War is Not Over (We Don’t Want It) – Situational Awareness is Key

I have often found meaningful insight through the music of the Beatles and the band’s members. The title of John Lennon and Yoko Ono’s 1971 single “Happy Christmas (War is Over”), recorded with the Plastic Ono Band and the Harlem Community Choir, wormed itself into my brain today. I suppose my mind needed a holiday/protest song during a warm May evening with the refrain: “War is Over (If you want it).”

Using that title, and thinking about the war in Ukraine, gave me the idea to devote this article to the fact that Ukraine has been battling against the genocidal Russian empire for over ten years, and for over two years and three months since the massive new invasion of early 2022.

The war is not over. We don’t want the war. Can we do something to help stop the war? And what sacrifices are the West willing to make to see an end to the war? How far is Russia planning to go? Russia should never be allowed free reign, because we know if you give them an inch they’ll take a mile. So the clear thing to do is to fight back and help Russia lose their war.

Ben Franklin is said to have originated the proverb, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”

We can still prevent Russia, and its allies, from expanding their worlds into ours. We must insist that we use our resources now, not to give up the high ground. Doing so later would be much more expensive.

The Russian Federation is certainly not acting in a way that it wants the war to end. Russian advances are a danger that is not only detrimental to Ukraine but could have the potential to spill over to other neighboring countries. If Russia’s stated goal is the destruction of the West, including NATO, then we can’t wait until tomorrow but must prepare today to fight. A good place to start is recognizing the threats and empowering ourselves by entrusting and helping to direct our leaders and policymakers to make wise choices in defending our values, principles, and way of life.

The annual Lennart Meri Conference was held May 16-18 in Tallinn. According to its website, the LMC “was conceived in 2007 to ensure that Estonia continues to be seen as a country willing and able to be a partner in the identification of solutions to Europe’s problems.”

This year’s LMC theme was inspired by the words of the former Senator from Massachusetts (and 35th U.S. president) John F. Kennedy, who said, ”Let us not despair, but act.”

At the LMC many dissected the current war and offered responses on how to act in response to the challenge.

Has Russia’s war against Ukraine already expanded beyond Ukraine’s borders? Certainly so, if you look at the growing number of hybrid and grey zone attacks that Russia and its friends are inflicting against other countries opposing them. These are the countries that stand on the side of Ukraine and Taiwan. Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland are persistent targets. New NATO members Finland and Sweden see daily evidence of Moscow’s maliciousness. The Republic of Georgia is under grave threat today due to the vassals and appeasers of Putin overturning a law that could divert that country from a European path. The tentacles of treachery brought on by Russia reach far and wide and often. America is not immune.

In a May 22 article for the Associated Press (AP), reporter Emma Burrows drew out an oft-repeated concern voiced at the LMC, by quoting Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, who said that beyond its military invasion of Ukraine, Russia is conducting a “shadow war” against the West.

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk have also expressed their worries about potential sabotage and activities such as beatings and arson, which are “allegedly directed by Russia’s secret services.”

Such hybrid operations, explains Emma Burrows, can include nonmilitary strategies, from cyberattacks and election interference to disinformation and attacks on those who oppose the Putin regime.

Recent hybrid attacks affecting Estonia have included persistent GPS jamming in the Baltic Sea region, which has forced the cancellation of Finnair flights between Finland and Tartu over safety concerns.

In October, as the AP article points out, “a Baltic Sea gas pipeline and telecoms cables were damaged after a Chinese ship dragged its anchor for over 115 miles (185 kilometers) in an incident that is still under investigation. That ship was later seen in a Russian port.”

Prime Minister Kallas says that identifying these malicious actions publicly is important. It is key, she states, that there is “recognition that these are not isolated events.” Additionally, Kallas says it's vital that “we share information about this amongst ourselves,” and that we “make it as public as we can.”

In exposing dangerous and damaging operations and calling out bad actors, we demonstrate that wider patterns can affect not just one target. These are part of a deeper game plan by those in the new axis of evil bent on wreaking havoc globally.

As Estonia demonstrates its leadership in uncovering and exposing these actions and perpetrators, then we should also, as individuals, do our part. We can also help draw attention to the injustices perpetrated by Russia, perhaps starting by drawing attention to myths, false information, and narratives. To defend ourselves, we can use the tools of media literacy to be better aware of disinformation: think critically, check facts, and evaluate the information we consume and share. It hearkens back to World War II and the slogan “loose lips sink ships,” which appears to have originated courtesy of the U.S. Office of War Information (OWI) to warn citizens to be careful what they say, for fear of amplifying a mistruth that might benefit the enemy.

If we want the war to be over, we can help end it by taking personal responsibility to highlight the reasons why the war should end with Ukraine’s victory. For starters, we can be aware of sketchy information that might be part of a larger influence operation that would distract from that goal.