Polemics & Exchanges: May 2023

May 2023June 9, 2023By Tom Piatak

Poland Has Not Perished

I was disappointed to see Michal Krupa offer (In “Poland Needs a Peace Party,” April 2023 Chronicles) the predictably pro-Putin talking points that have become all too common in certain precincts of the dissident right. I would be inclined to ignore Mr. Krupa’s piece, but for one fact. Like me, Mr. Krupa is of Polish descent, and has far stronger and far more recent connections to Poland than I do. His nationality will likely draw considerable attention to his piece, since, as he notes, the Polish government has been outspoken in its support for Ukraine’s defense against Russia’s invasion.

That stance has been broadly in line with Polish opinion. A June 2022 Pew Research Center Poll found that Polish views of Russia and Putin were extremely negative and hardened considerably following Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine. The poll showed that 94 percent saw Russia as a major threat, 94 percent had no trust in Putin, and only 1 percent wanted Poland to cultivate closer ties with Russia as opposed to closer ties to the United States.

These views are not expressions of irrational, atavistic “Russophobia.” Even Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, who has argued strenuously for a negotiated peace between Russia and Ukraine, states forthrightly that Hungary wants a large, independent Ukraine standing between Russia and Hungary. Poles need not be “arsonists” or servile followers of the pernicious “Anglo-Saxons,” as two experts cited by Mr. Krupa claim, to want what the Hungarians want: a buffer between them and an openly revanchist Russia.

Putin’s invasion was preceded by a speech making clear his contempt for Ukrainian sovereignty, his belief that all former Soviet Republics had no more right to independence than Ukraine does, and his general view that the collapse of the USSR was a matter to lament and, if possible, reverse.

What is more, before the invasion Putin had spent years making the cornerstone of his regime’s legitimacy the myth of “The Great Patriotic War,” which sees Stalin as a great national leader during World War II. This view brushes off the Soviet invasions of Poland and the Baltic States in 1939 and 1940 (resulting in mass deportations of Poles and Balts) as purely defensive or unimportant, and sees the Soviet domination of Poland that began in 1944 as a genuine liberation.

The precise analogue to Mr. Krupa’s essay would be a modern-day Frenchman chiding his countrymen for worrying about the possibility of Germany invading via Belgium, if Germany were led by an authoritarian nationalist who regularly staged parades featuring soldiers marching in Nazi uniforms, singing Nazi songs, and marching under posters of Adolf Hitler.

Thanks to Putin’s recklessness and belligerence, not even the Finns want Finlandization any more. Unless Russia gives up its imperial pretensions, the choice it faces is being ringed by European neighbors sheltering under America’s nuclear umbrella, or those neighbors creating a nuclear umbrella of their own.

I kept silent when Chronicles published Mr. Krupa’s earlier piece arguing that the real Polish hero of the 1980s was not John Paul II or Lech Wałęsa, but Communist stooge Wojciech Jaruzelski (“Was Poland’s Notorious Communist Dictator Actually a Conservative?,” October 2020 Chronicles). I did so in part because his opinion is too eccentric to influence anyone, and in part because my own view of Poland in the 1980s had been expressed many times in Chronicles, including sometimes by me.

In contrast, this piece is likely to find a congenial audience and its view of the Russo-Ukrainian War has become common in the paleoconservative world. I wanted to make clear that some of us still place the blame for this war squarely on the man who started it, Vladimir Putin, and hate this war not only because it has cost many innocent people their lives, their livelihoods, and their homes, but also harmed causes in which most of us have believed for decades: Christian unity, nationalism, and America’s disengagement from Europe. All these objectives have been harmed by a war that has further fractured the Christian East, caused the public to conflate nationalism with imperialism, and made Europeans cling even more tightly to NATO.

A personal note: I recently discovered that a cousin of mine was tortured and killed by the Communists after continuing the fight until 1949. His remains were identified by a special unit created by the Polish government that seeks to identify the remains of Poles tortured to death by either the Nazis or the Soviets. His remains were identified in 2016 along with 21 others. The families of these slain heroes were honored by the president of Poland, and the men were reburied with full military honors.

A Polish friend, after watching a 30- minute video about my cousin, wrote this:

I just finished watching this film. Horrific. So you are related to a hero. I wonder whether there exists any other nation that has to employ hundreds of people and create a special Institute to search for the remains of heroes tortured to death by [its] neighbors.

The Poles have good reason to fear Russian rule. They should not be attacked in Chronicles for doing so.

—Tom Piatak
Berea, Ohio

Mr. Krupa replies:

Mr. Piatak, readers may not be aware that you and I have known each other via social media for some time now and have exchanged our thoughts on this topic more than once. I must admit I was surprised by your forceful response to my piece. For the sake of brevity, I will address the most relevant of the claims you make in your attempted rebuttal to my article.

