War in Ukraine is a Gateway in Defense of Democracy

Omar Sindi | Exclusive to iKurd.net

Despite against all the odds, and grim predictions from many political pundits, military experts predicted that Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, will fall to Russian forces within a week, and, Ukrainian people are still standing, fighting, defending their homeland, with of course, receiving economic and military equipments assistances from major liberal democratic countries, which a bulk of that supply aid is from United States, in order to stave off Russia ‘s President Vladimir Putin attritional war of aggression, this is also a computational – global war of autocratic rule, against democratic system of governance; the United Nations has imposed international sanction on the Russia ‘s government, and its Oligarchs.

Since the beginning of the war little more than a year ago, most if not all authoritarian regimes, dictators, if not directly, tacitly, are supporting Russia’s dictator President Putin of unprovocative and unjust war in Ukraine, it’s a destructive war, it’s a war against “humanity” in Ukraine.

These authoritarian regimes don’t support “a new world order”, they have put the world on a dangerous path politically and economically; the world order is a pinnacle of a breaking point; which is a type of precedent established for maintaining a condition of “global political stability”. Political policy makers who weigh up the strategic points and weak points of the situation so as to calculate how the success or failure will affect or benefit his own political agenda.

Dictatorial regimes are assisting each others against internal opposition, President Putin sent “private military contractors who do secret missions for Russia flew into Venezuela… to beef up security for President Nicola Maduro” -Reuters.

The Chinese government for years has been supporting economically both the Kim Jong-un Regime of North Korea and Burmese military Junta in Myanmar. Both of these two regimes have the worst human rights records. According to media outlets, ”The Chinese government has committed a series of ongoing human rights abuses against Uyghurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjian that is often characterized “as genocide””- Article Talk.

The Chinese government has been ambitioning a colonial role, which is bullying its neighboring countries,to reclaim maritime sovereignty over wide area of South China Sea and by also loaning money to the third World Countries with a substantial high interests rate: Many media outlets called it “debt trap” the Sri Lankan government borrowed money from China, the Sri Lankan government unable to meet it’s loan payment, so Chinese government possessed their sea port functioning income lease for 99 years.

The Chinese government is accused of loaning money for “land grab” (Farm land) in the African continent. Those countries whose leader(s) want to borrow money for financing their countries needs from the Chinese government apparatus, should weigh up pros and cons, prior to borrowing that loan from china.

Many times democracy has become its own victim around the world. For example, the current President of Nicaragua in South Central America, Daniel Ortega, lost election in 1990, in Nicaragua in the general election, both 1996 and 2001, but in 2006 he was democratically elected as a President of Nicaragua. Now ”It’s completely Orwellian” ever since he is holding power by “Iron fist policy”, he is the President of the Countries and his wife is a vice President. Ortega is suppressing oppositions, jailing them, chasing them out of the countiry, even stripping opposions off from their country’s citizenships.

African migrants are seen on a capsizing boat before a rescue operation by Italian navy ships. Photo: Reuters

Thousands upon thousands of people have drowned and died every year in the last decade in the Mediterranean Sea trying to reach West European shores to live under democratic rule, to have decent living standards.

Most of these migrants who are taking these dangerous, sea crossing trips are the people from those Countries which are under undemocratic rule, corrupt regimes, along with nepotism, embezzlement, rendered an exhausted economy, with no future for themselves, in their native land.

People need to question themselves why they are leaving their countries and why they want to go to live in those countries with Democratic Rule? This is also not to say the democratic countries do not have their own faults either, since they do. They also support many Authoritarian regimes as well.

In a Democratic Society, if one is rich and famous, sometimes he can get away or delay justice of misdeed against him. The best case scenario is the Former US President Donald J. Trump and the infamous case January 6, 2021; “Pro-Trump mob stormed US Capital in bid to overturn [US presidential election in favor of Trump] election” many court cases still pending against Trump and his associates, but people can at least debate about the issue.

Almost all democratic countries have supported economic sanctions against President Putin’s regime in Russia, because of the unprovoked war in Ukraine. With some exceptions, India, the largest democracy in the world, under Prime Minister Norendra Modi, has not abided by the international sanction against Russia. The Modi government and his Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) populism policy against minorities especially Indian Muslims. “Prejudices embedded in the government of the ruling BJP have infiltrated independent institutions, such as police and the courts, empowering nationalist groups to threaten, harass, and attack religious minorities with impunity” – HRW.

India under Modi’s Premiership has abrogated Jammu and Kashmir Autonomy with international impunity, which was granted to them in early 1950’s.

