Russia looms large in every person’s future if one believes in biblical eschatology; however, apart from that, Russia is a major player on the world stage. As I write, Russia’s President Putin is waging a limited war in Ukraine, one of their border nations—with limited success.

There is vast speculation that Putin is dying, and Ukraine could be his last statement for biographers and historians. If the speculation is valid, there are horrendous possibilities for the world if he loses control of his mental faculties.

Some legitimate, sophisticated powerbrokers and media personalities, even top Russian diplomats, suggest WWIII is in the making! Moreover, Putin has taken many military losses and suffered major embarrassments, so no one can predict what a wounded bear might do, even if a terminal illness is not a factor.

As a military know-nothing, I wonder why he did not simply push a few buttons and take out very specific Ukrainian targets and force Ukraine to its knees—with surgical strikes. However, maybe Putin sent troops into Ukraine to support and defend Donbas from a vicious attack by some Nazis and the Ukrainian Government. Ukraine has been bombing the eastern Ukraine region to force them back into the fold.

However, the Russian-speaking citizens of Donbas don’t want “shotgun” reconciliation, and Russia has recognized their independence for multiple reasons; not all are altruistic.

Russia is one of the most important nations in the world. It is the largest nation in land size, covering one-eighth of the earth. It has more than 120 ethnic groups speaking about 100 languages. Moreover, it has vast reserves of oil, gas, and precious metals. It is a major producer of cobalt, aluminum, coal, chrome, copper, steel, gold, lead, manganese, nickel, platinum, vanadium, tungsten, and zinc.

Russia produces about one-fifth of the world’s oil supply and about one-fourth of natural gas.  A vast and intricate pipeline system links their production sites to all parts of the country, nearby former Soviet republics and many European countries. As much as 40% of Europe’s natural gas is supplied by Russia; therefore, Putin could cut off the heat at any moment. And did so recently to two NATO nations, Poland and Bulgaria, as I was writing this piece.

That is why many analysts suggest Putin has a heavy hammer over former Soviet Republics and other nations. Summer is here now, but winter is in their future.

Russia is bounded by fourteen nations but sixteen if Russians do the counting! Russia recognizes two breakaway Georgia states, although Georgia still considers them home folks. Some of Russia’s neighbors are vastly important in the geopolitical world, such as North Korea, China, Norway, Ukraine, Finland. The latter two nations made it clear that they want to join NATO!

Such a possibility keeps Putin awake at night and gives him perpetual heartburn. Following WWII, the Soviets were gobbling up weaker European nations, so NATO was formed in 1949 to protect western Europe against a Soviet attack.  Each of the original 12-member countries agreed that an attack on one aligned nation would be considered an attack on all. However, in 1991 the United Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) was dissolved, yet NATO expanded to 30 members, which caused great growling by the Russian Bear. Why expand NATO if the threat (the USSR) is deleted or diminished or dead?

America has long forgotten the warning to be wary of entangling foreign alliances. It is time for Americans to stop fostering, fighting and funding European, Middle Eastern, and Asiatic wars. America’s first responsibility is to Americans, not any other group. After all, there are plenty of nations in those areas to defend and protect weaker countries threatened by belligerent strongmen.

Even if one is convinced America is morally and legally responsible for financing and fighting European wars, no one will argue that Americans should do most of the fighting and funding. All decisions America faces must be with the thought of what is best for America, and each national leader should take the same position about their own nation.

U.S. Secretary of State James Baker promised Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev that NATO would not expand “one inch” toward the eastern European turf, but that promise was broken. If Ukraine, Finland, and Sweden become members of NATO as planned, U.S. weapons will be installed as they are now in Poland and Romania.

Putin publicly dismissed Ukraine’s right to operate as a sovereign nation without ties to Russia since “modern Ukraine was completely created by Russia.” He considers his invasion of Ukraine to be the swatting on the rear of an erring, disobedient child.

Putin is queasy about the U.S.100 nuclear weapons stored at NATO bases in Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, and the Netherlands. He fears the nuclear weapons in NATO countries much closer to Russia even more. As he should. Thus, he is concerned about Finland, Sweden, and Ukraine joining NATO which would put nuclear weapons on his doorstep.

Furthermore, Putin and the Russians don’t want to live next to nations with U.S. missiles pointed toward Moscow and St. Petersburg. While I have no desire to defend a vicious, totalitarian regime, I must be consistent. We would be indignant if potent weapons were installed along the Mexican or Canadian borders. A sovereign nation has a right to defend itself, and no sane person says, “Yes, but Americans are the good guys and Russians are the bad guys, so the rules don’t apply.”

Soon, it is expected that the next bases to be built by the U.S. in Poland will be mobile, not permanent. In just a few hours, they would be able to detect and knock down incoming missiles from anywhere in Poland. The Poles already have at least two Patriot missile defense systems to deter any Russian threat and increase Poland’s security. Putin is concerned that the defensive weapons might become offensive. Additionally, the defensive missiles in NATO nations remove most of the sting from Putin’s threats.

Poland is a NATO member, so the U.S. had a right to supply them with defensive weapons that could knock out any incoming Russian missiles. Therefore, Putin (or a successor) cannot blackmail Poland or other NATO members since those U.S. missiles protect them from such threats.

