The US Has no Right to Negotiate Anything in Ukraine
Antiwar activists should demand: US/NATO Out of Ukraine Now! Not One Dollar, Weapon, Soldier, or Advisor for the Ukraine Proxy War! Money for Jobs and Healthcare, Not for War!
There is no doubt that the US and its NATO proxies are the aggressors in the Ukraine war. They reneged on promises not to expand NATO to the east, even though this crossed a well-known red line for Russia. The US ditched key arms control agreements, abrogating the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty in 2002, the Open Skies Treaty in 2018 and the Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty in 2019. The US orchestrated the 2014 coup in Ukraine which saw fascist icon-bearing, self-described Nazis rise to key posts in the government and the military. Ukrainian troops were trained to NATO standards and incorporated into NATO exercises and actions, including the invasion of Iraq. All attempts so far to negotiate a settlement have been sabotaged by the US and Britain.
On October 11, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg asserted that, "Russia's victory in the war against Ukraine will be a defeat of NATO.” This confirms that in Ukraine, Russia is actually fighting NATO and the US.
As the war drags on and the rhetoric heats up, those paying attention have become increasingly and justifiably alarmed at the potential cataclysm posed by two nuclear powers vowing to fight to the finish. Unfortunately, the solution proposed by many – from Noam Chomsky, Vijay Prashad and Donald Trump to Code Pink, Democracy Now and others – is to demand that the US negotiate with Russia. This is a weak response that lets the US and NATO off the hook. Aside from the fact that the US has torpedoed all previous attempts at negotiations, demanding that the US negotiate now presumes that the initiator of this conflict ought to have any say in how their victims get out from under it. When a thug attacks someone in the street, the response should be Stop what you’re doing right now! as opposed to Please talk with your victim and see if you can mutually agree to harm him a little bit less. The victim has every right to defend himself, as Malcolm X put it, by any means necessary, including by trying to reason with the thug. But those viewing from the side have a different responsibility.
There are lessons from the past that should obviate the need to reinvent the wheel on this.
During the Vietnam war, a debate raged in the US antiwar movement over the appropriate slogan around which to organize. Many social democrats and liberals pushed for the demand “Negotiate Now!” This was counterposed to the more pointed demand of “US Out Now!” Supporters of “Out Now” argued that the US had no legal or moral right to negotiate any aspect of Vietnam’s self-determination. It was one thing if the Vietnamese, the victims of US aggression, chose to engage in diplomatic talks with their attackers while simultaneously fighting to defend their independence. But the job of activists in the US – within the very belly of the aggressor nation – was to keep the focus on the crimes of our own government. In time, a majority of activists came to embrace the “Out Now” approach, resulting in a sea of humanity marching behind that slogan at the biggest and most impactful anti-Vietnam war protests. (For more on this pivotal chapter in history, See Fred Halstead’s Out Now, A Participant’s Account of the American Movement Against the Vietnam War.)
It's important to keep in mind that, living in the US, it’s our own government we have the greatest duty to call to account and the most ability to influence. Demanding negotiations spreads the blame and lets our government off easy. The strongest response is to demand exactly what our government should do (Out Now!), not to beseech all parties (one of which we have no direct influence over) to please hash it out.
So, if our aim is to put pressure on the US and NATO to stop driving us to the brink of extinction we should demand:
US, NATO Out of Ukraine Now!
Not One Dollar, Not One Weapon, Not One Soldier, Not One Advisor for the Ukraine Proxy War!
Money for Jobs Not for War!
Money for Healthcare, Not for War!
The United National Antiwar Coalition (UNAC) is on the right track. They have called for protests October 15-23 demanding “Stop Washington’s war moves toward Russia and China. End the endless wars: Iraq, Syria, Somalia, Palestine. . . everywhere”.