Of course, the authoritarian President Erdogan Turkish government also has not abided by the international sanction against Russia, for the unjust war against Ukraine. His Islamic terrorist organizations are committing atrocities on a daily basis against Kurdish people in Rojave Kurdistan – Northern part of Syria and ongoing ethnic cleansing, demographic change in Afrin with international impunity, with the Qatari government financing this racist project in Afrin. The Turkish government is against the enlargement of the NATO alliance, by refusing or delaying to endorse the two Nordic states Sweden and Finland to become NATO members.

The ongoing war in Ukraine is a war between two gateway camps, Democracy and Autocracy. The democratic camp where people have freedom to speak freely, to choose freely, to elect the presidents or prime minister freely, to elect their delegates freely of their respective countries mostly with term limits, without fear of prosecution; generally under democratic rules of governing, the economy functions better, people’s living standards are better, because mostly due to transparency in the government policy.

The Autocratic camp, where dictator(s) circumvent the rules, monopolizing the power, freedom of speech is limited,people have no voices of electing their president or prime minister, or their delegate; generally economy functions poorly,under undemocratic rules of governing (with exception of those Arab Gulf States in the Middle East, which they possess enormous amount, abundant of natural resources such as oil and gas), which mostly due to un-transparency in government economic fiscal policy, unequal jobs opportunity among the mass, naptisms, corruptions in the system, etc… in addition, what academics call “brain drain” which means the best and brights of educated people leave, their respective countries.

The best example of the Autocrats, the two most powerful nations of the world today: China under dictator Xi Jinping, is a dictator for life and Russia Vladimir Putin has been in power for more than two decades.

A bodies of civilians on the roads, who according to residents were killed by Russian army soldiers, amid Russian army retreat from Bucha, in Kyiv region, Ukraine April 2, 2022. Photo: Ukrainian Foreign Ministry.

Dictators and the head of Authoritarian regimes are power hungry and greedy people, having no limits of their ambitions to perpetuate their reigns, and even pass the rules to heirs; They live in “ LA LA Land ”they blame all their country ills, whether economic or political instability to others, than to their misguided policies.

The best example of this is the Iranian Mullahs regime, which are holding power with an “iron fist policy”. The war in Ukraine, what people call “ Putin’s war”, President Putin invaded a sovereign country, broke every international standard role of unprovocative war, with devastating consequences for both sides of warring nations, media outlets has called it “meat grinding war”, or “The average life expectancy of a front-line soldier in eastern Ukraine is four hours”, – Business Insider.

The war which is not going well as Putin had expected, now he is invoking nationalism/patriotism, to find abroad support among the Russian people, with no relevant justification; just like Adolf Hitler and his NAZI party invoked nationalism and patriotism in the beginning of World War II. On September 30,1938, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain signed peace agreement with Adolf Hitler and his NAZI party, upon returning to Britain, he pronounced “peace in our time” which already Germany was on offensive occupying the neighboring countries, it’s very hard to trust dictator (s), Hitler was trying reclaim the territory what Germany had lost and had agreed on it in the end of World War I.

British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, December 1941. Photo: Creative Commons/wikimedia

Upon Chamberlain’s resignation as Prime Minister, in the 1940’s, Winston Churchill became the United Kingdom Prime Minister, delivering a remarkable speech toward the war in Europe against Germany, and Hitler and his Nazi Party.

“If you ask what our policy is, it is to wage war by sea,land and air with all our might,” said Winston Churchill. ‘I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears and sweat”.

That is what Russia’s President Putin is trying to reclaim the territory under the Former Soviet Union, what was used to be called the “Soviet Empire” Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Vladimir Putin and many other Russian Leaders have been warning through the media outlets the deployment of Nuclear Weapons, the Nuclear Weapons exchange in Grace of God forbid it, in accordance with many prominent scientists that will cause the destruction of the world and will be the end of humanity in many parts of the world; hopefully those people who are in charge of triggering the push bottom of the Nuclear arsenal will disobey and refuse to carry the order.

Democratic Countries’ Leaders should warn Vladimir Putin, that Democracy shall not surrender to Autocracy, that Ukraine is a Gateway in the defense line of democracy, and it will be defended at any price, at any cost. Just like in 1940s World War II, Winston Churchill said, “I have nothing to offer but blood, toil, tears, and sweat.” Churchill, was referencing and warning to Hitler surrendering is not an option.

Omar Sindi, a senior writer, analyst and columnist for iKurd.net, Washington, United States.

The opinions are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of iKurd.net or its editors.