We are told that we could send Patriot missile batteries to Ukraine since they are defensive; however, that would not be permissible since American troops would have to operate them, crossing Putin’s red line. Putin is a despicable, dangerous, and devious enemy, but he is the legitimate president of Russia, and he must do whatever is necessary to protect his interests.

Americans lose credibility and a reputation for honesty when they pretend the nation’s size gives special privileges over smaller and distant countries. The smallest nation is as sovereign as Russia, China, or America; however, these three have been involved in regime change, spying, espionage, outright invasion, and even running troubled nations.

It must be remembered by Europe and America that Russia has one of the largest militaries in the world and 6,000 nuclear weapons—the world’s largest. Who knows what a humiliated, hated, and hopeless Putin may do as he leaves the world in his last hurrah?  Moreover, it costs him nothing to threaten nuclear war and everything if he is stupid, senile, or sick enough to push the button.

While it is not normal for a totalitarian to be right occasionally, it does happen. No sane person will defend Putin’s prosecution of the war even if he has some authentic reasons for his war—but there is no justification for how he is running it. Eastern Ukraine (Russian speaking) consists of two provinces called the Donbas that voted to separate from Ukraine in 2014 and sought recognition and help from Russia next door. The people of the Donbas legally separated from the Ukrainian government and appealed to Russia for protection.

Russia recognized them as legitimate and began supporting them, resulting in the Donbas War raging since 2014 with numerous civilian deaths in Eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian officials and oligarchs in Kyiv don’t want to lose part of their nation, so they have resisted the area’s independence since the 2014 vote. The most vociferance Ukrainians against the separation are the Azov Brigade consisting of some Nazis. In March 2015, Andriy Diachenko, a spokesman for the violent Nazis, admitted to USA Today in the March 10, 2015 issue that “10% to 20% of the group’s members are Nazis.” The group, now consisting of an estimated 2,500 members, formed in May of 2014 as a paramilitary militia and fought the Russians until they were legally made part of the National Guard in November 2014.

World citizens are divided over the eight-year Donbas War, taking sides with Russia or Ukraine. Taking sides in this war is like being forced to choose between being hanged or shot—either way, you are dead. There are no good guys in this war, only bad and badder.

Here are some questions people need to ask as they decide what position to take on the Russian invasion.  Is every nation sovereign and accountable for making decisions in their own interests? Did the Donbas area of Ukraine have a right to break away as an independent nation? Do other countries have a right to decide whether to accept or reject the Donbas decision? Do other nations have a right to take a side in that war? Do a few hundred Nazis’ support of the Ukrainian government affect their official position, good or bad?

Furthermore, do Finland, Sweden, and Ukraine have a right to seek NATO membership? If membership is granted, do those governments have a right to permit U.S. weapons on their borders with Russia? Does Russia have a right to be concerned and not be willing to live with weapons in a neighboring nation? If America has a right, even a responsibility, to not permit weapons at our borders, why can’t Russia?  While a nation can make its own decisions, how could the governments of Finland and Sweden (traditionally neutral nations) choose NATO membership knowing Russian missiles would be eventually installed on their borders and destabilize the nuclear-free area?

Is there a way out for Ukraine and Russia? If war continues, the Russians will turn on Putin since they are already hurting after the Russian Central Bank more than doubled interest rates to 20%, and the ruble has plummeted, losing almost a quarter of its value. Russians are hurting, and while Putin is an authoritarian, he is a politician, and his rule must result in a reasonably good life for his people.

Furthermore, Ukraine is being pocked with destroyed cities—and probably the U.S. will be expected to rebuild them—over my dead body. I suggest Zelenskyy call Putin and agree that Ukraine will not pursue NATO membership, and the Donbas is free to climb into bed with whomever it wants. With that, the war ends. If Putin sees it all going down the drain, he may use small tactical nuclear weapons to force a Ukrainian capitulation rather than a giant strategic weapon, which would pose a global threat.

People who think Ukraine has any chance of defeating Russia also believe the 2020 elections were fair, the Democrats are not fearful of losing this November, Hunter Biden will never wear stripes and make license plates, think radical politicians are really honest and sincere, and Stacey Abrams is governor of Georgia.

While each American can choose sides about the war in Ukraine, we should stay out of it as a nation, including Nancy Pelosi, who basically promised the Ukrainians the U.S. would support them until the death of the last Ukrainian!

(Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives who ran a large Christian school in Indianapolis and wrote columns for USA Today for 8 years. Boys authored 20 books, the most recent, Reflections of a Lifetime Fundamentalist: No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets! The eBook is available at Amazon.com for $4.99. Other titles at www.cstnews.com. Follow him on Facebook at Don  Boys, Ph.D., and visit his blog. Send a request to DBoysphd@aol.com for a free subscription to his articles and click here to support  his work with a donation.)

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” – John Bunyan

There are no good guys in the Ukraine-Russia War. Both sides have blood on their hands, but both are victims of determined globalists committed to implementing their socialist/communist agenda. Russia and Ukraine have been sucked into a criminal, complicated, and conspiratorial trap. Franklin D. Roosevelt is credited with saying, “In politics, nothing happens by accident. If it happens, you can bet it was planned that way.”

