This past week saw Russia and the Ukraine reach an agreement for peace in regard to Russian occupied lands of the Eastern Ukraine.
In the room overseeing the sell out, were Germany’s Angela Merkel and Francois Hollande, President of France.
In the conference ending picture, Vlad Putin looks like the proverbial cat that had swallowed the canary, while Ukrainian President Poroshenko appears on the verge of throwing up.
Having been born post World War Two, I have often wondered about the Allied sell-out at Munich on September 30, 1938 wherein Adolph Hitler was ceded portions of Czechoslovakia in return for Chamberlain’s “peace in our time”.
The peace lasted less than a year – at which time the world was plunged into all out war.
With the events this past week in Minsk, I now have a better appreciation of those times some 77 years ago.
And I fear similar results.
I remember a year or so ago when Putin was about to annex Ukraine’s Crimea. I attended a discussion group that day where the majority opinion believed that Putin would not proceed with his threat – to which I replied – ‘and who is going to stop him’.
In March 2014 it was a done deal.
In follow on meetings of our discussion group the majority opinion was that now that Putin had in fact taken the Crimea – he would go no further.
Again, I pointed out that there was no one on the scene to prevent that.
They squirmed in their seats.
And now with the Minsk Agreement – Putin has effectively annexed greater portions of the Eastern Ukraine.
And again the refrain – peace in our time.
If I was living in the Ukraine, I would not be in the streets celebrating – and in fact, its citizens are not.
And to make matters worse – this is not the only crisis facing the West …
Add to that - ISIS, Boko Haram, Al Qaeda, the Taliban and of course Iran.
All the while the little guy in the White House and the Heavies of Europe look impotently on.
Where is today’s Winston Churchill?
All we have are a bunch of Neville Chamberlains.
As I see it …
‘K.D. Galagher’
