Letters for Monday, April 4, 2022

Putin’s wars in Ukraine

This article is my opinion, based on extensive research of the turbulent, chaotic situation in eastern Europe.

Amid economic hardships besetting Russia in the Gorbachev era, Vladimir Putin came to power in December 1999. He was supported by a new political party called “Unity.”

Soon the Unity party merged with the Fatherland and All Russian parties to form the largest political party in Russia, the Unity-Fatherland party. It is dominated by Putin. This group controls 75% or more of the Russian parliament, the Dumas. The Communist party is the second-largest in the country, with limited power.

Putin developed his brand of oligarchs dedicated to improving the strength of the country through a free-market economy and providing an increased standard of living for the population.

Putin promoted stability through authoritarianism. Like Stalin, he drew all power into his hands. A paid police force and extensive use of propaganda keep the majority of Russians compliant.

The shrinking of Soviet power after Gorbachev’s glasnost irritates Putin. He is making political and military moves in eastern Europe and Asia to return Russia’s status as a superpower.

A primary target has been Ukraine. In Putin’s world view, Ukraine is part of Russia. It has similar culture, language and religion. To him, its independence is an aberration. For years of his presidency, he has manipulated its politics.

Putin’s interference went awry with the Ukrainian Euromaidan revolution of early 2014. Thousands in Kyiv protested the economic shift to Russia by the newly elected Ukraine premier. He and many of the secret police, SBU, fled to Russia.

Because of this people’s revolt, Putin invaded the Crimea in southern Ukraine, an area bordered by the Sea of Azov. Crimea is 56% ethnic Russian. It was an easy conquest with hardly a protest from the U.S., NATO or Ukraine.

At the same time, separatists in Donbas in eastern Ukraine arose, demanding independence. Putin instigated this movement and used foreign mercenaries who joined ethnic Russians in revolt. This uprising was not popular because ethnic Russians are a minority there. By April 2014, the effort to take the Donbas faltered. Putin sent in Russian military to buttress the revolt, calling it a “special operation” against the Kyiv “fascists and Nazis.”

The Ukraine military response was non-existent. Decades of oligarch rule had corrupted the weak Ukraine army. District governors in the eastern Ukraine called on patriotic local militia called “Territorial Defense Forces” to fight the invasion. These volunteers paid for their own military equipment. Nothing was supplied from Kyiv. The volunteer battalions were highly motivated to keep Ukraine independence.

They stopped the separatists and Russian invaders and were able to retake cities like Mariupol from the separatists. The fighting continued into 2015-16 while peace talks were ongoing, with ceasefire agreements called Minsk One and Two. These negotiations resulted in a stalemate: A vague line in the Donbas dividing separatists and Ukraine forces.

By studying what happened in the Donbas before the 2022 Russian invasion, we can envision what might happen if Putin wins all the Ukraine. One author commenting on the 2014-16 period said if Putin expanded the Ukraine war he would face: 1) huge economic sanctions; 2) need half or more of the 900,000-man Russian army to subdue the hostile population; 3) plan on spending huge resources to prop up the puppet regime that he might emplace; 4) spend huge sums in bribes, police and cruel suppression to maintain a subservient state.

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William J. Fernandez is a retired judge and Kapa‘a resident.

For passage of a bill banning flavored tobacco products

Here’s an alarming statistic: More than 80% of youth who use tobacco started with a flavored product.

Mint, menthol and other candy and fruit flavors are often paired with flashy marketing campaigns as part of Big Tobacco’s ruthless strategy to lure and addict new young customers. Most youth say flavors are the main reason why they use tobacco products and why they wrongly perceive them as less harmful.

To add to the scary statistics, almost 31% of Hawai‘i’s high schoolers use e-cigarettes, which is more than 2.5 times the national average!

These are some of the reasons why Hawai‘i’s lawmakers must end the sale of all flavored tobacco products.

I just met with Senate President Ron Kouchi, state House Rep. James Tokioka and Rep. Nadine Nakamura during the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network’s Cancer Action Day, where we urged lawmakers to pass legislation that will help reduce tobacco use.

The Legislature is considering a bill that would end the sale of all flavored tobacco products, including menthol cigarettes, which are used by roughly 78% of Native Hawaiians, and flavored e-cigarettes. If passed, this legislation would help protect future generations from becoming Big Tobacco’s next lifetime customers. I hope they prioritize this effort and pass this bill.

Mahalo.

Uri Martos, Lihu‘e