So, it is no accident that Ukraine has a war, and it was planned for someone’s benefit. Who benefits? Not Russia, since the Ruskies in St. Petersburg and Moscow are getting restless, and their leaders are concerned about a lazy, lethargic, and limp NATO awakening with some determination to do their job and protect Europe against the Russian Bear. Moreover, everyone can hear the roar of an angry, injured bear thundering and thrashing and trashing all within reach.

Ukraine can’t benefit since some of its major cities are demolished and its people are displaced, and its economy is destroyed. And its leader is an amiable authoritarian who is a tool of far, far leftists. He is famous as an actor, comedian, dancing in high heels, and playing the piano, not with his hands or even his toes. You can guess or even watch the debauchery.

Zelenskyy may be politically courageous, but he is also personally corrupt. Additionally, he is a graduate of Klaus Schwab’s Young Global Leaders School that boasts other famous (or infamous) graduates such as Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Pete Buttigieg, Justin Trudeau, France’s President Macron, Chelsea Clinton, California’s Gavin Newsom, and others.

Hey, with brilliant people like the above willing to take control of the world, how can we lose?

America can’t benefit as Biden staggers and stumbles, studders and sputters his way through Europe handing out threats and billions of dollars with no guarantees.

NATO can’t win since its leaders want Putin out of Ukraine, but they don’t want to take the lead in tangling with the Russians. NATO officials want to be left alone to attend conferences, consultations, and conflabs in luxurious spots worldwide.

After thousands of innocent Ukrainian citizens are dead and millions are dispersed around the world; after Putin is humiliated and devotes his time to stay in power and stay alive; after America shifts its attention from Ukraine to the next issue that pops up on the horizon; after NATO settles down to shuffling papers, leading cheers promoting their importance for the safety of Europe, and holding collaborations in luxury accommodations; after all that, China will emerge as the collectivist kingpin in the world, for the enslaved and free.

While Americans slept or watched the Gilligan’s Island rerun for the 89^th time, the Chinese were dismantling our manufacturing base and developing their national production.

According to Fox News, China controls our health system since it produces 97 percent of our antibiotics and about 80 percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients used in American drugs. We also import about $5 billion in food products from China each year, and the Chinese now own Smithfield, the biggest hog producing company in the world.

China’s chokehold on the American sports and entertainment industry is well known, but few seem to care. Entertainers and athletes whimper, whine, and weep about every injustice in the world except the worst offender—China. But then, hypocrites are accustomed to the double standard when money and prestige are involved.

China’s other almost exclusively produced items include electric blankets, electric toasters, umbrellas, baby carriages, portable radio players and tape recorders, etc.

Americans have been fools to permit a powerful, committed enemy to out-produce and outsmart us.

China’s major cities are teeming with peasants, and the Chinese Communist Party is marching in your direction. They are already in our universities and own much of our land and businesses. Only 10% of land in China is farmable. They are running out of space, and they want your space. That would provide them with millions of acres of arable land to feed their hungry people.

Its cities are packed, and uneducated laborers continue to flood Shanghai, with 23.4 million people, Beijing with 18.8 million, Tianjin with 12.8 million, Shenzhen with 12.7 million, Guangzhou with 11.6 million, Chengdu with 10.2 million, and other cities with 8 million! And they all want to eat, so you’d better like chop suey, and it might be helpful to have a shoeshine kit and know a few words of polite Chinese. Like, thank you, sir, and have a good day, master.

Communists base their strategies on Sun Tzu’s Art of War. Sun Tzu says, “all war is deception,” and the ultimate victory is to win without destruction of enemy cities. Evidently, Putin didn’t read Sun’s famous book. With the present war, the Commies have obviously failed. We must not be deceived or distracted by the smoke and mirrors and must insist on looking behind the curtain to discover who is pulling the strings of the world puppets. Since deception is everywhere, it would be wise to believe only half of what we see and little of what we hear.

Both Putin and Zelenskyy are totalitarians, one is simply more brutish (at this time) than the other. Still, I feel queasy and very uncomfortable when I discover I am cheering for the same person the far-leftists in Washington and the mainstream media are cheering.

No freedom lover would ban his political opposition as Zelenskyy has done. The Opposition Platform for Life (43 seats in parliament and the largest opposition party in the nation) has been banned by Zelenskyy because of ties to Russia. He also banned ten other political parties. Why isn’t our media screaming about that? That is freedom and democracy? No, but it is what the globalists want for America and free Europe.

Zelenskyy has done what all “strongmen” or tyrants have done—take control of the media. He made all television channels into a single unit that he controls. Would you support such control in the U.S.? But wait, the radical leftists already control most of our media. The far leftists in America think they have the answer, and it is not found in free enterprise, free expression, or vocal opposition, but in their authoritarian control.

Putin, Zelenskyy, and Biden are all puppets, but who is pulling the strings? Decades ago, we would have replied, the Council on Foreign Relations or the Trilateral Commission. Today, it is Bill Gates, George Soros, Klaus Schwab, Barack Obama, Bill Clinton, and other lesser lights who want America to lose its position in the world and everyone to live under a world authoritarian.

