Code Pink protests at White House and in cities nationwide against Ukraine war

On the 5th of February, Code Pink held a nationwide series of rallies against increasingly likely war between the US and Russia over Ukraine. One of these rallies was directly in front of the White House.

If this war gets going, expect "pro-energy" Democrats to vilify all opponents of fracking, pipelines, and LNG export as supposed Russian stooges. That is the same line their GOP progenitors used during the Cold War, was bullshit then and is bullshit now.

Beyond that, there is the obvious nuclear hazard of having troops of any two nations both armed with nuclear weapons meet on opposite sides of the same battlefield. This was successfully avoided throughout the Cold War except for small and deniable units such as US "advisors" in Afghanistan or in Vietnam the Russian air defense specialists. Now, the mess in Ukraine threatens to pull US and Russian troops into direct confrontation, with both nations still nuclear-armed. On top of all else, both Putin and key Ukrainian militia/resistance elements are Fascists, meaning the war becomes a "fash-on-fash" fight save for combat involving other parts of Ukraine's population and any militia/guerilla elements not associated with fascist/ultranationalist groups.

Caught in the middle is the population of Ukraine, which does not have the "popcorn" option of watching from the sidelines as two enemies both wedded to fascism kill each other off. For them, this is more like a fight in a crowded bar between two gangs (one of them local) using grenades and automatic weapons. The Washington Post has estimated any war could produce 5 million refugees-and that Putin is getting close to the point of being unable to back off without making all of Russia look like bluffing blowhards. Some excuse for a war that will demolish Ukraine and wreck the economy of most of Europe including Russia itself.

As this goes on, some in Ottawa, Canada have remarked that they have been invaded from the United States by far-right anti-vax protesters (the so-called "trucker's convoy" )and thus can play no role in any war elsewhere on the planet. Their city is overrun with Fascists displaying swastikas, Confederate flags, Trump 2024 shit etc and there have been a number of violent incidents. There has even been discussion of using Canada's military to break the siege of Ottawa. So far however at least the anti-vaxxers who have invaded that city have not been dropping bombs and shooting up the streets.

These are very likely events in Ukraine, with Putin moving more and more troops to the border, the US and NATO moving up troops too, and the Ukrainian public arming up to fight whoever turns out to be the invader of the day. While somone claimed on Twitter that the threatened Russian invasion is "as real as Saddam's WMD" the troop buildup is for real whatever Putin's intentions. The false-flag "movie" may have gotten caught if it is for real, but troops are not pulling back. War by accident has become a risk, as is either Putin, Biden, or Ukrainian Fascist militias painting themselves into a corner and having to back up words with action.

Photo by Katie

Creative Commons Licence