Teaching about the war in Ukraine in a song ain't easy: the story is kinda long. Propaganda and partisan fervor abound. Telling some facts, I risk getting shouted down. But here we go. Lend me your ear. I hope you learn from what you hear. Calling the Russian invasion "unprovoked", well, that's a big lie. It doesn't make me a Putin apologist to explain why. Saying we provoked Russia in Ukraine doesn't justify Russia's invasion. All the same, it does expose U.S. shared guilt and hypocrisy up to the hilt. The U.S invaded and bombed countries worldwide for less provocation than Russia suffered along its borders. Putin's decision to invade wasn't out of the blue. There's some history there, let me tell you. Diplomats and Secretaries of Defense Warned that trying to expand NATO into Ukraine was reckless overreach and would result in war. But we're America, the most powerful nation! We do as we please. Back in '90, we'd promised Russia "not one inch" eastward. They took America at its word. But we expanded NATO right to Russia's door, Knowing it's something they couldn’t endure. The C.I.A. and N.E.D. aided color revolutions, Saying it was just promoting democracy. It's true, some countries wanted to break free of Russian domination. But Ukraine was divided. Eastern provinces and Crimea were Russian-speaking and wanted close ties to Russia. The U.S. exploited divisions in Ukraine and provoked a war, To weaken Russia and stop Russian energy exports to Europe, [Chorus] Putin is brutal, but so are we. Our government is addicted to war. Thomas Friedman said it well, in the New York Times: "America and NATO aren't innocent bystanders." Ambassador Freeman says we engineered the 2014 coup. The C.I.A. played its hand. Bullets flew. Far-right militias we armed in the east, Fueling the fire, unleashing the beast. The U.S. installed a puppet regime. Success! Ukrainians are pawns in this nasty game of chess. Far from "unprovoked," it was well-planned. RAND Corporation called it the best way to weaken Russia's hand. Would the U.S. allow Russia to install a puppet regime in Quebec, arm anti-U.S. militias, and ban the official use of English? Come on! Our hypocrisy is stunning, for sure; we invade nations far from our shores. We occupy one-third of Syria (the parts with oil), but condemn Russia for defending from NATO expansion near their soil. NATO stymied peace deals both before and after the invasion. Knowing all this, it's even more reason to support a negotiated end to a war that risks nuclear annihilation.
See also Requiem for Victims of U.S. Wars,
Endless War Blues,
Windy City Protests -- from Vietnam in '68 to Gaza in '24,
No More Blood For Their Endless War: an antiwar folk song made with AI,
Machinery of Death (death metal song),
No More Stupid Wars!,
Lesser of Two Evils Blues,
Eisenhower Warns about U.S. Militarism.
and Love Song by the U.S. Military Gospel Choir.
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