Of course, everyone will be happy—or else, and there will be no racism and no individualism. Everyone will be the same, except the special people at the top. The world will consist of rulers and servants, and you know where you belong, don’t you? In true socialist/communist nations, some are more equal than others.

However, the joy boys Soros, Schwab, Gates, Obama, Clinton will call the shots in Beijing—at least for a while. Long ago, they learned to eat with chopsticks. They will enjoy the perks that go with globalist leadership.

Interestingly, Ukrainians contributed $10 million to the Clinton Foundation, more than any other nationality. Like Gates, Clinton was a guest on 26 trips aboard the “Lolita Express,” even apparently dumping his Secret Service detail for at least five flights, according to Fox News. It appears that the internationalists don’t adhere to the moral code espoused by your grandma.

Bill Gates is a do-gooder who wants to reduce world population although his former wife would disagree with his choice of friends—like pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. Gates, the philanthropist has tried to downplay his association with Epstein, the pedophile; however, the New York Times reported they met “many times.” The Daily Beast claims the two men met “dozens of times” between 2011 and 2014. And remember Epstein had already admitted guilt to two Florida charges of “solicitation of prostitution” and one count of “solicitation of prostitution with a minor under the age of 18.”

Strangely, the world’s second-richest man and a convicted pedophile met many times, and inquiring minds want to know why.

It seems money (or world domination) makes strange bedfellows.

Ninety-two-year-old George Soros (“who broke the bank of England”) wants to install a world government headed by the United Nations, and he has given $32 billion to leftist causes such as Black Lives Matter, Defund the Police, etc. In a La Republica interview on August 11, 2020, he called for an American revolution against President Trump! He is ready to replace him with his own ilk.

The biggest bad daddy is Klaus Schwab founder of the World Economic Forum (WEF) who wants to see the philosophical descendants of Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, and Joseph Stalin run the world. You know, like the excellent job they did in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, etc.

Schwab describes the WEF’s mission as “shaping global, regional and industry agendas” and “improving the state of the world.” He and his henchmen are not bashful in informing us what they plan to do. Schwab declared, “That it is now far easier to manipulate with precision the human genome within viable embryos means that we are likely to see the advent of designer babies in the future who possess particular traits or who are resistant to specific diseases.”

Dr. Yuval Noah Harari is a spokesman for Schwab and the WEF and is also the most dangerous and devious man I have ever heard. He declared rather nonchalantly, “Humans are now ‘hackable animals’” warning that humans no longer possess “free will” and are set to be “re-engineered” by Bill Gates.

This dude is no minor leaguer since he speaks of “creating non-organic entities.” That means they will make “entities” from non-human matter. Man has always wanted to play God. He can now create! Wow, we have now arrived.

Arrived where?

He and Schwab think grandiosely, grotesquely, and globally declaring, “The (COVID) pandemic represents a rare but narrow window of opportunity to reflect, reimagine, and reset our world.” It will be done over again in their own image. They are often clever but seldom wise.

All in preparation for the universal Mark that will facilitate the purchase of gas, food, and all essential items.

All these Big Time Operators (BTOs) effuse wisdom, knowledge, empathy, and all the good stuff; but they only mention God or Jesus in derision and never speak of personal accountability. And they expect us not to laugh when they ask us to trust them with our nation, economy, freedom, Constitution, etc.

I wouldn’t trust these jerks to walk my dog.

(Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives who ran a large Christian school in Indianapolis and wrote columns for USA Today for 8 years. Boys authored 20 books, the most recent, Reflections of a Lifetime Fundamentalist: No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets! The eBook is available at Amazon.com for $4.99. Other titles at www.cstnews.com. Follow him on Facebook at Don  Boys, Ph.D., and visit his blog.  Send a request to DBoysphd@aol.com for a free subscription to his articles and click here to support  his work with a donation.)

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.” – John Bunyan

Most people think contentious, controversial, and complex issues can be decided by identifying the good and the bad; however, the worse conflicts happen when both sides are equally right and wrong or, in this case, some right and much wrong on both sides. The war in Ukraine is not a choice between good and evil but between evil and more evil.

Whatever the level of blame in the mess, the horrific bombing of innocent people is enough to make a stone cry.

It must be remembered that NATO was formed in 1949 after WW II to protect Europe from the aggressive Soviet Union consisting of Russia and 15 “republics.” Ukraine was one of the republics. Russia has been a source of trouble, even evil, since 1917. So, a rule of thumb is if Russia is part of an equation, it includes duplicity, danger, and destruction.

With the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, Ukraine quickly became an independent state, with over 92% of its citizens voting for independence. The international community recognized their independence. Since breaking from the Soviet Union, Ukraine has wavered between Moscow and the West, surviving compromises, conflicts, and corruption yet maintaining its “democracy” intact. Ukraine has long been known as the most corrupt nation in Europe and remains the third-most-corrupt country in Europe, after Russia and Azerbaijan.

After you think of the oligarchs, think Joe and Hunter Biden, the Ukrainian gas company, and the laptop caper.

