At the time of writing, it's exaclly 4 years to the day, that President Putin of Russia ordered the Russian army to invade Ukraine.
The "full support for Ukraine" proclaimed by British PM Starmer today - in other words, for more war, death and destruction going into year 5, has been put into context: if more weapons are to be given to Ukraine by his government, after buying then from BAe and others, then there will have to be "patriotic British" cuts in spending on public services, the NHS, welfare, education, etc...
Yes, it's to be "Keep the war going" to its bitter end and never mind the so far 160,000 Russian dead and 55,000 Ukrainian dead. Not to speak of the injured and disabled... or the far-reaching consequences for all of the populations, whether in Ukraine and Russia, or Europe and Britain!
This, when this war over disputed territory would have been over within weeks, 4 years ago, were it not for the fact that behind Ukraine's Zelensky, stood Biden and Boris Johnson... and of course NATO: all of them, the real aggressors in this unnecessary scenario.
Indeed, it turns out that "our values" which Starmer talks about today, are not "democracy and sovereignty" for all, but only for "us" and "our side". Winning against Russia is the sole goal, no matter the cost. A "cost" never paid by those in power, but paid by the populations, who get no say whatsoever. And the former comedian, Zelensky, has turned out to be an ideal proxy to conduct this war; an ever-willing actor for the Coalition of the Willing.
And by the way, there won't be a vote either, on choosing defence spending to help this war escalate, over welfare, the NHS, education... But we'd better believe it: this is "democracy"!
Yes, this war affects us all!
Actually, today, Starmer admitted the Ukraine war and its continuation - redoubling the efforts for his very dear "Volodymyr" to "win" - will affect everyone here in Britain.
At least now he and the other "Coalition of the Willing" leaders openly say these days that it's their war against "the aggressor, Putin". Forgotten completely is the fact that when the Russian troops massed on the Ukrainian border, Putin fully expected US President Biden to intervene and support the Russian leadership's claims - to retain Crimea and to retain some control over the mainly Russian-speaking Donbass. This would have averted a new war for which, despite appearances, Putin
wasn't fully prepared. And the US and British governments knew this, full well. But they let the invasion start, and have enthusiastically fuelled the subsequent war with the constant supply of weapons which was essential to keep it going.
It's never been an option that Zelensky's Ukrainian regime should "give up" and agree to the Russian leadership's territorial claims. On the contrary - despite the actual stalemate position which the war is in, NATO forces not only refuse Ukrainian surrender, but as Starmer put it, want to "shift the narrative"!
What this means is that from now onwards and never mind reality, "Putin" must be portrayed as the loser. So, long live the war!
The profit bomb to save their system?
In fact NATO/Britain/the US all have "great" reasons to keep war(s) going... First, the boost to the weapons' industry, which in turn gives a shot in the arm to a profit system suffering from an illness called terminal crisis. And let's be clear, this booster is funded out of the pockets of the population: these companies are paid for every single bullet, bomb and missile, out of tax revenues - that's "our" involuntary contribution to war!
Their other reason is the all-important oil industry and competition for a shrinking oil market. Sanctions against Russian oil, the blowing up of the Nord Stream1 and 2 pipelines carrying natural gas to Europe from Russia, and now, the pursuit of Russia's "shadow tankers" all push the price of oil up and thus push up the profits of BP, Royal Dutch Shell, Exxon-Mobil, Aramco, Chevron, etc., etc., - and their share-holders profit from this, hand- over-fist... It's thanks to these ruthless profiteers and their accomplices in government that ordinary families found their energy bills shooting up, beyond their means.
So yes, this involves all of us, as Starmer admitted at the Coalition meeting on the 24th... But the war has nothing to do with "courage and bravery"; it is the most glaring symptom of a backward and reactionary system in terminal decline, whose politicians resort to repeating the slogans of the past - portraying dying on a battlefield as "glorious" - in order to accumulate banknotes! They've learnt nothing from history.
It will, however, take true "bravery and courage" and a real coalition of the willing, not of degenerate politicians, but of workers across borders, to end this barbaric nationalistic system whose leaders still settle their "differences" by bloodshed. Yes, we urgently need an internationalist, social revolution to overthrow them!