mosque, 2.  Create an enclave, 3.  Grow the population, 4.  Claim victimhood, 5.  Resist host authorities and customs, 6.  Exploit lawfare, 7.  Institute Shariah law, 8.  Secede, 9.  Take control.  LET ME CLEAR ONCE AGAIN - I do not believe that every Muslim agrees with the above.  I do not believe that every Muslim in America is disloyal to America.  That should be obvious to everyone.  But I do believe that Islam today has a problem with a substantial radical, terrorist element.  And I also believe what Dennis Prager (quoting Viktor Frankl) has frequently said:  there are only two groups of people in the world, the decent and the indecent.   

I saw a disturbing story in the Jerusalem Post about about a group called "The Punishment for Justice Movement."  Apparently, they have a website that targets Israeli academics.  The "rewards" are as follows:  $1000 for posting notices on the targets' homes, $5000 for information on the targets, $20,000 for committing arson on the targets' homes or vehicles, $50,000 for the murder of a target, and $100,000 for the murder of a "special" target.  

According to JPost, "The group lists the alleged home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, social media accounts, and even identification numbers of hundreds of academics from Ben Gurion University of the Negev, the Technion, Weizmann Institute, Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv University, Harvard University, Oxford University, and the European Organization for Nuclear Research."  These academics are to be targeted anywhere in the world, even when living in the USA.