Ukrainians moved closer to the West and away from Russia as violence continued in two eastern Russian-speaking provinces (Donetsk and Luhansk) on Russia’s border and when Russia took Crimea. Spouting independence, the two provinces (known as the Donbas) remain internationally recognized as part of Ukraine while President Putin now recognizes them as “Russian.” Crimea has already been swallowed by the Russian Bear.

In April 2014, Russian-supported separatist forces attacked government buildings in Donetsk and Luhansk (consisting of almost 4 million people) whose major industries are coal mining and steel production. Those are two significant products vital to Russia. On February 21, 2022, Putin recognized the two provinces as independent states, and leaders of the two regions asked the world leaders to accept their independent status. That recognition was probably to lay a foundation for moving Russian troops into Ukraine to “keep order.”

The deadly bombing today by Russians is them trying to “keep order!” No, it is Russian control.

The eight-year Donbas war against the people in the two Ukrainian provinces is hardly mentioned in the media! It seems the killing of Ukrainians by other Ukrainians is not newsworthy. It doesn’t fit the narrative that all Ukrainians are good guys wearing white hats while Russians are bad guys wearing brown shirts with attached swastikas—neo-Nazis.

It appears that most of Putin’s reasons for his invasion of Ukraine revolve around his insistence that the Donbas belongs to Russia since most of the citizens have Russian roots. Russian-backed separatists took control of the region in 2014, and the violence in eastern Ukraine has killed more than 14,000 people in the eight years since.

It seems the mainstream media has little knowledge of those deaths.

The democratically-elected (in 2010) Ukrainian President Yanukovych began to pursue closer ties with Russia in November 2013, causing major street protests in Kyiv. The Ukrainians know their history of the 1932-1933 Stalin-organized famine where at least 4 million Ukrainians starved to death. As Ukrainians were dying, 1 million tons of grain were exported to the West by Stalin, a reason for deep hatred and fear of Russia. It was a staged famine or genocide.

Possibly because Yanukovych nuzzled his head into the fur of the Russian Bear, his government was overthrown by the Obama administration in February 2014 with the direct assistance of Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State under Obama. She was the State Department’s lead person for Ukrainian affairs pushing European nations to take a harder line against Putin’s expansion into Europe.

To be very clear, a new Ukrainian government was installed in a coup d’état orchestrated by U.S. agents under the corrupt Obama administration, with Victoria Nuland (currently the under Secretary of State in the Biden administration) as the mastermind. Keep in mind the U.S. Government wanted and got a Ukrainian government rabidly anti-Russian.

But then, our CIA has been removing and installing national “leaders” for decades, all financed by you and me. Yet, U.S. hypocritical leaders talk about honesty, integrity, legitimacy, fairness, and good government. Enough to gag a maggot.

Of course, an independent nation has a right to call the shots about what is a danger to their existence, but one must ask how independent Ukraine is after the U.S. installed its leaders. Furthermore, do U.S. officials want to control Ukraine to contain and conceal their own massive corruption?

Think, well, you know.

A January 28, 2014, recorded phone call was leaked on YouTube on February 4, 2014, between Nuland and U.S. ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt. The call reveals that after reviewing the three opposition candidates for the post of Prime Minister of Ukraine, the U.S. State Department had selected Arseniy Yatsenyuk!

About this time, sane people ask why U.S. Government officials make decisions about who serves in a European government. You need to understand that this was not a legitimate revolution by dissatisfied citizens wanting to change their government. It was a bloody coup d’état. Revolutions are legal, and coups are illegal, immoral, and often impossible to be differentiated from a revolution. That coup literally makes Obama and his henchmen (and women) international criminals.

The record must be clear when and if a nuclear war breaks out: those responsible must be held accountable for the dislocation, destruction, deprivation, and deaths.

Yanukovych fled Ukraine in February 2014 ahead of an impeachment vote, eventually arriving in Russia. He was followed in office by Oleksandr Turchynov, a Baptist minister, who served as acting president for 115 days. Maybe he didn’t last long because he said people who use drugs or promote sodomy were practicing perversions.   I’m still trying to understand what is wrong with his statement. Don’t all sane, honest, moral, informed, and awake people believe that?

In May 2014, Petro Poroshenko was elected Ukrainian president and enthusiastically promoted the Ukrainian language, removed remnants of Communism such as street names, etc., and gave more authority to local leaders.

Sounds good to me.

In 2019, Poroshenko was defeated for president by comedian and actor Volodymyr Zelenskyy while the besieged nation suffered from a decaying economy and the conflict with Russia. Zelenskyy is being praised as brave, courageous, and fearless, and he may be. While he does not have the bloody history of Putin, he is not the brave warrior riding a white horse leading his troops into the fray.

One does not have to be a paragon of personal virtue to condemn the Russian invasion and constant bombing of civilians in Ukraine. Still, few wish to consider the Ukrainian government’s eight-year war on the Eastern Ukrainian provinces, which had refused to support the 2014 coup orchestrated by the U.S. State Department.

In an emotional speech on February 21, 2022, Putin made it clear that he believes all of Ukraine is a part of Russia. He also believes in Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, and Peter Pan. Putin praises and promotes nationalism in Russia but resists it in Ukraine, and he doesn’t seem to realize by bombing Ukraine, he has thrust the nation deeper into the arms of the West.

