The following is presented as part of The Columbian’s Opinion content, which offers a point of view in order to provoke thought and debate of civic issues. Opinions represent the viewpoint of the author. Unsigned editorials represent the consensus opinion of The Columbian’s editorial board, which operates independently of the news department.
On news screens everywhere, the world is watching the destruction of two nations: Ukraine, inevitably; and Russia, most assuredly.
It is happening with the speed of cruise missiles streaking through Ukraine skies and smashing into homes, hospitals and schools. And, bizarrely, it is also happening with the speed of a motionless military convoy, as Russia’s mass killers of innocents became sitting ducks and sat, stilled but un-killed, day after day, on an unmoving highway conveyor belt of military miscalculation.
Meanwhile, the United States and Europe united with a solidarity Russia’s Vladimir Putin never expected and came to Ukraine’s defense by issuing powerful sanctions that virtually blackballed Russia from the world banking system. Germany, acting with newfound econo-courage, impressively canceled its Nord Stream 2 fuel pipeline deal with Russia. Russia’s markets and currency plummeted.
Putin and his powerful Russian oligarch pals were personally targeted by sanctions. Some of the sanctioned mega-billionaires reportedly have urged Putin to end his war.
Many ordinary Russians believed Putin’s lies that no invasion was going to happen. Then as Putin invaded, they suddenly panicked and raced to rescue their money from their banks. But many found themselves stuck in long lines, unable to withdraw their funds. Meanwhile, thousands of courageous Russians braved arrest by protesting in city streets, demanding an end to the Ukraine war.
The mounting protests of the Russian people may prove to be Putin’s ultimate irreconcilable problem. As some readers may recall, back in January, I wrote a column urging President Joe Biden to marshal the potential power and influence of the Russian people in an unconventional way. I urged Biden to deliver a United Nations speech in which he would speak directly to the Russian people. Remind them that Americans and Russians were allies, back when the Russians fought off Adolf Hitler’s Nazi invaders. Warn them that when Putin invades, their families will become his ultimate victims — because America and Europe will target Russia with the most powerful banking and commercial sanctions ever seen. Russia will be devastated.
Now this: On Wednesday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken repeated Biden’s line: “This is President Putin’s war.”
Then Blinken oratorically pivoted and began talking directly to the Russian people: “My message to the people of Russia — if they’re even able to hear it, as the Kremlin cracks down even harder on media outlets reporting the truth — my message is that we know many of you want no part of this war. You, like Ukrainians, like Americans, like people everywhere, want the same basic things — good jobs, clean air and water, the chance to raise your kids in safe neighborhoods, to send them to good schools, to give them better lives than you had. How in the world does President Putin’s unprovoked aggression against Ukraine help you achieve any of these things?”
The secretary of state’s words were potentially persuasive. They lacked only one thing: They weren’t spoken with the clout that only comes when the speaker is known by the un-secret shorthand code “POTUS” — which many still recognize as: “Leader of the Free World.”
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