RUTHFULLY YOURS

https://amgreatness.com/2022/04/05/clausewitz-russia-and-ukraine/

What can we learn about Putin’s invasion of Ukraine from a long-dead German who wrote during the time of the Napoleonic Wars? A great deal, it turns out. 

Carl von Clausewitz, the Prussian “philosopher of war,” had much to say about the timeless nature of war. He contended that although the character of various wars may differ, the fundamental nature of war remains constant: a violent clash of opposing wills, with each side seeking to prevail over the other. Despite the claims of Clausewitz’s detractors, technology has not negated his insights. For confirmation, we need look no further than the Russo-Ukrainian conflict.

While Clausewitz’s most famous aphorism is that “war is the continuation of policy by other means,” perhaps the observation most applicable to Putin’s decision to “roll the iron dice” against Ukraine is this from On War: “the first, the supreme, the most far-reaching act of judgment that the statesman and commander have to make is to establish . . . the kind of war on which they are embarking; neither mistaking it for, nor trying to turn it into, something that is alien to its nature. This is the first of all strategic questions and the most comprehensive.”

As the war drags on, it seems clear that Putin has failed on that count. He apparently envisioned a short war, characterized by a coup de main, the rapid seizure of Kyiv and the replacement of the Zelenskyy government with a Kremlin puppet. This was the model that the Soviets executed during the invasion of Afghanistan in 1978. For a number of reasons, also identified by Clausewitz, the current effort failed. 

As Clausewitz taught, war is not linear. It is not a predictable phenomenon occurring in a deterministic, mechanistic world. Rather, war is a highly complex interactive system characterized by chance, “friction,” unpredictability, disorder, and fluidity. As such, it cannot be subjected to precise, positive control or synchronized, centralized schemes.

Purim 2022 will begin in the evening of Wednesday , March 16 and ends in the evening of Thursday , March 17
Purim 2022 will begin this evening of March 16 and ends tomorrow evening. There is no one better to explain the relevance of this Jewish holiday than my friend Ambassador (Ret.) Yoram Ettinger. rsk

1. Purim is a Jewish national liberation holiday – just like Passover and Chanukah – which highlights optimism, commemorating the transformation of the Jewish people from subjugation to liberty. It is celebrated seven days following the birth and death date of Moses, who is a historical role model of liberty, leadership and humility.

Purim is celebrated (on March 17, 2022) at a time when the relatively cold and stormy winter shifts into the relatively warm and pleasant spring.

2. Remembrance is at the core the Purim holiday, and the Scroll of Esther – which narrates the Purim saga – is also named The Book of Remembrance.

The aim the hero of Purim – Mordechai who became the chief advisor to the King of Persia – was to alert the assimilated Jewish community of Persia, that forgetfulness and detachment from their Jewish roots lead to oblivion, while the systematic nurturing of remembrance of historic roots is the foundation of productive action, and a prerequisite to growth, security and respect by fellow human beings.

The pre-Purim Sabbath is called The Sabbath of Remembrance, commemorating the deadly threat of the Amalekites, who aimed to annihilate the Jewish people upon deliverance from Egypt.

Commemorating deliverance from lethal threats, aims to avoid wishful-thinking and dwell on a realistic view of the world, which is replete with threats.

Furthermore, the main events and personalities of Purim are connected to major Biblical milestones.  For example, Queen Esther – the Purim heroine -was emboldened by the legacy of Sarah the Matriarch, and the deliverance of the Jews of Persia by Mordechai was inspired by the legacy of Moses and the Exodus from Egypt, and by the determination to rectify the flaws of King Saul.

https://quadrant.org.au/magazine/2021/12/je-suis-august-landmesser/

Ezra Levant, a Canadian hero in the cause of freedom, and naturally branded “far right” and worse by his enemies, has done a powerful, indeed, a gut-wrenching story to camera about the hottest place in hell, and those who are destined to occupy that hideous place. He and others have referred to this as the curse of those who do nothing in the face of evil.

According to Scott Horton of Harper’s:

One of John F. Kennedy’s favorite quotations, which he attributed to Dante, was that “The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those who in time of moral crisis preserve their neutrality”. Of course Dante never actually said that, but the sense of the statement is clearly to be found in these lines from the third canto of the Inferno. 

Many of those who are merely standing by during the Covid State crisis, in the view of many, the worst crisis in the history of modern “liberal” democracies, cluelessly look back and chastise those who in 1930s Germany did little or nothing to oppose the Nazi tyranny but simply went quietly, to get by. Don’t rock the boat, and they won’t notice us. We don’t really know what they are up to. Today we reassure ourselves that we would never have behaved like all those compliant Germans.

Levant chose to focus on a particular German who did stand out and stand up during the oppression. His name was August Landmesser (pictured above). He has become famous for the photograph of his refusal to perform the Nazi salute during a rally. His arms were firmly folded, in defiance of the overwhelming, lunatic majority all around him—the madness of a German crowd.