Of course, Putin already has Crimea and Belarus as part of his rebuilding of the disbanded, disgraced, and despised Soviet Empire. Still, he wants to add other nations such as Moldova, Romania, Poland, etc. It seems the Russian Bear has an insatiable appetite.

However, NATO or the U.N. is responsible for stopping him, not America.

After the 2014 coup,  Ukrainian officials required the Ukrainian language to be used in courts, schools, politics, and most entertainment venues. Separatists in the eastern provinces threw a fit and rebelled against the government. And Russia invaded, backing the separatists, which led to a very bloody war that lasted eight years.

Alleged oppression of Russian-speaking Ukrainians was one of the key reasons cited by the Kremlin in spring 2014 to justify Russia’s seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula. The language issue has also been central to the ongoing Kremlin-led separatist war in eastern Ukraine.

I think both Russian and Ukrainian officials are authoritarian thugs, and no decent western leader should shake their hands and smile, seemingly giving them undeserved respectability. At times, respectable national leaders must deal with thugs in striped pants but should not treat them as gentlemen. But then, many of those “respectable leaders” (Russian, Ukrainians, Americans, etc.) are little more than thugs themselves.

In May 2014, Putin jubilantly accepted the independence vote in Crimea (who voted to be annexed to Russia), but he rejected the votes in Donetsk and Luhansk, located on Russia’s border. Russian-backed separatist forces have occupied the region since the 2014 invasion.

Ukrainian neo-Nazis and other right-wing militias and Islamic fanatics were supplied with a bounty of weapons to kill ethnic Russians in the east resisting the political leadership in Kyiv.

Putin and Russian officials became apocalyptic when they discovered plans to place nuclear missiles in Ukraine, less than ten minutes flight-time from Moscow. Russia was promised by NATO in 1991 it would not expand westward.

Maybe Putin remembers Lenin’s statement, “Treaties are like pie crusts, made to be broken.” While the pledge not to expand NATO was not a treaty, it was a pledge or promise. The secretary-general of NATO lied, saying, NATO “has never promised not to expand.”

But it is even worse because when the USSR disbanded, promises made included that Ukraine was to remain non-aligned, meaning Ukraine would not climb into bed with the West or the East. NATO was to protect Europe from Russia, so Russia considers NATO an enemy.

To be fair and consistent, one must remember that each nation must do what is best for that nation, whether or not the free world approves. But that never justifies corruption, broken treaties, and aggression.

During the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, America got her knickers in a knot when the Soviets placed nuclear missiles 103 miles from America’s border. Fact is, we almost went to war with the USSR because of those missiles. Similarly, after America’s Ukrainian coup in 2014, Russia has reason to fear NATO nuclear missiles not just near but on Russia’s border. To the Russians, that’s like a rattlesnake nest near a daycare center.

NATO promised in April 2008 that Ukraine would one day be a member of NATO without any definite promises as to when. From Putin’s perspective, he has a reason to be concerned if Ukraine joins NATO. After all, he has as much right to be concerned with missiles on his border as the U.S. has if missiles were placed in Mexico or Canada.

Do all nations have sovereignty or not? Do the bad guys have the same national rights as the good guys?

The mainstream media have twisted the events in Ukraine like a pretzel to convince their subscribers that the new regime in Kyiv consists of genuine, reformist, freedom-fighters, and committed patriots, standing against “Russian aggression.”  Some are, however, while Russian aggression is obvious, the liberal media are loath to admit many of the Ukrainian “patriots” are neo-Nazi fighters, Muslim warlords, and ultra-nationalists who demand a Ukraine without ethnic Russians.

On July 7, 2015,  even The New York Times admitted the importance of the neo-Nazis and other ultra-nationalists in waging war against cultural Russian insurgents in the east. The Times also reported that these far-right forces had been joined by Islamic militants. Some of those jihadists have been called “brothers” of the hyper-brutal Islamic State. It seems acceptable for a mixture of various separatist groups, neo-Nazis, and Islamic terrorists to kill Russians.

With the attacks upon innocent Ukrainians in recent weeks, it is easy to detest Putin and praise Zelenskyy but it is for sure not right versus wrong. They are both wrong.

War does make strange bedfellows.

Not mentioned by the media is that this Ukrainian-Russian War has been managed by elite globalists such as Obama, Soros, Schwab, Gates, etc., who are not interested in your peace and your freedom but their power and their money.

But that’s another article. As for now, a pox on both their houses and a prayer for the innocent.

(Dr. Don Boys is a former member of the Indiana House of Representatives who ran a large Christian school in Indianapolis and wrote columns for USA Today for 8 years. Boys authored 20 books, the most recent, Reflections of a Lifetime Fundamentalist: No Reserves, No Retreats, No Regrets! The eBook is available at Amazon.com for $4.99. Other titles at www.cstnews.com. Follow him on Facebook at Don  Boys, Ph.D., and visit his blog. Send a request to DBoysphd@aol.com for a free subscription to his articles and click here to support  his work with a donation.)