You write in your opening: “I was disappointed to see Michal Krupa offer the predictably pro-Putin talking points that have become all too common in certain precincts of the dissident right.” Am I to understand that anyone not repeating and internalizing the narrative of the mainstream media, George Soros, or [New Yorker reporter] Masha Gessen on the war in Ukraine is “pro-Putin”?

In my humble opinion, this is an unwarranted accusation that brings back memories of those heady days of Russiagate, when those who did not agree with the line about Russian interference in the 2016 election were “playing into the hands of Putin” or “parroting Kremlin propaganda.”

To clearly see why this war was initiated (that was provoked by the U.S. and NATO), to honestly assess the military state of play in Ukraine (that Kiev is losing) and to warn against the risk of this war escalating (which remains a real possibility), are by no means a sign of being “pro-Putin”, but simply of rationality. If I am “pro-Putin,” then so are Tucker Carlson, Colonel Douglas Macgregor, John Mearsheimer, and Jack Matlock Jr., the former ambassador to the USSR under Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush—to name a few of the saner commentators who have been critical of the West’s involvement in the war in Ukraine.

I am not for or against Putin, which is beside the point anyway because Putin is the leader of the world’s largest country and a nuclear superpower, and becoming morally invested in a “pro-” or “anti-Putin” stance simply does not make any difference.

I am a Polish citizen who cares first and foremost about the well-being and national security of his country. If that makes me “pro-Putin” in your book, well then, the neoconservatives at places like the American Enterprise Institute will welcome you with open arms.

But I will limit myself to addressing your concerns regarding my position on the war from a purely Polish perspective.

You write that you are concerned that my nationality and Polish connections will draw undue attention to my article. Just to clarify for the sake of the readers: I not only have connections to Poland, but I also live there and pay my taxes there. The points I made in my article are not only drawn from the simple fact that I am of Polish nationality but because I also frequently liaise with former members of the Polish special services, with current and former members of parliament, columnists, journalists, academicians, and analysts, who make a compelling case about the stupidity and futility of the Warsaw government’s actions vis-á-vis Ukraine.

Also, I experienced firsthand the disgusting tactics being employed by the ruling elites in Poland, such as the politically motivated firing of my friend Leszek Sykulski from his teaching position as a professor of political science. He was fired due to his publicly expressed anti-interventionist views, which the current regime, in its desperate bid to outdo everyone in its hatred for Moscow and subservience to Washington, cannot tolerate.

Add to this the omnipresent signs of Poland becoming a de facto, if not de jure, binational entity (some call it the “Ukrainization of Poland”) in its policy preferences and social tendencies. I shall, therefore, humbly submit that I am more than well-positioned to comment on the current situation not as an armchair expert, but as someone who is right in the middle of it all.

You write that Polish public opinion is overwhelmingly hostile to Russia. Mr. Piatak, I know you remember that sad time in American history, the year of Our Lord 2003, when in September it was reported that almost 70 percent of the American public believed Saddam Hussein had a hand in 9/11, and in a survey conducted a few weeks prior to George W. Bush’s State of the Union in 2002, 73 percent of Americans favored military action in Iraq to end Hussein’s rule; just 16 percent were opposed. More than half (56 percent) said the U.S. should act against Iraq “even if it meant U.S. forces might suffer thousands of casualties.”

It took almost 20 years for the American public to realize its mistake, and now retrospective opinion polls record that the public believes the decision to initiate war with Iraq was a mistake. The public now knows that the Iraq War was sold to the public based on lies and manipulations of the highest order, just as this current one in Ukraine is being sold to Poles from their television screens and the mainstream press. Many of the same faces in the United States as well as in Poland who promoted the disaster in Iraq are now gunning for “weakening Russia” via proxy war.

It is my hope that it does not take 20 years for my countrymen to realize that making an enemy out of Russia and acting as the “servants of the Ukrainian people and their requests” (in the words of the spokesperson of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs) is not in Poland’s true national interest, and only makes Warsaw more dependent and subservient to the dictates of the Western globalist elites.

You write that Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán has argued strenuously for a negotiated peace between Russia and Ukraine and wants a large, independent Ukraine standing between Russia and Hungary. Fine, but Mr. Piatak, please show me an example where the current government in Warsaw has also “argued strenuously for a negotiated peace between Russia and Ukraine”? You won’t find one.
In mid-April, Polish President Andrzej Duda during a meeting with his Italian counterpart, in reference to calls for a negotiated settlement and peace in Ukraine growing ever louder in Europe, stated:

Anyone who calls for an end to aid to Ukraine today, in view of the fact of ongoing Russian aggression, is in fact acting in the interest of Moscow, is in fact acting in the interest of Russia, is in fact aiming for Russia to defeat Ukraine.

