Will anyone dare stand with Putin

BY ABU BILAAL ABDULRAZAQ BN BELLO BN OARE

Unpopular positions usually attract popular opprobrium. Yet following mainstream narratives has failed miserably in solving the hydra-headed problems of man. We live in a world that thrives on hypocrisy and sentimental cynicism. What’s sauce for the goose is usually not sauce for the gander. Double standard!

I entered upon a gathering of fellow young men discussing and decrying the “attempted annexation of Ukraine by Russia”. The interlocutors typified the ordinary man who jumps to uninformed conclusions without making the littlest effort to understand the facts of the matter. Quite a huge number of people are unaware that the raison d’être of the current Russian offensive against Ukraine has nothing to do with annexation, but checkmating the machinations of one’s enemies before they are hatched.

Here’s the background of the story. In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), an intergovernmental military alliance between 28 European countries and 2 North American countries, including the United States of America, was formed to “provide collective security against the Soviet Union, which had its capital at Moscow in today’s Russia. NATO gets its majority funding from the US (age-long arch-enemies of Russia). Needless to say, he who pays the piper dictates the tune. While the US use the IMF to promote and further their financial dominance of the world, they use NATO as their military wing to implement their expansionist and imperialistic agenda of subjugating the rest of the world.

The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, a former intelligence officer who has shepherded the country in the last 23 years, with a brief interruption between 2008 and 2012, has made it clear to the world that he does not want NATO to draw an inch closer to the east, as per earlier agreements reached. But NATO seeks to surreptitiously establish a military base at strategic proximity to Russia by co-opting Ukraine into its fold.

It will be foolish, indeed naive, for Putin to merely spectate, while the NATO forces build up around his country’s borders. Astute and resolute leaders must be able to take tough, decisive, and unpopular decisions in the overall and long-term interest of their people, and that is exactly what the Russian skipper, Vladimir Putin, is doing at the moment. If my neighbour lends his territory to my enemy to use as a spy centre or a launchpad, he becomes the enemy. It is as simple as understanding that the friend of my enemy is my enemy. Know this and you will understand the political conundrum between Russia and the western coalition represented by NATO.

You don’t keep silent when the activities of your neighbour impact you negatively. If your neighbour harbours criminals, you get the authorities to stop him if you cannot stop him yourself. If your neighbour has poultry that produces offensive odour, you advise him to move it out of the residential area or get the authorities to enforce that. Even when your neighbour disturbs you and your children with loud midnight prayers, you have the right to call him to order, in deference to the principle of live and let live. How much more when your neighbour fraternizes with your enemy in a manner that undermines your safety, security and wellbeing.

No sane country compromises national security. No sane country discountenances threats from neighbours or any organization or entity. The US and her allies imposed very tough sanctions on Huawei, depriving them of such important technologies as 5G connectivity and Google services, in order to asphyxiate the Chinese telecoms giants, citing security reasons, as they accused Huawei of espionage. The punishment was escalated in September 2020 with a blanket ban that effectively cut off Huawei’s chip supplies, dealing a major blow to its core smartphone business that had been highly reliant on advanced chips made with US technologies. These sanctions cost Huawei an annual revenue loss of $30 billion in its smartphone business alone. But the world looked the other way.

Essentially, what Russia is doing in Ukraine is no different from what Israel is doing in Palestine and what Saudi Arabia is doing in Yemen. So why make fish of one and meat of the other? Why aren’t we seeing the emergency commentators and human rights vuvuzelas clamour for sanctions against Israel and Saudi Arabia?

The likes of Russia are needed to balance world power. Indeed, if power is left in the hands of the US and their despotic allies alone, humanity will suffer.”For had it not been that Allah checks one set of people by means of another, monasteries, churches, synagogues, and mosques, wherein the Name of Allah is mentioned much would surely have been pulled down”.

Countries like Iran and Kuwait would have since been invaded by the US if not for repeated vetoes from Russia and China, being permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, a privilege that gives them automatic veto powers.

In the last 30 years, the US has invaded more sovereign nations than any other country in the world. From pursuing a phantom Usama Bin Laden in Afghanistan to nuclear weapon hoax in Iraq to regime change in Libya and Syria, they seem to have reserved the right to military interventions and takeovers. They have perfected the act of euphemizing their atrocious imperialism, while they criminalize every other entity that takes similar actions to protect their sovereignty and territorial integrity.

The generalissimo in Russia sees a wildfire, indeed a huge conflagration, brewing, and decides that the best time to quench a fire is at the incipient stage, lest it spirals out of control like the Nigerian government allowed Boko Haram to fester. This is not a war between Russia and Ukraine. It is a proxy war between Russia and the US, masquerading as NATO. It is only unfortunate that when two elephants fight, the grass suffers.

Like the popular maxim says, if you want peace, prepare for war. The world will know no peace if we continue to operate different standards for different people. Only equal rights and justice can guarantee us the desired peace and stability.

May God save humanity from humanity.

Abdulrazaq bn Bello bn Oare writes from Kaduna. He can be reached via [email protected]