Now we see heart-wrenching videos of babies, children, and innocent men and women dead from a chemical attack on the northern city of Khan Sheikhoun that would make a stone cry. It is alleged that Assad, the dastardly, devious dictator of Damascus dropped the deadly gas, but no one has proved that and Syrian officials have vehemently denied responsibility. The Local Coordination Committee, a monitoring group, said the airstrike was carried out by Russia–a supporter of Assad.

Frankly, it doesn’t make any sense for Putin to order such an attack. He has nothing to gain and much to lose by such irresponsible violence. Same with Assad, after all, he seems to be winning in the very vicious civil war. Could the chemical attack be a false flag operation whereby rebel terrorists attacked their own people to place blame upon Assad and/or Russia?

The conflict is not between two groups but involves Assad’s forces fighting a rebel group consisting of hundreds of groups numbering about 100,000 fighters. Then ISIS got involved and it’s now at least a three-way fight. There are no “good guys.” Now, both Assad’s forces and the rebels are fighting a separate battle against ISIS at the same time. It’s a major mess in the Middle East.

President Trump authorized an air strike against the Assad regime Thursday night in retaliation of the chemical attack; however, some Americans think he may have acted without all relevant facts. Trump’s attack upon Syria was a benefit to ISIS terrorists! Something’s wrong here because ISIS is a far greater threat to the U.S. than is Syria.

Trump must remember that his first priority is protecting the U.S.; however, the gas attack, while horrendous, was no threat to Americans. At least his response sent a needed message to the world: the U.S. will respond when U.S. officials deem it essential–but was it essential?

Are only Americans outraged about innocent deaths to the extent of doing something about it? Other national leaders are acting as cheerleaders but not getting “into the game.”

Meanwhile, an assortment of U.S. politicians from across the political spectrum has joined in beating the war drums. But then, older politicians have always managed to find the guts to send younger men to fight their wars.

Are we to do what others are responsible to do? Isn’t the United Nations supposed to keep the peace, protect the innocent, and bring the bad guys to justice? Alternatively, doesn’t the pecking order demand that surrounding Muslim nations bring the dictator to justice? Of course, other Muslim leaders have bloody hands also. Does any sane person believe that Assad will be replaced by a devotee of peace, justice, and freedom after he is greeted by his 72 virgins in Paradise?

Events are taking place that I predict will escalate the war, eliminate the Christians, exclude any voice of reason, and engage Israel in constant confrontations. Assad is not a good guy but he is preferable to the alternative. He is a known entity and he has not been shelling Jews on the Golan Heights. A new Syrian strongman might break the treaty and the shelling of Israel could again become a daily event as in the past.

Will we see Damascus totally destroyed? What a tragedy to see this historical and biblical city in total ruins! Will the UN get involved and escalate the disturbance into a catastrophic event or will they help provide peace, protection, and prosperity? We may soon know the answer.

As ruthless a dictator as his father was, President Bashar al-Assad should be called Bashar the Butcher. While all people of good will want to see him assume room temperature, it is not wise for the U.S. to assume the role of paladin of the world. Those rebels in Syria without a doubt are Muslim extremists. Let them fight their own battles. The choice between the two sides is not a choice between good and evil but between much evil and more evil.

The U.S. does not have a horse in this race, but we do abhor the killing of innocent people. While Assad is a vicious dictator, he has permitted Christians to practice their faith and has kept relative peace until recent years. If Assad goes, the Christians will be totally destroyed in Syria. If he is deposed, Muslim fanatics will fill his chair. Most reasonable people prefer a sensitive, peaceful conservative but in the real world that is not going to happen.

The Syrian opposition is a mixture of fanatics, freedom lovers, and criminal opportunists. Incredibly, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton called for supporting them with “humanitarian aid.” We have seen this movie before. Non-thinkers praised the uprisings in Libya, Sudan, Bahrain, etc., and now we realize that we got much more than we wanted. Radical Muslims have been enabled and are now in control. Sharia law will be forced on the people in all Muslim-dominated nations. Turkey is going in that direction as I write.

Russia, China, and Iran are backing Syria’s dictator while Saudi Arabia is opposed to him and supports a new government in Syria, hoping that it will not be as friendly to Iran.

When former Saudi King Abdul-Aziz ibn Saud was on his deathbed, he warned his sons “to keep your eye on Syria” since anything good for Syria is considered bad for Saudi. While both Syria and Saudi Arabia are Muslim, the Saudis are of the Sunni fanatical Wahhabi sect plus their country is the location of Mecca (birthplace of Mohammed) and Medina. There are no churches of any kind in Saudi Arabia and even other Muslim sects such as the Shiites are without mosques in most major areas!

Syria is more secular than Saudi Arabia but Sunni Muslims are the majority religious group in both countries. There are about two million citizens in Damascus and 85% are Sunni Muslims that are served by about 2,000 mosques in the city. The Grand Mosque of Damascus is one of the largest, oldest, and holiest sites for Muslims.

Fanatical, committed Muslims are dangerous, devious, and deceitful people and we are fools to waltz into the crossfire. The free world should permit these countries to work out their own differences, remove their own totalitarian leaders, and worship however they choose. The U.S. can cheer the good guys (better guys) but we don’t have the money, personnel, or authority to get involved.