Worth recalling is the fact that Duda at one point wanted to name an American base in Poland after Donald Trump, who is currently calling for exactly what Duda opposes: an immediate end to hostilities. What’s more, Trump recently said in a March campaign video something that is almost heretical in the current context:

Our foreign policy establishment keeps trying to pull the world into conflict with a nuclear-armed Russia based on the lie that Russia represents our greatest threat. But the greatest threat to Western civilization today is not Russia. It’s probably, more than anything else, ourselves and some of the horrible U.S.A.-hating people that represent us.

Duda could learn a thing or two from Trump about identifying the real, globalist, not Russian, enemies of Poland.

Warsaw’s position is a far cry from the sentiments expressed by Prime Minister Orbán, who argues convincingly that pumping Ukraine with weapons only prolongs the conflict and leads to the slaughter of Ukrainians on the frontline, while in no way weakening Russia’s strategic position, in Ukraine or globally. The bottom line is this, Mr. Piatak: All sane people want an independent Ukraine, a neutral Ukraine, a Ukraine not in NATO, not guided by the sick ideology of [Ukrainian far-right nationalist] Stepan Bandera and his ilk and not enslaved by the fat cats at BlackRock or JP Morgan. Warsaw’s current foreign policy is the exact opposite of this line of thinking.

You write in closing, “The Poles have good reason to fear Russian rule. They should not be attacked in Chronicles for doing so.” The suggestion that contemporary Russia seeks to rule Poland, is, pardon my bluntness, sheer lunacy, straight out of [neoconservative and former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations] John Bolton’s wet dreams. We may as well fear Mongolian rule.

Contrary to your characterization of Viktor Orbán’s actions, he is doing for his country what I want for mine: putting the interests of his people first and decisively avoiding being a party to this Western proxy war against Russia.

Your friend,
—Michal Krupa
Wrocław, Poland

Comments (28)

I’m neither Polish nor Russian nor Ukrainian, so I wouldn’t have a dog in this fight were Biden and the American ruling establishment not using my tax money to maximize the killing of Russians and place the world at considerable risk of nuclear war and destruction. Around the turn of the century, George Friedman of Stratfor predicted that Poland and Turkey would soon become important regional powers. Looks like he was right on both counts. Poland is arming itself to the teeth and looking to double the size of its army in one year. Should there be a Russian break through and a Ukrainian collapse, I don’t doubt that the Poles would invade and seize the western part of Ukraine, effectively reversing the Allies’ gift to Stalin at the Yalta conference.

Those who regard Poland as an eternal victim nation need to study history back a little further. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth once dominated central and eastern Europe, ruling the Ukraine, briefly conquering Russia, and saving Vienna from the Ottoman Turks. I think some Poles want to repeat those glory days. Lech Walesa, whom I greatly admired when he was an anti-Communist union leader, was quoted as recommending that Russia be split up into 60 parts. Do we really want the USA assisting that agenda?

As for the Ukraine, it’s only been a separate independent country since the break-up of the USSR. Before that it has belonged variously to the Soviet Union, Russia, Poland, the Ottoman Empire, and an assortment of Mongol/Moslem Khanates. And the US establishment in reality cares nothing for the Ukraine. It’s just that the neo-conservative (actually neo-Trotskyite) branch of that establishment wants to destroy Russia and exterminate the Russians.

May 22, 2023 Kirt Higdon Reply
An independent Ukraine would not be in a war with Russia. They would know that war with such a large neighbor would be a disaster. If Ukraine was independent they would be accepting intelligence, strategy, training, money, and weapons from NATO. They would have to be truly neutral. At this point they are connected to the US led globohomo regime.

In addition, prolonged war is escalated war, and escalated war spreads to other regions. If you want peace for Poland you should want a swift end to this conflict and a stable, negotiated peace.

https://thecrosssectionrmb.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-ethics-of-liberty-knowledge-true.html

May 22, 2023 RMB Reply
The Trotskyists and “the globohomo regime” may want to kill Russians, but what actually made that killing possible was Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade Ukraine, a nation that, at the time of the Russian invasion had no prospect of joining NATO. The decision by Putin to invade Russia has so far been a disastrous one.

The Poles are about as likely to occupy southwest Ukraine as they are to occupy Vilnius. Before World War II, both Wilno and L’wow were major Polish cities. They lost that status during the period the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact was being honored by both sides. The Soviets deported tens of thousands of Poles from both cities: most never returned.

Today, Poles are motivated by fear of a resurgent Russia and a sense of solidarity with other nations that suffered under Russian imperialism, of both the Bolshevik and Tsarist variety.

The Czechs are the example par excellence of what living under Russian rule can do to a people’s political orientation. In the 19th century, many Czechs were romantic Russophiles; all it took to cure them was 1948 to 1968.

