Right in the centre - Stop Russia now

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Published on Friday, March 4, 2022

By Ken Waddell

Neepawa Banner & Press

Over 60 years ago, I was visiting in my sister-in-law’s parental home in Winnipeg. Her father was a Canadian-born Ukrainian and I believe her mother was born in Poland. Her mother and grandmother survived WWI in Poland. If I remember the story correctly, they didn’t know which soldiers would be sleeping on their kitchen floor on a given night.

During my family’s visit, the television was on and we all had to be very quiet, as the family wanted to hear a speech by Russian president Nikita Khrushchev. My sister-in-law’s father could understand much of Khrushchev’s speech and was intensely interested in what the Russian dictator had to say. He knew then, as we know now, that those words had an effect on the world, not only Ukraine and Poland, but Canada and everywhere else.

We should have been listening more closely to what the present day Russian dictator Putin has been saying. He wants to take over the world. If we had been listening, maybe it wouldn’t have been such a surprise what he has done.

Also, if we had listened more closely, we would have realized that Putin was simply mimicking a dictator from 1939 by the name of Hitler. Both dictators said they only wanted to take one more country or one more part of a country and they would be happy. No, they won’t! A dictator’s thirst, hunger or ego can never be satisfied.

If Putin is not stopped now, he will simply keep moving. And remember, please, that while Russia is now moving south, there is a country on the northern border of Russia. It’s called Canada.

Yes, Russia would like our arctic. They won’t be satisfied with claiming to be the home to Santa Claus, they want all the Canadian arctic too. They want the world.

One good thing that has come out of the Russian war against Ukraine is that Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has emerged as an outstanding leader. He has now famously said in response to offers to leave the country, “I don’t need a ride, I need ammunition.” That strong a statement hasn’t been made since 1940, when England’s prime minister said, “We will fight them on the beaches, etc.” Interesting that we have to go back 80 plus years to find a similar situation faced with similar levels of leadership.

This column is being written on Feb. 28, so it is difficult to predict what the situation will be by the time you read this. That said, Canada, NATO and even the UN must step in and help. A few helmets, guns, even anti-tank guns won’t cut it. I think we should be into a full scale counter attack. Russia can’t be satisfied, dictators never can be satisfied. Nothing will stop Russia except a total defeat in Ukraine. If the free world doesn’t stop Russia at Ukraine, there will be no end to the terrorism.

And to just put Russian power into perspective, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of Russia is about the same as Canada. Russia is not an economic super power and it shouldn’t be a military super power. It has been a great country and can be again, but will have to be stopped in its current tracks.

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this column are the writer’s personal views and are not to be taken as being the view of the Banner & Press staff.