Dear Editor,
Carl von Clausewitz, the famed 18th – 19th century German General and military theoretician wrote in his celebrated book “Von Kriege” (On War) that war is a continuation of politics by other means.
Therefore to understand any war we need to know something about the politics that conventional politics and diplomacy could not resolve. This was what I was attempting when I wrote a letter to the press pointing out that Russia’s intervention into Ukraine was a result of the failure to resolve the question of Russian security concerns which was being debated since 1999 with the US and the NATO Alliance.
If NATO had guaranteed that it would not allow Ukraine to join that body, this war would not have happened.
I thought it necessary to bring those facts out because the statements of CARICOM leaders and CARICOM were not helpful in giving the masses in the region an appreciation of what were the main issues in that conflict.
Unfortunately, it is not just CARICOM leaders that appear to be cowed into not expressing the need for Russian Security concerns to be appreciated. The Guyanese media, the total media, Government and privately owned, have all gone in for self censorship.
They prefer to join the corporate media abroad and work to demonize Putin talking about his “imperial ambitions.”
It boggles the mind. After all Russia has no troops on the borders of the US or Germany, France etc. but all those countries have military personnel and forces on Russian borders. The US is separated by two huge oceans from Europe but it has military forces on Russia’s border.
Really, therefore, one may ask who really has imperial ambitions?
Our media, by shutting away other’s point of view because it does not correspond to the narrative of the corporate media or the leaders of NATO countries is delivering a blow to free speech which is a key component of democracy. At this point it may seem small but it is a slip that can turn into a slide.
This shifting of point of views reminds me of an observation that was made by Mr. Ashton Chase during the oppressive days of Burnhamism. In referring to some decisions of the courts he said that judges in Guyana had reached a point where Burnham did not have to tell them what decision to make, they anticipated what he wanted and ruled accordingly.
Self censorship will take us back to those times. Be aware!
Yours faithfully,
Donald Ramotar
Editor-in-Chief’s note: Three letters by Mr Ramotar on this subject were not published as they contained errors of fact. As it relates to this letter, Russia does have troops on the borders of two NATO countries: Poland and Lithuania by virtue of its heavily armed exclave, Kaliningrad which is also home to its Baltic fleet.
