[pjw] INFO: on the 3rd anniversary of the Ukraine war, changing times...

[Peace and Justice Works]

Hi
I was listening to people on the radio talking about today marking three 
years of the war in Ukraine and realizing how many of the details based in 
facts-- not rumors-- get lost in the equation. Such as there being a wing 
of the Ukrainian military, brought in from their militia status, who are 
Nazi sympathizers.

So I thought I would re-post the statement we put out about the war 
originally in May 2022 and updated annually since then. It's due for a 
refresher this May and we'll probably have to sort out some of Mr. Broken 
Clock Trump's lies vs. accurate or semi accurate statements. Things might 
be different by then-- it appears Zelenskyy's seriously going to talk 
about ceding rights to Ukraine's minerals to the US??? Perhaps we can add 
a line about "economic imperialism is also imperialism."

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/5161400-trump-meets-zelensky-rare-earths/

Oh and in case you missed what I wrote in this week's report back on the 
Friday Rally...

  --Most of you have probably already heard that Trump talked a lot about
  Ukraine this week, claiming they started the war (not true) but also that
  NATO's insistence on moving closer to Russia's borders was a major factor
  (which IS true). Russia noted that was the first time a Western leader
  acknowledged the issue (which violated a promise made after the Berlin
  wall fell).

  https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/trump-says-ukraine-should-never-have-started-it-remarks-war-russia-rcna192710

  ...Take a look at the details in this politifact article which says this
  is a mostly false claim but then documents statements made by the US and
  its allies not to move "one inch further east" than Germany:

  https://www.politifact.com/factchecks/2022/feb/28/candace-owens/fact-checking-claims-nato-us-broke-agreement-again/

  ... and then this op-ed by Phyllis Bennis from 2022

  https://www.myjournalcourier.com/opinion/article/Commentary-XXXXXXXXXXXXX-16975040.php

  ...Anyway, note how US policy on Russia entering Ukraine was opposite to
  Israel sitting in the West Bank and Gaza. At least it's more consistent
  now, but unfortunately pro-imperialism consistent instead of "we don't
  take territory by force on this planet any more" consistent.


Thanks
dan handelman
peace and justice works iraq affinity group

UKRAINE:
Calling for De-Escalation and a Peaceful Resolution of the Conflict
statement by Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group
May 17, 2024 (v3) (first issued May 20, 2022)

The Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group calls for a cease-fire and 
true international efforts for diplomatic resolution after Russia’s 
invasion of Ukraine.

The involvement of the United States and NATO could escalate the fighting 
to include use of nuclear weapons.

The expansion of NATO since the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 has led to 
the current situation, as did the US support for a coup that overturned 
the elected government of Ukraine in 2014.

The Minsk Agreements of 2014-15 called upon the parties to de-escalate by 
creating semi-autonomous regions in eastern Ukraine, but fighting in the 
region continued up until the Russian incursion into Ukraine in February 
2022.

It is true that Russia attacked its neighbor country, but it is also true 
that the US ignored Russia’s concerns about moving NATO so close to its 
borders.

The US attacked and invaded Iraq in 2003 without provocation, and led NATO 
to conduct a similar attack on Libya in 2011.

While it seems strange to those unfamiliar with the situation for Russia’s 
President to accuse Ukraine, whose President is Jewish, of being Nazis, 
the Ukrainian military has absorbed the Azov Battalion, a well known 
neo-Nazi militia, into its ranks.

Contrast the US approach to this conflict, opposing the larger 
nuclear-armed country (Russia) and supporting the smaller one with few 
military resources (Ukraine) with the Middle East, where America supports 
a known nuclear armed state (Israel) and sends inadequate humanitarian aid 
to the mostly unarmed territory under attack (Gaza).

After Congress voted to spend $61 billion more on weapons and
other support for Ukraine, a man on the front lines said "Are you
serious? Now this war will just continue" (Daily Beast, 4/25/24).

How can this conflict be brought to a peaceful end?

1- The parties need to agree to an immediate cease-fire.

2- Humanitarian aid needs to be brought in for those lacking food and
    medical attention.

3- There should be no more arms transfers to Ukraine, and in general, no
    further arming of the combatants.

4- Negotiations need to commence, including a plan for independence and
    security of both Russia and Ukraine.

5- In support of such a cease-fire and peace plan, sanctions should be
    lifted. Sanctions mostly harm ordinary people and not governments, and
    are thus another form of war.

6- The US must stop making proclamations about "weakening Russia,"
    name-calling its president, and hinting at regime change.

7- The US needs to renew diplomatic ties with Russia to continue
    downsizing nuclear and conventional arms stockpiles.

8- No further expansion of NATO.The addition of Finland and Sweden to NATO
    in 2023, the proposal to add Ukraine itself to NATO, and the opening of
    an office of NATO in Japan, a country in the Pacific Ocean, to the
    North Atlantic Treaty Organization, are unnecessary escalations.

The US continues to conduct warfare in Syria, Somalia, and Yemen. The US 
has bombed those three countries by drone and conventional aircraft--as 
well as Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan and Libya--with no consequences and 
little media attention to whether US actions constitute war crimes.

More broadly:

-- Nations need to redirect military spending to address the climate 
crisis, human needs, and abolishing nuclear weapons. In the US, this means 
ending weapons contracts for arms merchants and putting money into 
infrastructure, housing, education and more. As of May, 2024, the US has 
spent or set aside over $180 billion to support Ukraine-- equivalent to 
20% of the US' bloated $886 billion military budget.

-- The structure of the United Nations, which allots permanent Security 
Council seats and veto power to the five countries which won World War II, 
needs to be revised. While Russia can veto any condemnation of their 
actions, the United States has the same authority and has been able to 
take actions which might be considered war crimes.

-- The US should join the International Criminal Court, which it signed 
onto under Bill Clinton but "un-signed" under George W. Bush. Russia, 
which left in 2016 after its invasion of Crimea, should also rejoin.

The Iraq Affinity Group is in solidarity with people working for peace in 
Russia and in Ukraine. Let’s make a difference by demanding changes to our 
own government's policies.

Statement created in 2022, updated in 2023 and 2024 by the
Peace and Justice Works Iraq Affinity Group
503-236-3065 iraq at pjw.info www.pjw.info/Iraq.html

Informed by the Rocky Mountain Peace and Justice Center (Boulder, CO), 
Stop the War Coalition (UK), United National Antiwar Coalition (USA), and 
Lawyers Committee on Nuclear Policy (New York, NY).