Where do we draw the line?

In any game we play, whether of war or of love, we must draw lines that forbid players to go beyond. Yet, it is also in war and in love that all is fair. Therein lies the problem.

For quite some time the Russian Federation had been piling soldiers on his side of the Ukraine border. When questioned why he was piling soldiers on the border, he wanted to know if anyone could question him on how he uses his side of the border.

When the war ends it would be interesting for someone to document the number of jokes produced by each war in the last one hundred years. This particular one promises a good number given that the Ukrainian President was a comedian before going into politics. But to go on with our comments on drawing the line. Whatever lawlessness you might wish to exist in the game of war and love lines must be drawn.

Imagine the problem of the judges when one side calls for surrender and the other side says no, it will fight to finish! Does it mean that there is no winner, no loser? It was obvious that he was preparing for war.

Dark smoke and flames rise from a fire following an air strike in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv, on March 26, 2022. – At least five people wounded in two strikes on Lviv, the regional governor said, in a rare attack on a city that has escaped serious fighting since Russian troops invaded last month. (Photo by Ronaldo SCHEMIDT and RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP)

The president who could not achieve barely 21 per cent popularity was now claiming 90 per cent in popularity. The president was asked when he was going overseas where he was going to set up a government for Ukraine in exile. Volodymyr Zelenskyy replied that he was going nowhere and he was going to stay with his people and fight the Russians.

Within the next three weeks, three groups had been sent to assassinate him. He was lucky that the groups that liked him protected information about his whereabouts.

Very soon he was speaking to the House of Commons, the Senate of the United States of America, the parliament of Italy and so many other parliaments. His speeches had a pattern. First, he thanked the country for their help since it had fallen under the tyranny of Russian heavy arms. He showed the type of shelling that Ukraine has suffered. Second, he appealed to his listeners to help them further in the area of aircraft that would help them control their skies against the Russians. In the process of making these speeches, the president doesn’t forget the historical connection between Ukraine and his particular guests. Once he had finished his speech, he would once again thank his audience for giving him an opportunity to make his presentation to them.

One of the arguments that rise among them is that it is asking for the Third World War to make some particular type of arms to Ukraine. The line of argument goes thus: if each of us gave Ukraine so much plane to ensure that Ukraine controlled the air above Ukraine. It is difficult to divide the responsibilities among themselves. Among so many nations and so many peoples, there cannot be enough for people in the kitchen. By far, the tricky one was not the one who took care of the birds. The various responsibilities among the Americans, the Europeans, the Asians must be difficult to share out without there being repetition or omission or both.

At home, in Moscow, nobody knew what was going on in the front. Various bodies did not function. The news media at home were silenced. Thousands of citizens were arrested for protesting against the war. At a state-organized demonstration, Putin is said to have worn a jacket worth forty thousand dollars while Selenskyy goes about in a humbled T-shirt even before Senators of the United States of America.

In his appearance before the Japanese Parliament, Selenskyy thanked them for being the first Asian country to impose sanctions on Russia. He urged them to not slack in their support because Ukraine is in fact carrying on the fight of the democratic world on its shoulders. He listed the things that Ukraine needed urgently too.

How far will Russia go? Russia continues to lie about the war. Two members of the FSB are said to have been detained under house arrest which means that the time of blame has arrived. Will Russia use chemical weapons? Which would perhaps force the hands of the USA, NATO and EU to do something drastic. Or if Russia decides to hit one or other of the arms dumps of Europe and provoke the USA, NATO and European Union to counter Putin’s hands.
How can this war end? This was supposed to be a campaign of a few days but it has not gone his way. He cannot call for general mobilisation yet. Any escalation would not lead to chemical or nuclear war. There would be peace. The mothers, the girl-Friends, the wives wonder what’s happening to their beloved ones.

Is a coup d’etat possible in Moscow? The arrest of two officers of the FSB means that there is trouble in paradise. Putin’s life is now attached to the war. Those around him are beginning to panic. They are beginning to suspect one another. From here on there is no trust. When the only thing that exists among the leadership is suspicion, then even a mere hello begins to need detailed examination. What did he mean by the way he saíd “hello” in a low voice? Let us watch for how he greets you tomorrow. Make sure you go and greet him at the same time and see if his mood would be different. Which-ever way the war goes, Putin goes with it.