May 22, 2023 Tom Piatak Reply
Mr. Krupa’s letter seems to be following Schopenhauer’s little textbook on how to dishonestly win debates. One of the ways is to attribute to the interlocutor positions and opinions that he never expressed, and then direct the discussion sideways. This is what Krupa tries to do to Tom Piatak’s text. Mr. Piatak did not accuse Mr. Krupa of repeating “the narrative of the mainstream media, George Soros, or Masha Gessen on the war in Ukraine.” He never even mentioned these names. He took the position that nations are naturally striving for sovereignty, and that Ukraine is a case in point. He also noted that Russia has had a tendency to behave aggressively toward its neighbors and has a long history of depriving them of sovereignty. These are rather obvious facts can hardly be challenged.

Krupa’s attempt to present Ukraine’s self-defense as a “provocation” by US and NATO indicates either a noteworthy ignorance of history or propagandistic tendencies on behalf of the Russian disinformation apparatus. The fact that he so nervously stresses his Polish citizenship and payment of taxes in Poland (what on earth can this add to the discussion except leading it into irrelevancies?) shows, beside freedom of expression in Poland, a lame attempt to present trustworthy credentials. After all, what citizen of Poland would act against Poland’s interests?

Mr. Krupa’s further assertion that Russia has no intention of subjugating Poland and that “we all want Ukraine not in NATO,” does not deserve a rejoinder. It reminds me of an old joke about sheep building a fence to separate themselves from the wolf, and the wolf howling: “Tear it down! It provokes me!” The present (conservative) Polish government has done remarkable things in protecting Poland (and therefore the EU) from Russian provocations. This appears to be the main reason Mr. Krupa is badmouthing it.

Finally, comparing the short-lasting (and lamentable) American involvement in Iraq to the centuries-old Polish experience with Russia is, again, either based on a remarkable ignorance of history or on instructions from the propagandists in “Russia Today.”

The cherry on the torte is the mention of one Leszek Sykulski, who is known in Poland as the voice of Moscow and a source of Russian disinformation. He is the voice of “Russia Today” in Poland. Krupa says that Sykulski is his friend. Sykulski is a Polish version of Lord Haw-Haw, except that his call is not from Germany but from Moscow.

May 22, 2023 Ewa Thompson, Rice University Reply
Only 9% of Polish youth have a favorable view of the Catholic Church while 10% identify as LGBT. Poland took in 150,000 Muslim migrants last year at a time where their native population is shrinking. 48% of Polish children are now illegitimate compared to 8% in 1990.

I don’t see Russia as Poland’s problem.

May 22, 2023 Bob Reply
Even if everything “Rob” says is true, that would not mean that the Poles have no reason to fear Russian expansionism.

In point of fact, approximately 25% of young Poles regularly attend Mass, abortion is generally illegal, gay marriage is not recognized, and, with the singular exception of accepting genuine refugees fleeing a real war in a neighboring country, Poland’s government has taken a hard line on immigration. Indeed, it has built or is building or expanding walls on its borders with Belarus and Kaliningrad.

These are all stances of which conservatives should approve, and compare favorably with the corresponding numbers for Russia, where abortion remains legal and common–though not as common as it used to be, and weekly attendance at the Divine Liturgy is below 10% for all age groups.

May 22, 2023 tpiatak Reply
Tom, look at where Ireland and Spain were 20 years ago. Look at Poland’s youth numbers and direction. Look at how someone like Lech Walesa has come out as an advocate of LGBT marriage. These issues like abortion and gay marriage have broad support from the youth, in particular young women. 82% of under 30 support LGBT marriage or civil unions. Church attendance has fallen for 18-24 year olds from 68% to 23% in 30 years.

Do you not see where this is going? In ten years they will be Ireland or Spain after their older voters die off and remaining Zoomers reach voting age.

Working with America is suicide.

May 22, 2023 Bob Reply
Rob,

I am not in favor of uch of what the United States government does, to put it mildly. But the solution to the problems that beset the West must be found in the West. And Poland has been an integral part of the West since Mieszko I was baptized in the Vistula by priests of the Western Church in 966.

Eastern Christendom has many admirable qualities, and does seem to be holding the line on homosexuality better than the West. But as Samuel Huntington recognized, it is a different civilization. Acting as if it were a part of Eastern Christendom would no more end growing tolerance of homosexuality in Poland than Hare Krishnas succeeded in solving the problem of Western materialism.

Indeed, if promotion of homosexuality and transgenderism is the principal problem we face, why settle for Putin? We should instead insist on rule by Red China. The Chinese take an even dimmer view of such things than do the Russians.

