I did warn you.
I warned you that Ukraine was corrupt and that the U.S. spending was mostly about making rich the many U.S. defense contractors. I warned you that the Ukrainian government had links to neo-Nazis. I warned you that the Ukrainian and U.S. governments were using propaganda to support U.S. involvement in the war. I warned you that U.S. Senator Mitt Romney was using the conflict to discuss nuclear war with Russia.
But of course Latter-day Saints are just as easy to fool as other people, despite the many messages from the prophets telling us to promote peace and avoid war. If only we had followed the prophet President Nelson, who said this in early April regarding the war in Ukraine:
“I have been to Ukraine and Russia many times. I love those lands, the people and their languages. I weep and pray for all who are affected by this conflict,” he said. “As a Church, we are doing all we can to help those who are suffering and struggling to survive. We invite all to continue to fast and pray for all the people being hurt by this calamity.”
“Any war is a horrifying violation of everything the Lord Jesus Christ stands for and teaches. The Savior commanded us to turn the other cheek, to love our enemies and to pray for those who despitefully use us. It can be painfully difficult to let go of anger that feels so justified. It can seem impossible to forgive those whose destructive actions have hurt the innocent. And yet, the Savior admonished us to ‘forgive all men.’”
“My call today, my dear brothers and sisters, is to end the conflicts that are raging in your heart, your home, and your life. Bury any and all inclinations to hurt others — whether those inclinations be a temper, a sharp tongue, or resentment for someone who has hurt you. … We are followers of the Prince of Peace. Now more than ever, we need the peace only He can bring. How can we expect peace to exist in the world when we are not individually seeking peace and harmony?”
The U.S. position should have always been to promote peace talks and an end to the violence, not to send billions of dollars to fuel further war. How much U.S. money has been wasted on this war so far? in the range of $70 billion. When you add that to the trillions spent in Iraq and Afghanistan and elsewhere in the Middle East, you begin to understand the foundation of the massive inflation in the U.S. we are all suffering today. Deficit spending leads to money-printing, and money-printing IS inflation. (Yes, it is true that the pandemic handouts — most of which went to the rich on Wall Street — and other government spending is also at fault, but without the wars we would be in much better shape). So, if you are wondering why gas is at $4.75 a gallon and a loaf of bread costs twice what it did two years ago, you have your answer: military spending and other government handouts.
Meanwhile, the press has suddenly discovered that Ukraine was and always has been corrupt and not a good place to invest billions of U.S. tax dollars.
Zelenskyy’s weekend firings of his top prosecutor, intelligence chief and other senior officials have resurfaced those concerns and may have inadvertently given fresh attention to allegations of high-level corruption in Kyiv made by one outspoken U.S. lawmaker…
…In October and then again in December 2021, as the U.S. and others were warning of the increasing potential for a Russian invasion, the Biden administration was calling out Zelenskyy’s government for inaction on corruption that had little or nothing to do with Russia.
“The EU and the US are greatly disappointed by unexplained and unjustifiable delays in the selection of the Head of the Specialized Anti-Corruption Prosecutor Office, a crucial body in the fight against high-level corruption,” the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv said on Oct. 9.
“We urge the selection commission to resume its work without further delays. Failure to move forward in the selection process undermines the work of anti-corruption agencies, established by Ukraine and its international partners,” it said. That special prosecutor was finally chosen in late December but was never actually appointed to the position. Although there are indications the appointment will happen soon, the dismissal of the prosecutor general could complicate the matter.
It is not an accident that this Associated Press story appeared on U.S. government-promoted NPR. this week Haven’t you noticed a shift in the coverage on Ukraine lately? Haven’t you noticed that some of your neighbors are taking down their Ukrainian flags? The truth about the corruption in Ukraine and the Biden family’s connections to that corrupt government are starting to leak out. And while we all should have sympathy for the Ukrainians suffering from Russian aggression, the truth is something we should have known from the beginning: this never was anything that should have involved the U.S. government.
Oh well, $70 billion down the drain. No big deal, right?