Turning the pages of history, Soroor Ahmed opines that in view of the Europeans’ history of fighting protracted wars among themselves, the completion of one year of war in Ukraine on February 24, 2023 is not too long a conflict by European standard itself. He also avers that it is ironic that those who have shed maximum amount of blood in history are now claiming to be the apostle of peace.
As Europeans have a history of fighting protracted wars among themselves such as Hundred Years War(1337-1453), 80 Years War (1568-1648) and 30 Years War (1618-1648), the completion of one year ofbloodbath between Russia and Ukraine on February 24 does not sound too long a conflict. There are someexperts who are of the view that this war is actually nine years old as Crimea was annexed in February2014.
The sudden and surprise visit to Kiev by the United States President Joe Biden on February 20 is morelikely to prolong the war, rather than bring in early peace. With the United Nations reduced to a mutespectator the recent moves by the US and West European countries to supply more arms to Ukraine is notgoing to serve any purpose as it would only harden the stand of Russia.
It needs to be reminded that President George Bush made similar trips to Afghanistan and Iraq in 2006,but the move failed to yield any positive result. The war continued in both these countries, compellingthe US to withdraw.
The West has the distinction of fighting two World Wars in the 20th century in which 80 to 90 millionpeople perished. True, Ottoman Empire and Japan were also involved in the World War-I and World War-IIrespectively and suffered huge casualties yet it was the ‘civilized’ Europeans who initiated them andthus bore the maximum brunt. Barring a few instances, in almost all these mayhems, it was Christians whomassacred, tortured and raped fellow Christians of the same race and colour.
The Seven Years War fought between 1756 and 1763 was the first trans-continental war fought among theEuropean countries, especially between the French and British colonisers. It is also called precursor of world war as it was spread over South America, North America, Africa, Europe and Asia.
The Europeans were locked in these almost unending wars among themselves when the fate of battlingarmies in rest of the world used to be decided in a matter of hours or days on a battlefield. As thewestern empires were engaged in the battles in the distant land, they relied heavily on navy, too.
The record of West fighting people of other faith or civilization is equally heinous. From about threecenturies long Crusades to rout in Vietnam and humiliating exit from Iraq and Afghanistan the story isno different. If nuclear bombs were dropped on two Japanese cities on August 6 and 9, 1945 even afterTokyo had sent enough signal of giving in, brutal bombardment of Vietnam by the US forces continuedeven after the signing of Paris Peace Accord on January 27, 1973. The last US soldier finally leftVietnam on April 30, 1975.
Hiroshima and Nagasaki were nuked simply because Washington wanted Japan to surrender before it and not the Soviet Union which after the end of war in Europe on May 8, 1945 was shifting its attention towardsEast. Lakhs of innocent children, women and old citizens were killed and revenge was taken from thefuture generation of Japan just to satisfy the whims and fancies of the Democrats sitting comfortablyin the White House.
In Levant they played a dirty game during the height of two World Wars and a new state, Israel, cameinto existence on May 14, 1948.
It is not that people of other religions, countries and civilizations do not fight among themselves orwith others. History is replete with examples of such bloodletting. But never in the world has thebarbarians and criminals so brazenly boasted of being ‘peace-loving’ champions of liberty anddemocracy. They would sermonise the people across the planet about the virtues of human rights, freespeech and non-violence, though they would day in and day out practise hatred. Nothing exemplifies thisbetter than the cartoon carried by the French magazine, Charlie Hebdo, mocking the plight of poor victimsof devastating earthquakes in Türkiye and Syria.
Just for the sake of their hegemony, they would push their own people into war and even blowuppipelines supplying oil and gas to good friend, Germany – and that too on the eve of winter.
Both Russia and Ukraine are parts of the same Europe. The tussle essentially is how much ‘West’ theyare in their outlook. As Russia refuses to toe the established line for its own interest, it is nowbeing treated as an outcast.
Curiously, Russian-speakers living anywhere in Europe and North America are looked with suspicion andeven targeted though the fact remains that many of those whose mother tongue is Russian are Ukrainians,Latvians, Estonians, Lithunians Belarusians and may be even Kazakhs.
Interestingly, the geographical map of the imperialist powers of the West Europe which fought some ofthe bloodiest battles in the last several centuries did not change much. On the other hand, some newnation-states came up in the eastern part of the continent after the two World Wars and also followingthe dismemberment of the then Soviet Union. In fact, the process of unification of Germany and Italytook place in the mid-19th century.
In contrast, the European colonial powers ended up creating innumerable small and big countries at thetime of withdrawal. This had happened in Latin America, South America, Africa, Indian sub-continent,Peninsular Arabia as well as in Levant. New states were deliberately created and boundaries were drawnin such a way that people keep fighting among themselves. Dictators and titular heads were thrust uponthem.
Ironically, those who have shed maximum amount of blood in history are now claiming to be the apostleof peace.
The year-long war in the vicinity of strategically crucial Black Sea has once again exposed thehypocrisy of the West. Notwithstanding their strong presence in the global media, they lack theconviction to claim that it is ‘uncivilized’ population of Asia and Africa which quarrel amongthemselves. They are finding themselves in a fix as they are groping for quick solution.