After finally completing my long take on the (a little more than) 1 month of Putin's Invasion of Ukraine I was ready to start talking less about geo-political and more about the humanitarian side. This was after a conversation (via messaging) with a Polish published writer and journalist that actually has family roots in Ukraine, because it is more relevant to talk about something that really relate to us instead of making all these high level analyses and thoughts, when I don't have the proper experience for that. As the ones that know me for some time are aware, I spend a lot of time studying subjects and always have a strong opinion that I want to share. And although they are not many, there is also those who count on me to keep them up to date in this complicated issues, so I feel the responsibility to continue sharing about what is happening. But in an attempt to avoid misunderstanding, as these texts of mine are my opinion and only my own, most of the times written throughout the day and completed when I'm lying in my couch or bed, I wanted to try and bring less convoluted subjects and stick to what is more important, the basic thing, the one that all of us can relate to: the human suffering.
And all of the sudden the weekend came and all hell broke loose! Russians retreated from the Northwest and Northeast of Kyiv and most of us were hit by a punch to the stomach, when we realised that the human suffering was way worse than we thought!
I won't paste any links her, as I know the mainstream media is talking about this a lot.
Following the Russian retreat and the Ukrainians reaching many towns and villages that were under Russian occupation for some weeks, like Bucha, we finally see what is the result of this occupation.
People here in the West still think that Ukraine should surrender to prevent the death and suffering of the population, right? I personally know a couple that fell, or felt, this way.
People here in the West still think that Ukraine should surrender to prevent the death and suffering of the population, right? I personally know a couple that fell, or felt, this way.
To those people I say: Go and tell that to the hundreds in mass graves or lying in the streets, blindfolded and with their hands tied. I dare you!
If civilians suffer a lot during an invasion, they suffer much more during an occupation.
Because, unlike what Moscow said, the population does resist the aggressor, even if resisting means simply saying no to the occupier. And when people start to say no and resist, the atrocities go up to another level. That is just the nature of a forceful and unwanted military invasion and occupation. It happened before, all invading and occupying countries had this experience of a fierce resistance by locals followed by military operations in villages (in theory searching for "terrorists") where everything ends up burned to the ground, including the women and children.
The Portuguese did it during the Colonial War. French did it in Algeria, Indochina and for sure somewhere else. Americans did it in Vietnam (mainly because of the vietcong) and later again, to a bit less extent because times have changed, in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Dutch did it in Indonesia. The British did it all over the world. Russians did it before too, when dealing with resistance in their own republics, in the Soviet-controlled countries, and also in Afghanistan (1979-89)...
I suppose some think that it only happens because the civilians resist. Guess some would even say something like "just keep your head down and do as you're told and nothing bad happens".
If you are one that thinks like that, then let me advise you to check what happened even recently (in 2014 and later) when people that spoke the "wrong language" tried to stay and live in a place where they were no longer wanted by the new people in charge. At best (for them) they were displaced and had to start all over again. It's still bad for too many a people.
And for those that continue to deny these events, to cast doubt on what have happened, some that even have the fucking courage to mention that Ukrainians did this to themselves, here's a link for you, not from the mainstream media that you all believe just shares lies, but from an independent group, together with a worldwide community of people that just want to search for the truth: Russia’s Bucha “Facts” Versus the Evidence
As I wrote on Facebook when sharing this link, anyone that continues to agree with the (supposed) experts, like 2 retired, and assholes, generals in Portugal that continue to follow the guidelines sent by the Kremlin and increasingly making a fools of themselves, can just fuck off and go preach to another town.
I won't rant again about this particular subject, this idea that "surrender is better than continue fighting". But I will talk more the humanitarian side in future "dissertations" mainly because we shouldn't forget, or normalise, that aspect of wars, that is the worst one, the ugly one. We many times, myself included, get caught up on talking about tanks, movements, geo-political changes and events, and forget the most basic thing, the one that all of us can relate to: human suffering.
If civilians suffer a lot during an invasion, they suffer much more during an occupation.
Because, unlike what Moscow said, the population does resist the aggressor, even if resisting means simply saying no to the occupier. And when people start to say no and resist, the atrocities go up to another level. That is just the nature of a forceful and unwanted military invasion and occupation. It happened before, all invading and occupying countries had this experience of a fierce resistance by locals followed by military operations in villages (in theory searching for "terrorists") where everything ends up burned to the ground, including the women and children.
The Portuguese did it during the Colonial War. French did it in Algeria, Indochina and for sure somewhere else. Americans did it in Vietnam (mainly because of the vietcong) and later again, to a bit less extent because times have changed, in Iraq and Afghanistan. The Dutch did it in Indonesia. The British did it all over the world. Russians did it before too, when dealing with resistance in their own republics, in the Soviet-controlled countries, and also in Afghanistan (1979-89)...
I suppose some think that it only happens because the civilians resist. Guess some would even say something like "just keep your head down and do as you're told and nothing bad happens".
If you are one that thinks like that, then let me advise you to check what happened even recently (in 2014 and later) when people that spoke the "wrong language" tried to stay and live in a place where they were no longer wanted by the new people in charge. At best (for them) they were displaced and had to start all over again. It's still bad for too many a people.
And for those that continue to deny these events, to cast doubt on what have happened, some that even have the fucking courage to mention that Ukrainians did this to themselves, here's a link for you, not from the mainstream media that you all believe just shares lies, but from an independent group, together with a worldwide community of people that just want to search for the truth: Russia’s Bucha “Facts” Versus the Evidence
As I wrote on Facebook when sharing this link, anyone that continues to agree with the (supposed) experts, like 2 retired, and assholes, generals in Portugal that continue to follow the guidelines sent by the Kremlin and increasingly making a fools of themselves, can just fuck off and go preach to another town.
I won't rant again about this particular subject, this idea that "surrender is better than continue fighting". But I will talk more the humanitarian side in future "dissertations" mainly because we shouldn't forget, or normalise, that aspect of wars, that is the worst one, the ugly one. We many times, myself included, get caught up on talking about tanks, movements, geo-political changes and events, and forget the most basic thing, the one that all of us can relate to: human suffering.
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