In the more than a year we’ve been following the Ukraine-Russia war have you noticed, Dear Reader, how you’ve lost interest in rushing to the foreign news section to know what went down the day before?? Imagine that!! A showdown between European nations that has the potential to blow mankind to smithereens and we now first check out the sports pages in the morning as we munch on our cassava bread?? But yet – as with these kinda matters – there are lessons for us even without dramatic headlines.
The first thing your Eyewitness has learnt (relearnt?) is that war is good for business. That WWII pulled the world out of the Great Depression in the 30s is replicated in Russia’s economy picking up even as it is throwing everything – even the kitchen sink – at the West-backed Ukrainians. The Western sanctions have just made them more self-sufficient – with Russians stepping up to the crease to fill the slack and growing their economy. It’s also good for business in America and the other nations that are supplying Ukraine with arms!! Remember US President Eisenhower’s description of the “military industrial complex” that runs America?? And as the General who finished off WWII for the West, he oughta know!!
A corollary to this observation is that with all the stress on precision guided smart missiles – which can be fired from hundreds, if not thousands, of miles away – the war has boiled down to a good, old-fashioned slugfest!! And in a slugfest, you need space to manoeuvre, a constant replenishment of arms and bodies to throw into the fray as your front lines get mowed down!! Not much different from when Sparta and Athens faced off in the Peloponnesian War back in the 5th century BC, eh??
Did you wonder why the US had to plead with nations even in South America to send weapons and munitions to Ukraine?? They just can’t keep up with an all-out war for even a year – and they haven’t sent that many bodies over!! But they’re willing to fight to the last Ukrainian, aren’t they? Especially since Zelenskiy’s very happy to go along!! And about those bodies. The West will now be reconsidering all their strategies in a war against China – or should. THEY have 1.3 billion bodies to throw into any fray – and the discipline and national mindset to do so!! Remember those kamikaze Jap pilots back in WWII??
Now you might be wondering about all those nuclear warheads in the West’s arsenals. Thing is, the Ruskies have those too!! So we’re back to testing the Cold War’s MAD – Mutually Assured Destruction – Strategy!! Those fingers might be poised above those red buttons – but who dares press them??
War is hell!!
…Israel
But even though you’ve kinda lost interest in the Ukraine-Russia War, suddenly you’re following the Palestinian-Israel War with bated breath, ain’t you? Gotcha!! Why do you think that Israel’s been the largest recipient of American aid for decades?? War’s big business, remember?? Once Israel can be counted on to keep the cauldron boiling – and the oil-rich Mid-East on edge – with their superior arms and defensive innovations like their vaunted “Iron Dome” keep on coming, money’s being made.
But now that Hamas has destroyed the invincibility of Israel’s Iron Dome, the vaunted intelligence-gathering capacity of Mossad and the prowess of the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in one fell swoop, all bets are off. Some Arab States gonna have to stand up and be counted because the Al Asqa Mosque was a triggering point. Iran has already signalled their readiness and even Israel-friendly Qatar had to condemn Israel.
With no space for a conventional war, Israel can only win if they wipe out all Palestinians. A Palestinian Holocaust!! The irony!!
…Essequibo
We can’t ignore the warnings that Venezuela might be creating a Fifth Column in Essequibo with all those “refugees” streaming across our Border. It’s an article of faith of ALL Venezuelans that they wuz robbed of Essequibo. Be warned!!