May 22, 2023 tpiatak Reply
Tom, do you believe that Poland in the year 1000 has more in common with Poland today than Russia of 1000? I don’t see any reason to believe that the medieval Christian civilization survived in any meaningful way beyond WWI for most of the elite or beyond the 1960s for commoners growing up beyond that period. I also fail to see why Protestants and Catholics are supposed to be closer than Catholics and Orthodox, or why it really matters much at the moment.

The most important thing to note is that American media has erased Poland’s youth in just a generation to an extent that the Soviets failed. Even Taiwan has legalized LGBT marriage, Japan is opening to mass immigration, and India has most of its under 30 population in favor of LGBT marriage. America is the enemy of humanity and any remaining unique or moral culture.

May 22, 2023 Bob Reply
My point being, if Poland wants to be Christian, have families, or be ethnically Polish, they need to aggressively block American influence. And quite frankly, putting up a Chinese style firewall would be a great way to do it.

May 22, 2023 Bob Reply
Rob,

We must revive our own traditions. And we can.

https://vdare.com/articles/how-poland-won-the-war-on-christmas-one-carol-at-a-time

May 22, 2023 tpiatak Reply
Bob,

I apologize for mistakenly calling you “Rob.”

May 22, 2023 tpiatak Reply
One word in the current debate: Katyn

Poland cannot forget her history vis a vis Russia, but needs to stay away from the corrupting influence of the Western “culture” better known as American subculture.

Something is wrong and I cannot quite put my finger on it: The fawning of Biden, Harris, Pelosi and Schumer over the sovereignty of Ukraine, their controls for a safe and secure border protecting territorial integrity and other bleatings while we know what is taking place on our southern border. The spending of vasts on and the sending of vast sums of money to a corrupt regime begs the question of what is the “action” taking place? Money laundering?, helping the “military industrial complex”?, depleting our own resources in the military (estimates show 5-10 years to replenish missiles, certain equipment, general munitions)?

Definitely do not trust Vlad in any aspect – definitely do not trust our elites and “leaders”, nor Zelensky…………let’s not get distracted like the shiny object being waved in front of a child when we need to help our friends but be extremely vigilant of our own shortcomings and future problems: Can we say China?

May 23, 2023 George Reply
George is right about

May 23, 2023 tpiatak Reply
George is absolutely right about China being the principal beneficiary of this war at this point.

May 23, 2023 Tom Piatak Reply
Meanwhile the rest of the world is still laughing at the West that can’t get it’s own shit together. I find it hard to support anything that John McCain engineered and he was the one who created all the turmoil in Ukraine. Not Putin. McCain is dead and his Ukraine policy should have been buried with him. St. John Paul II wanted Catholics and Orthodox (including Russian Orthodox) together as well as whatever remnants of the Anglican, Lutheran, and Methodist churches could be salvaged. So whatever percentage of Christians are left in Poland and whatever Christians are left in Russia they should be on the same page. This debate is stupid!!! If the Russians took over all of Poland, Ukraine, and the rest of Europe does that mean no more Muslims would be coming in? Perhaps that would be a good thing. If Russia took over the US does that mean no more people from the 3rd world flooding across our southern border? Perhaps that would be a good thing. I would prefer the Russian government to Aztec rule. The US has bigger problems to worry about than who rules Ukraine, Poland, Taiwan or anywhere else in the world! If our government worried less about those places and more about the US maybe we wouldn’t have perverts teaching children how to be perverts in our schools. What right at this point does the US have dictating much of anything to Russia with that pathetic decrepit senile Left-winger we have in the White House? Does Putin support Transgenders? No, but Biden does. The whole Democratic Party supports Transgenders. Worst case scenario is nuclear war with Russia. Worst case scenario is when crime gets as bad on this side of the border as in Latin America and people invite the cartels in to rule them. Worst case scenario is two transgenders running for president in 2028. Putin ruling Europe is not really a problem as far as I am concerned. Putin didn’t invade Ukraine when Trump was President. Putin might stop moving West if Trump were president again. If Putin is a communist like the Neo-cons would have us believe then having a Kennedy as President wouldn’t be good either. JFK was a bumbling idiot when it came to dealing with communists.

