With the war in Ukraine, it’s challenging to write on any subject, as the media competes for rating. It is very difficult not to empathize with the destruction and loss of lives. War has no friends, only destruction. It’s good for the soul to find an evil and entirely focus on them or him. It allows humans to deflect attention from themselves. In this war, Vladimir Putin is bad. But indeed, we have been down this road many times.

Instability in Europe is no different than those in the Americas. Immigration at our Southern border is no different than those in Europe. Only the rich benefit from instability. The very aid we give Ukraine, and we should, will only line the pockets of those who profit from war. When this war ends, Ukraine will have to be rebuilt. There will be a Peace Treaty, but Russia will never accept a country on its border to join NATO.

The Monroe Doctrine was put in place by our government to protect our borders and the Americas. Superpowers are always looking for an advantage. As we look at the media reports, we see the same news clips run repeatedly. We are told that 7,000-15,000 Russians have lost their lives in this conflict as of March 18, but there are no news clippings of prisoners. This is not consistent with the nature of war. Indeed, if there are prisoners, this would be a huge propaganda tool.

Before forming opinions about who is evil, we need to examine our history. When the British, Dutch, Germans, and Spaniards were pillaging the continent of Africa, were they considered immoral and war criminals? When the Spanish raped and killed millions in South America, were they thought of as thugs and war criminals? Our country killed more than one million Vietnamese in a war we provoked so that the French could continue the brutal system of colonization. I’m sure that America has and would be labeled a war criminal by the millions of victims crying out from the graves.

I do not support the biased views of Tucker Carlson and Donald Trump, who use their platform to help the dictator, Putin. What does bother me is that everyone has an opinion, but 90 percent of those individuals cannot find Ukraine on a map.

According to the British magazine “The Guardian,” Ukraine is the most corrupt country in Europe. My point is that maybe all of this would not have happened if Ukraine had not poked the bear by trying to join NATO. Putin was probably looking for a reason to invade, which gave him his reason. If the war ends today, those who profit from war will be lining their pockets. And when Ukrainians began to arrive at our borders will brown and black people, who have been there for months, have to step aside and allow Ukrainians to walk in?

When will we ever learn from our past? At this point, it’s good politics to rally the world about the evil of Russia, or should I say Communism, but in the end, nothing good comes out of this. Oil companies are going to get richer, including Russia, and all will profit, legally or illegally at the expense of the middle class and poor. The rich will do what they always do…get rich.

Merrill Guillory

Lake Charles