Damascus will be destroyed and while that will be a major disaster, it is more preferable than Dallas, Denver, or Detroit being destroyed. And don’t be deceived, if those on the streets of Damascus have their way, it will be an American city that will be a “ruinous heap.”

President Trump should stay out of Syria. Let “peaceful” Muslims take care of Assad and hang him after a public trial for using chemical gas. If Damascus is to be destroyed, let Muslims do it!

No one elected America as the world’s moral and humanitarian watchdog.

Boys’ new book Muslim Invasion: The Fuse is Burning! was published recently by Barbwire Books; to get your copy, click here. An eBook edition is also available.

In the 1854 Crimean War, Russia fought against Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire (now Turkey) and Sardinia for control of the Dardanelles (formally Hellespont), a 38 mile narrow strait between Europe and Asia–near modern Istanbul, Turkey. Russian control would threaten Britain’s sea routes since their ships had to pass through that strait to reach the grain ports of Ukraine. The major battlefield in this war was in the Crimean Peninsula where a famous battle took place near the city of Balaclava, Ukraine.

The Charge of the Light Brigade took place during the Battle of Balaclava on Oct. 25, 1854 when the British light cavalry led by Lord Cardigan received ambiguous orders to pursue a retreating Russian artillery battery. That order was appropriate for light cavalry. However, due to a miscommunication in the chain of command the orders were skewed and the cavalry was ordered to make a frontal assault upon another better defended target. They were to capture Russian guns at the end of a treeless valley but the British did not know that the valley was ringed on three sides by 20 battalions of infantry and artillery. They were ordered to attack dug-in artillery even though the brigade was designed for reconnaissance and pursuit of retreating infantry and the men were armed only with lances and sabers!

The Light Brigade of 637 horsemen, led by Cardigan, steadily increasing their speed, rode up the treeless valley under heavy fire. Spectators could not believe what they saw. The brigade rode, as if taking part in a review, to attack the dug-in Russian batteries. The Russians had a line of sight for a mile and shot at the British from  elevated positions on both sides. It was suicide. The British managed to capture the guns at the end of the valley but more than 250 of their men were killed or wounded, more than a hundred the first 60 seconds! The Russians thought the British soldiers were drunk to ride into direct fire with lances and sabers! A French marshal viewing the charge opined “It is magnificent, but it is not war. It is madness.”

As the shattered brigade returned down the valley, the Russians recouped and began firing upon an assortment of British and Russian forces. Both antagonists were blasted by Russian cannon fire.  With the valley strewn with dead and dying men of both sides, Lord Cardigan calmly returned to the yacht on which he lived, took a bath, dined, drank a bottle of champagne, and went to bed. His brigade had performed an inspiring feat of stupid gallantry. Or maybe gallant stupidity. But it was due, like much else in that war, to the blunders of commanders. Lord Raglan’s orders had been badly expressed and were misunderstood by his subordinates.

Seldom does anything good result from wars but this war is best known for the work of Florence Nightingale who trained and led 38 nurses to aid the wounded during the war. Four times as many soldiers on both sides died of disease than combat wounds and Nightingale and her nurses were considered ministering angels to dying men. It was the beginning of the nursing profession.

Lord Alfred Tennyson memorialized the brave but doomed men in his famous poem, “The Charge of the Light Brigade” that all students were required to memorize. He began, “Half a league half a league, Half a league onward, All in the valley of Death Rode the six hundred: ‘Forward, the Light Brigade! Charge for the guns’ he said: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.” In six pungent verses Tennyson told the story of the gallant men. He concluded, “Theirs not to reason why, Theirs but to do and die: Into the valley of Death Rode the six hundred.”

That fruitless, futile, foolish battle in Ukraine is similar to the tragedy taking place in that area as I write. Russia is again involved but this time with tanks and missiles. Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the war in Ukraine helped Putin consolidate power at home. While the Russian majority supports Putin, the homeland is suffering under staggering inflation, an anemic ruble, shortage of necessary goods, peasant unrest, and a small but influential intelligentsia almost in rebellion. The recent murder of Putin’s main opposition has caused further turmoil. Another war will keep their minds off reality.

Furthermore, Russia has always sought to expand its influence south over the Black Sea and onward to Istanbul, Turkey and the Dardanelles. That would provide Russia an open door to the whole Mediterranean permitting Russia to influence all of North Africa, Italy, Spain, Greece, and Israel. Iran is already in the Russian orbit and Russia is responsible for providing the Iranians their nuclear program.

In recent days, the U.S. got involved in Ukraine by sending instructors and 750 military vehicles including tanks and artillery. Britain sent various supplies and troops to train Ukrainian soldiers in military tactics. Meanwhile Russia announced it would send long-range, nuclear-capable strategic bombers and other state of the art missiles to Crimea. Does this remind anyone of the beginning of Vietnam?

The tragic Crimean war ended in March of 1856 with questionable results and Russia was delayed in her expansionist plans for a time. Today the Russian Bear is still dangerous, devious, and determined. Ask the Ukrainians.

http://bit.ly/1iMLVfY Watch these 8 minute videos of my lecture at the University of North Dakota: “A Christian Challenges New Atheists to Put Up or Shut Up!”