May 23, 2023 Louis Reply
If I was a Pole living in Poland, with many generations of ancestors preceding me, and somewhat conversant with the history of this geographical space in which “my Tribe” lives, I would want my Nation to be well prepared for a war of self preservation. Furthermore, being unavoidably familiar (as a Polish Catholic, which I am not) with the concept of fallen human nature, deeply flawed with sins and faults, I would not put much stock in the ability of my neighbors (and traditional enemies) to “change their stripes”. I would presume an attempt in the West to form a Fourth Reich, or another Napoleonic Empire from a little further West, or “Ottoman fever” take hold again to the South of me, taking hold of my Balkan brethren, or Russia on my East flank getting obsessed once again with their “natural sphere of influence” and deciding it’s best if they occupied the natural geographical corridors of invasion themselves, like they did in the bad old Soviet days; themselves having grave concerns about Fourth Reich and Napoleonic invasions from the West, Mongolian invasions from the East, and Turkmenic invasions from the South. It is very foolish to blame American influence for these problems that have plagued Europe for MANY CENTURIES before America even existed as a vague idea in the minds of European “Men of Letters”. It is understandable however, given flawed human nature, to seek a scape goat for one’s own shortcomings. We are just adding our voices to a chorus that has been singing for CENTURIES before we even came into existence. In fact, OUR National interest seems, to me, to be exiting from the European mainland ASAP, before their next INEVITABLE Great War breaks out again. I would rather we face the fallout of that coming conflagration from a position of advantage on the High Seas and on the other side of the World, than be engulfed at the outset, on the battlefield named “Europe”.

May 23, 2023 Larry Bowen Reply
As upsetting as illegal immigration in America and gay marriage in Taiwan is, the conversation seems to be veering away from the main point; is Russia a threat to its neighbors, or is Russia actually threatened by its neighbors? As interesting as the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth was; events such as the Katyn massacre and the Holodomor, events that occurred within some Polish and Ukrainian lifetimes, are more informative. Most informative of all are Putin’s own actions. He has ruled his own country with what can most kindly be called a firm hand; be it ruthlessly suppressing Chechen rebellions or imprisoning and assassinating those who displease him. The response from the West was virtually nothing. He also invaded and occupied parts of Georgia in 2008. The response from the West was little more than virtually nothing. In 2014 he invaded Ukraine, and the response of the West skyrocketed from virtually nothing to virtually insignificant. Ukraine and Georgia likewise largely tolerated the occupations. By 2022 evidence for Russia threatening its neighbors was clear. In what way was the West threatening Russia? By boycotting caviar and not considering Russia for any more Olympics? So yes, when Russia made a play for all of the Ukraine, Poland and the Baltics (also conquered by Russia within some lifetimes) got worried and Finland (also invaded by Russia within some lifetimes) joined NATO. Meanwhile, Russia moans about Western aggression, performs horribly on the battlefield (in a foreign country) against an army a fraction of its power, and terror-bombs civilians in frustration.

May 23, 2023 Roy Smith Reply
Chechens are Islamists. The militias in Ukraine are Neo-Nazis so why aren’t they a threat to Poland and ALL Catholics. The Nazis killed a lot of Polish people. McCain was working to destabilize Georgia’s government before Russia invaded the same way he did in Ukraine. We had no business butting in in the first place. The US has failed in it’s objectives many times in the Middle East. Why should anyone believe Neo-Con strategy would win in Ukraine, Poland, or anywhere else? Neo-Cons are the problem as usual. It is no different now than it was when Reagan was told the Marine’s should be put into Lebanon, or the Bush’s thought Iraq would be better with US involvement. Or when JFK wouldn’t back the Catholic president in Vietnam. The US ends up making a mess, dives in head first to clean it up, and never achieves any worthwhile objectives. Maybe the Polish people should come to the US if they think they are in danger. I vote for more Polish immigrants, less Muslim immigrants, and less Aztec pagans from Mexico. By the way, the back and forth statistics about whether Poland or Russia is more Christian is amusing when over 70% of Mexicans and 58% of Haitians claim to be Catholics. St. Death and voodoo are a much bigger problem for the US than Russia is. Islam is a bigger threat to Europe than Russia is.

May 23, 2023 Louis Reply
Chechens are Islamists, Islamists likewise conquered by Russia. I cannot imagine a country that overwhelmingly elects a Russian-speaking Jew as its leader has much of a Nazi problem, certainly no more than the militias of the upper peninsula of Michigan do. Neither Poland nor Ukraine have fought a war of aggression in centuries, while Russia has fought several in the last few years, including in the Middle East. And resisting foreign invaders does not make one a neocon, or Nazi, or homoglobalist. Neither does supporting the invaded.

May 23, 2023 Roy Smith Reply
The focus of my letter to the editor that generated this sprited debate was a narrow one. I did not write about what the United States should do in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and ensuing war. I wrote about that in several pieces over a year ago, and my views have not changed. I do not believe the United States should help to negotiate a peaceful end to this horrible war, that we should not have regime change in Moscow as a national objective, and that we can’t afford to wage another war that is not required to defend a vital national interest.

I wrote instead to challenge the assertions in Michal Krupa’s article that Poland has become “the chief arsonist” in the region and that it was “lunacy” to believe that Putin’s Russia posed any threat to Poland, even after Putin had invaded Ukraine and justified the invasion in comments rooted in Russian
imperialism and Great Russian chauvinism. Tsarist Russia was never a threat to the United States. It was more than a threat to many other nations, including Poland, which it wiped off the map, intending that they never reappear.

