Just as Ukraine is hit with record drone attacks upon residences and energy infrastructure, its government faces a far deadlier attack than any done with kinetic weaponry.
The threat comes in the form of an American peace proposal to end the war. What is alarming about the proposal is that it does not consider the right or wrong of the bloody invasion.
It proposes to turn the war over to the dealmakers who will decide Ukraine’s fate. What Russia could not obtain on the battlefield, it might find in the back room behind the scenes, where dirty and dishonorable deals are concocted.
Dealmakers do not consider the people involved or the justice of their claims. They consider the material advantages they can gain. The plight of war victims means nothing to the dealmakers. Everything is a game where each person gets something based on the cards they hold.
The Rule of Money
In Ukraine’s case, the idea is to make money, not war. Dealmakers thrive where money rules. Inside this shady world, money is transformed from a common means of exchange into the principal measure of all relationships and values. Everything is reduced to terms of a commercial trade or dollar amount.
It is a state of things where the human element, so essential to the proper functioning of society and economy, is diminished to near invisibility. The deal is cold and impersonal. Everything is negotiable.
Might Makes Right
When money rules, a might-makes-right narrative arises, in which those with the most resources are considered the winners. Justice and injustice are ignored.
Thus, Ukraine enters this back-room scenario at a significant disadvantage in terms of men and resources. Yet, despite its force inferiority, the brave Ukrainian people have held the Russians (and their North Korean, Cuban and African mercenaries) at bay for four years.
Such battlefield courage does not impress the dealmakers, who take it as a given that since Russia holds the material advantage, it is senseless to oppose such odds. The best thing is to strike a deal and hope for the best.
Money Papers Over Everything
That’s what makes it all so cynical. When making the deal, there is no guilty party. No need to see who broke the rules or who will pay reparations. Money papers over everything.
Thus, the dealmakers scurry behind the scenes to secure the best position. The Wall Street Journal reports that Exxon Mobil, for example, is already sending out feelers about working with Russia’s biggest state energy company, Rosneft, to develop the massive Sakhalin-1 gas project. One American businessman is said to be looking at buying the damaged Nord Stream 2 pipeline after the war.
Indeed, American and Russian companies are reported to be talking about working together to reconstruct the areas of Ukraine that Russia destroyed.
The new agreements will put American firms first in line before European counterparts in all these dirty deals, as Russia reintegrates with the West after its unjust war of aggression.
A One-Sided Deal
The proposal comes at a time when Ukraine is tenaciously holding its ground on its eastern front. Russia is losing enormous numbers of troops using unsustainable meat grinder tactics. More likely than not, the dealmaking is simply throwing a lifeline to Putin in his hour of desperate need.
However, Ukraine is now pressured to give in, since America and Europe have lost their nerve and will not defend the sovereignty of this former Soviet republic that voted by an overwhelming 92% in a December 1, 1991 referendum to abandon its communist enslavement.
New York Times columnist Thomas Friedman claims the new American deal is shamelessly one-sided. The demands of the Russians have hardly changed since the invasion. They still hold that Ukraine has no right to exist as an independent nation and therefore must submit to conditions that will make it, at best, a Russian vassal state.
The Filthy Deal Is a Done Deal
While Mr. Friedman recognizes the injustice of this claim, he also believes a deal must be reached. He does not even claim it must be a fair deal. Rather, he admits it will be a dirty deal that is the best that can be expected, given the tragic lack of Western will to stand up to Russia.
However, he says anything is better than the present proposals, which he calls a filthy deal that gives away everything.
When the choice is between a dirty deal and a filthy one, something is seriously wrong. It signifies a lack of honor and an abandonment of principles. The rule of money has triumphed.
It leads to the conclusion that this proposal is, above all, a done deal. It is something decided behind the scenes beforehand, against which people have no recourse. Ukraine should reject it and continue fighting, though abandoned by all, placing its trust in God and His Blessed Mother. No nation is obliged to work toward its own suicide.
First published on TFP.org.
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