Let me provide you with a cautionary tale right out of history. Right now, the Russians are staging troops and equipment on Ukraine’s border. The situation is reminiscent of August 1939.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is using an old trick right out of Hitler’s playbook. On Sept. 1, 1939, a German radio station near the Polish border was supposedly attacked by Polish soldiers. The Nazis then released staged graphic newsreel footage of corpses and German families grieving over the bodies of their purported “loved ones.” This fictitious attack was the pretext for the start of World War II.

Now, nearly 83 years later, our intelligence agencies are reporting that Russia is considering using the same ruse (false flag) to justify an invasion of Ukraine, complete with staged killings and actors grieving over “loved ones.”

On Feb. 4, Chinese President Xi Jinping released a statement supporting Russia’s position and demanding NATO agree with Putin’s demands.

We are so divided by the political rancor from Washington, D.C., that there is more outrage over vaccinations than over Putin’s aggression. Yes, the attempted Jan. 6, 2021, coup was the greatest threat to our democracy since the War of 1812, but the bigger threat to our country is our focus on our differences, not on the enemy at the gates.

China and Russia have one goal in common: They hate us and our system of government and want it to die. If we’re not careful, while we’re fighting among ourselves, Putin and Xi will make us irrelevant.

Randy Wakefield
Portland

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