I thought that Mr. Krupa’s portrayal of Poland was unfair to a nation that helped us gain our independence, saved Western Europe from Communist invasion in 1920, made substantial contributions to the Allied victory over Nazi Germany while never forgetting the thoroughly evil nature of Soviet Russia, refused to recognize the legitimacy of Soviet rule over East Central Europe, and that played a significant role in the collapse of that evil empire.

I thought the portrayal of Poland as a land of trouble-making arsonists and lunatics unwilling to recognize Russia’s benevolence and pacific wayd was unfair to a people who have always liked America and Americans. An example: in 1926, millions of Polish schoolchildren signed greeting cards to commemorate the 150th anniversary of American independence. You can find these cards at the website of the Library of Congress.

Yes, there are major problems in the West today, including the rise of gender ideology. But the solution to Western problems must be found in the West. Both Christianity and science refute gender ideology; all that is lacking is the courage to deploy those weapons. Unsurprisingly, Poland has fought against gender ideology in the EU and given crucial support to its neighbors in this fight, including Viktor Orban’s Hungary.

Certainly, Western Christians have much to learn from our Eastern brethren, and many individual Westerners have found Christ in Eastern Orthodoxy. But longing for absorption into Putin’s “Russisn world” is not a solution to the problems we face. It is, rather, yet another manifestation of the root disease besetting the West, our collective unwillingness to defend ourselves and our heritage.

May 24, 2023 Tom Piatak Reply
I agree with your narrow focus, Mr. Piatak. Poland is acting completely rational in the interest of self preservation. Poland also has common cause with those former S.S.R.s and Warsaw Pact nations to be on guard against Russia, and should seek their alliance toward the common cause, DIVORCED from an unreliable NATO. They furthermore shouldn’t expect much help from France (whose star is rising, according to Peter Zeihan analysis), who never cared much for NATO anyway. They should be wary of Germany (whose star is rapidly sinking, according to Peter Zeihan, and may crave another “nonagression pact” with Russia for resources). They also should be on guard against Turkey (another rising star in Peter Zeihan’s rapidly deglobalizing World) who appears destined for becoming a regional superpower again. They also need to be “weaned” from U.S. aid, as we no longer require “globalization” as it was only a Nat’l Security tactic for purchasing alliances to counter the Soviet Empire, and NOT for economic needs. We hardly have ANY need for trade, outside of the North American Continent, it being exceptionally blessed with abundant resources and a geography most conducive to great economic growth. The Soviet threat has been long neutralized and we are returning to our own prewar region of natural interest (this is all according to P.Z.). Poland and Ukraine would be the natural lead Countries in an alliance of former S.S.Rs and Warsaw Pact Nations against threats East, West, and South of their region. From a position of STRENGTH, they might can fashion mutually beneficial relations East, West, and South of their region. They should dismiss any talk of their own strength being a threat to neighbors, and suspect ill intentions from such talk.

May 24, 2023 Larry Bowen Reply
Mr. Piatak is correct of course from a historical standpoint.

Why would rule by Muslims be preferable to rule by Orthodox Christians in Russia?

How is Poland going to defend itself against all the Muslims in Europe in the future?

May 24, 2023 Louis Reply
Also, if Russia was dismembered into tiny pieces how would Poland defend against all the Chinese that would swarm all over?

May 24, 2023 Louis Reply
“…about LGBT marriage…”, see also this:

« Fall of Father Dr. Wolfgang Rothe alias “Whiskey-Vikar” (… And he fell, and his fall was great – Mt 7,27) » :

