“Seek Yahweh while He may be found. Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts and let him return to Yahweh, and He will have compassion on him. Turn to our Elohim, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Isaiah 55: 6-7

_____________

#####

Putin and Ukraine: Trying to be Fair

Over the past few days, I have written several SnyderTalk editorials about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. You should read them:

I spent my professional life as a professor at the University of Virginia. One of my guiding principles was to do my best to be fair and accurate. I think I did that in the SnyderTalk editorials above, but today I want to share some information with you that will broaden your perspective a bit.

Eastern Ukraine

I’ll start with the views of John Mearsheimer, a professor at the University of Chicago. I don’t have any issues with the points Mearsheimer made in an article for The Economist or in a speech he gave at his university. In essence, he confirmed Vladimir Putin’s point that the population of East Ukraine is predominantly of Russian descent, that they see themselves as Russian instead of Ukrainian, and that they have been mistreated by the Ukrainian government.

Mearsheimer’s article in The Economist is titled “John Mearsheimer on why the West is principally responsible for the Ukrainian crisis”. Most of you probably don’t have a subscription to The Economist, so you won’t be able to read it. He made the same points in more detail in his speech at the University of Chicago. The speech is below:

At this point, I will concede that the borderlines for Ukraine were probably drawn incorrectly. That’s par for the course. Borderlines are drawn when countries collapse as the Soviet Union did in 1991 and when wars end. They are not perfect. They are just good guesses. They don’t necessarily reflect reality. That opens the door for discussion.

However, Russians have regarded East Ukraine as Ukrainian territory for a very long time, even during the days of the Soviet Union right up to the end. That’s an indictment against Putin’s stated position.

Biolabs in Ukraine and Potential Bioweapons

Next, I want to show you 3 videos from Tucker Carlson on Fox News. All of them appeared after Russia invaded Ukraine.

Carlson points out that the U.S. is funding biolabs in Ukraine that can be used to produce bioweapons. That should be an obvious concern for Vladimir Putin and Russia, but until yesterday, Putin did not focus on that issue in the U.N. Security Council even though Russia is a permanent member of the Security Council. That is a significant point.

Rather than invading Ukraine unilaterally, Putin should have taken his concerns to the U.N. He had every opportunity to do that, but he didn’t. Instead, he decided to go it alone with a massive display of force. Now, he is suffering the inevitable backlash.

Facebook and Other Social Media Companies Don’t Understand Who or What They Are

Finally, I want you to read an article about recent changes in Facebook policies that allow Facebook users to ignore Facebook policies where Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and calling for the assassination of Vladimir Putin are concerned. The article is titled “Facebook allows war posts urging violence against Russian invaders”.

It’s clear that Facebook has decided that Russia needs to be taught a lesson and that Vladimir Putin has to go. I don’t have a problem with those conclusions, and I’ve said as much in SnyderTalk.

Other social media companies have followed Facebook’s lead. I do have a serious problem with social media companies taking sides in major conflicts and allowing people who use their platforms to ignore the policies that the companies have established with impunity. It’s clear to me that social media companies don’t have a firm grip on what they are and how they should be run. They need to be regulated, but that’s another story.

Conclusion

Nothing I have presented in this SnyderTalk editorial has caused me to change the views I presented in the SnyderTalk editorials I listed at the top of this editorial.

As I said, yesterday Russia took the biolabs issue to the U.N. Security Council. (See below.) The fact that Russia waited until after Tucker Carlson broadcast his concerns about the biolabs issue 3 times before taking the issue to the Security Council suggests to me that Putin saw the response to Carlson’s broadcasts and decided that it was fertile territory. In other words, I think it’s part of a Russian media ploy and not a primary issue for Putin.

As I said in my previous SnyderTalk editorials, Putin justified his invasion of Ukraine by saying that the country’s possible/probable membership in N.A.T.O. is unacceptable to him. I think he meant it. In those same editorials, I said that I think Putin is trying to recreate the defunct Soviet Empire. If the facts show that I am wrong, I will change my views.

#####

_____________

#####

“I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and My sheep know Me — just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father — and I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They too will listen to My voice, and there shall be one flock and one Shepherd. The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down My life — only to take it up again. No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of My own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”

John 10: 14-18