Roger Ray: America’s proxy war with fascism

A star-studded cast did not save last fall’s movie, Amsterdam, from undeserved obscurity. I loved it even though it referenced a very serious and historical attempt at taking over the government of the United States by a fascist cabal of rich people in a lighthearted fictional comedy. However, near the end, Robert De Niro brilliantly plays an actual American hero, Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler, and De Niro even quotes Butler’s testimony before Congress in which he named the leaders of the coups, none of whom were ever criminally charged because they were too rich and powerful to be touched. Sound familiar?

Butler is little known these days because, even though he was the most decorated military hero in history, he ideologically turned against the war machine in which his career had excelled. He published a short book entitled “War is a Racket,” in which he attempted to expose the way in which the people who make the hardware of war and supply the canned meat, bandages, and boots used to field an army, manipulate our government into senseless conflict for their own profit. It is a quick and easy read, and it has the merit of also being true.

You have undoubtedly heard Vietnam veterans complaining that “They wouldn’t let us win the war,” and that is, in a way, also true. The point was never about some obscure “domino theory,” it was a shooting war with an enemy who could never invade us, and it allowed the military industrial complex to make trillions of dollars over a generation without risking American soil or the children of the rich.

This is, of course, similar to our more recent war in Iraq. Iraq had nothing to do with the 9/11 terrorist attack on the USA, but invading a disarmed country that did not have a navy or an air force allowed us to spend trillions on military hardware without risk to American territory or, again, the children of the rich; because “war is, in fact, a racket.”

Though it pains me in every cell of my body, my typical opposition to war does not apply to our support of Ukraine in their defense against the current Russian invasion. I would remind those who may be too young to remember, when the Soviet Union fell apart, Ukraine had the largest nuclear arsenal in the world. They also had one of the most corrupt and disorganized governments in the world. Both Russia and western powers recognized that the likelihood of some of those nukes finding their way into the hands of rogue states or terrorists was huge and so we promised to defend them should they ever be invaded.

If Ukraine still had nuclear weapons, Russia never would have invaded. They didn’t have nukes, but they had our solemn promise that we would defend them. We should have responded to the invasion with a no-fly zone and long-range ballistic missiles. We have dragged our feet in this matter, emboldening Putin and eroding our credibility.

One of the worst mistakes of the Obama administration was to not act when Russia took Crimea in 2014. Pathological land theft without consequences created the immoral monster that Putin is today, leaving him with only Donald Trump as his last loyal friend in the world.

The daily drumbeat of reported war crimes committed by Russia in Ukraine has made it plain that this time, Russia must be made to suffer for what they have done to Ukraine. Simply fine-tuning the Ukrainian arsenal so that they are not defeated just keeps American coffers open and keeps the war dragging on. What sense does the fear of escalation make when Russia is blowing up Ukrainian apartment buildings, schools, hospitals, and the electric grid in the middle of winter?

I am currently in Thailand, surrounded by military-aged Russians who could afford to sit out the war on the tourist beaches of Phuket, drinking heavily and dancing to classic western rock music. Something must be done to awaken the conscience of the Russian people who could not escape service in the army. We need to get out of a prolonging defensive posture and defeat Russia so soundly that Putin can never do this again. We need to act like Liam Neeson going after an abducted daughter. It would be great to avoid committing NATO troops to this combat but if it takes NATO or U.S. and allied troops to win, well, Russia must lose and the sooner the better.

And Russian assets need to be claimed to pay for the rebuilding of Ukraine. China, North Korea and Iran need to see that the USA may have its own issues with corruption and greed, but there is a clear bright line that no fascist state can cross without being met with overwhelming force. That’s just my opinion. It just so happens that I am right.

Roger Ray is pastor of The Emerging Church in Springfield.

This article originally appeared on Springfield News-Leader: Weak approach to Russia fails to slow invasion of Ukraine