“Perceptions,” by Gerry Warner

Op-Ed Commentary

Surely one of the greatest anti-war films of all time is Stanley Kubrick’s classic, “Dr. Strangelove.” But that’s not the full title. The full title is “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (pictured above).”

Possibly the most infamous scene in the tour de farce movie occurs in the “War Room” when under the looming electronic screen showing the Russian and American nuclear-armed bombers flying straight at each other and unable to be called back, a fight breaks out between General Jack D. Ripper, played by the master thespian, George C. Scott and Group Captain Lionel Mandrake played by the incomparable Peter Sellers, who played three roles in the farcical flick. At this point, President Merkin Muffley cries out the immortal line that galvanized thousands of anti-war college kids like me in the “peace, love and good vibes” 1960’s. “You can’t fight in the War Room.” I think I wet my pants after that scene!

Ah, but that was just a movie, you say. Well, hold on just one damn minute.

In case you hadn’t noticed, there’s a war going on now. And just a few days ago an errant Russian missile hit a building setting it on fire next to the Zapotizhzhia nuclear power plant, the largest in all of Europe.

In response, an obviously angry Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a statement that sent a shudder around the world: “You know the word Chernobyl,” he ominously said. As if we needed to be reminded! Fortunately, the reactor itself didn’t catch on fire and no radiation was released. But US Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said the episode “underscores the recklessness with which the Russians have been perpetrating this unprovoked invasion.”

No kidding!

Unsurprisingly, Zelenskyy went on to berate NATO for refusing to issue a “no fly” zone over Ukraine, saying it would immensely help Ukrainian troops on the ground. But NATO declined saying it would raise the possibility of a general European war that could engulf the world.

No sane person would deny this, but what can we do? Sit on the sidelines and watch as the barbaric Russian hordes devour their neighbour to appease their madman leader who has obviously taken leave of his senses and is intent on reviving the alleged “glory” of the former Soviet Union, one of the cruelest and most corrupt empires the world has ever known.

Are we in the West supposed to sit on the sidelines and quietly say “tsk, tsk” while we have the capability of stopping the slaughter?

I’m about as far from a military expert as you can get, but I have some concept of right and wrong and I know damn well that the carnage taking place in Ukraine is wrong. Manifestly wrong. And I don’t think I’m alone in thinking that.

An article in the London Daily Telegraph last week said there’s growing evidence that Vladimir Putin may be suffering from a serious illness. The article stated Putin’s face has lately appeared bloated around the face and neck.

Always an obsessive athlete, there’s speculation he may be on steroids, side effects of which include mood and behavioural swings such as when he recently publicly humiliated one of his generals on TV. It’s all circumstantial of course, but Putin wouldn’t be the first mad dictator to lose his marbles in office.

Hitler was clearly insane before the Second World War came to a catastrophic end and suffered 11 assassination attempts during the war and several more before the war even started.

NATO’s neutrality in this war is correct legally, but what about the moral dimension? Is it moral or ethical to stand by and do nothing except to impose trade sanctions while innocent Ukrainian children, women and men are being slaughtered by the hundreds?

In the next few days, most military experts are expecting Putin to launch an all-out war against Ukrainian civilians, a war crime according to the UN that would push the civilian death toll to the thousands, but that doesn’t bother Putin.

Sometimes you have to bend, if not break, the rules when circumstances justify it. Surely this is such a situation? Putin is killing Russian soldiers too and I don’t believe even they are enthusiastic about this war. The Russian people even less so with a considerable number of them bravely demonstrating against it in the streets.

And the supreme irony of this hideous tragedy is that some Western military experts believe that the Russian forces are relatively weak. Years of economic decline and corruption are the cause, which is why you see the main Russian military convoy stuck in the mud north of Kyiv relying on outmoded and poorly maintained armour.

A few quick air strikes by the West could take care of that and some Western boots on the ground would do the rest.

Yes, that could mean a wider war, but it would also mean a shorter war when dealing with the madness of Putin.

Gerry Warner is a retired journalist, who wishes the soldiers on all sides of this senseless conflict would lay down their arms.

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