https://gloria.tv/post/LUpCzi9KybgA23DjcZtZGjKNw

May 30, 2023 Xaw Ma Reply
Tom Piatak’s commentary on that daffy article by Mr. Michal Krupa, which reads as a sequel to his four page spread of communist apologetics ” international” published by Chronicles two years ago ( 10/2020), was excellent.
The fundamental point to bring forward is that Mr. Putin is not as singularly guilty of getting Russia into current political and military quagmire as perceived by by some. It is far more likely that he himself is an unfortunate victim of Russian history, which dictates that Russia must be Imperial or else she must vanish. It doesn’t matter who is the ruler ….. a tzar, a communist secretary, White or Red. Imperium dictates and demands it.
Some in the West delude themselves to think that Mr. Navalny would somehow mend the crumbling Russian Empire and convert it to a polity resembling something of the Western type.
” Not a chance” some Moscow pundits declare. Mr. Alexiei Navalny, by their learned opinions, is said to be even more a Russian Imperialist than Mr. Putin himself. And he’s much younger too.
In his excellent book ” Danilevsky, a Russian Totalitarian Philosopher ” , Robert E. MacMaster
( 1967) writes of of Danilevsky : ” In his famous book, Russia and Europe, he prophesied the coming of a total and inevitable war between Europe and the Slavs, led by Russia. This war was envisioned by him – as was revolution later by Lenin – not as a practical means to a worldly ends by as a kind of ritual action that would purge men’s sins, cure their inadequacies, and usher in a socialist’s ( Danilevsky was ever that) heaven on earth.”
Alexander Dubin repeats word for word the same ( so much for his originality). Mr. Dugin’s father was the highest ranking general of the Soviet GRU. Young Mr. Dugin in the early 1970’s was frequently dispatched from Moscow to Western capitals, to acquaint, to cultivate, to influence. And he did so very successfully.
There are some well-intentioned people in the West who see Russia as a salvation to the declining and capitulating West. It is a false alternative, it is a trap.
For those interested in Russian military history, perhaps the best monograph in the English language is ” Empires by Conquest ” ( Volume I and II) by Dr. Wlodzimierz Onacewicz ( HERO Books, Fairfax, Virginia, 1985).
The current Russian war in the Ukraine in many respects resembles another war, the Soviet war against Poland in 1920. A mighty Red Army of 5.5 million soldiers was marching over Poland on Berlin and Paris, and Poland as declared by Leon Trotsky was to be annihilated.
And yet, a small Polish army of less than one million, despite such asymmetry and luck of help from the West [ exception was loyal Hungary which timely and significantly assisted Poland ] completely crushed the mighty Red Army in the battle for Warsaw and decisively won the war.
It is often proclaimed that any war should be condemned. However there is one red glaring exception. In 1979, a British journalist Philip van der Est, amassed statistics on murders committed by the Communists. Starting with the ” Great October Revolution of 1917″ , Communists have murdered 143 million people. This figure doesn’t include 6-10 million Ukrainians. deliberately starved to death by the Soviets in 1932-1933.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ( Crown of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ) was the largest state in Europe proper, covering territories of the modern states of Lithuania, Bielarus, Ukraine, Latvia , parts of Estonia, Russia and Germany.
The Kingdom of Poland and the Duchy of Lithuania were in a voluntary Union for more than 400 years ( 1387-1795 ) – a Union of the two distinct states that held no matter who the sovereign was.
Despite its size it was not an empire, it was the federative state decidedly unique in Europe.
It was the Res Publica ( Commonwealth) of free noble citizens, democratically elected kings, bicameral Parliament and the rule of law.
This four centuries long political and cultural tradition in Poland presents anew to Europe with the Three Seas Initiative , a forum of twelve states in the EU running south from the Baltic Sea to the Adriatic and Black Seas.
Fredrich’s Schiller’s last play ” Demetrius “, is a drama of contention between freedom and despotism, between liberty of Polish Res Publica and the Russian autocracy. The drama continues as we watch.
Schiller was a great admires of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s political system, as was Goethe and Nietzsche .
All those who wish well to the Russian people should wish that the Kremlin will not win against Ukraine, for Russia will survive defeat but will not survive the subjugation of Ukraine.

May 30, 2023 Mark Maciolowski Reply
Dear Mr. Maciolowski:

Thanks very much for your kind words on my letter. You are absolutely right about the stark difference in political culture. In the lands of the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, as in Hungary and England, the serfs eventually came to think that they were entitled to the same freedoms that the nobles possessed. That is why, for example, Magna Carta was so important in the development of English law.

By contrast, Russia not only lacks an equivalent to Magna Carta. It long ago lost an equivalent to the English barons who demanded Magna Carta. Ivan the Terrible destroyed forever the power of the boyars. Peter the Great ensured that the Patriarch of Moscow was always going to be subservient to the Tsar, whether the Tsar was named Nicholas Romanov, Josef Stalin, or Vladimir Putin. Individual freedom doesn’t even begin to be part of the equation.

May 30, 2023 Tom Piatak Reply
Mr. Piatak,

First I am an admirer of you and your work and we exchanged amicable emails years ago.

I think a lot of us are rooting for Russia against the Neocons (and LGBTQ+++), not against Ukranians and Poles. Russia has a lot of social problems (abortion, drug use) but it appears Putin is at least TRYING to revive Christianity. Maybe it’s just for the egotistical reason of being the neo-Czar or whatever. Maybe Poland is a better example of a Christian state (I don’t know) but the U.S. (contrary to the old Navy TV commercial from a decade or so ago) is a force for evil in the world.

It’s not that Russia is a good example of a Christian nation it’s just he seems to have that goal. The West’s goals are satantic.

As Thomas Fleming wrote in a column about Muslims vs. Satanic secular Europeans – better Muslim than what they’re becoming. Quote from memory so if I misquote Dr. Fleming my apologies.

June 5, 2023 Bruce Reply