words Lee Taylor

Wars look all nice and neat decades after the fact. In reality they are anything but. We are all taught that the Second World War began in 1939 but in reality, it began much earlier.

For years western democracies thought they could live with Hitler and contain him. That sense would somehow prevail. When he annexed Austria many in the West were like ‘hey well that’s okay we can go with that – The Austrian people seem to want it anyway.’

We hear similar arguments trotted out today. It’s debatable when World War 3 started but a key date is 18 March 2014 when Putin announced he’d annexed Crimea. He then fancied another chunk of Ukraine itself and unofficially annexed that too. Sound familiar?

Now though he’s managed something that Hitler never could. He’s driven a wedge into the heart of the West itself. When he managed to install Trump as US leader in 2016 he really turned the world political map upside down and back to front. Now the West finds itself in a new kind of war with its most powerful ally in effect decapitated for now. Imagine us having to face the prospect of the second world war with the US leader as a Nazi asset; heading back in time to rations, gas masks, and a military poncho for protection. Well, that’s kind of what we’re facing now.

You see this war messes with your head. ‘What war are you talking about’ some people cry. As ‘normal’ life appears to be unfolding still beyond our front doors – something though has changed. A Russian oligarch owns your football club. Secret deals are being done to carve up the West across the globe. Cyber dogs are attacking our thoughts as we engage with friends and family on social media and people are poisoned with nerve gas on the streets of Britain.

And all the while the other western nations can only pretend this isn’t happening. Think of all the nuclear weapoms involved for a start. Teresa May cannot blurt out that Trump is a Russian asset, a place man for Putin. She has to go along with it for now – has to pretend to the world that he’s a legitimate US president. The situation is so delicate, so volatile that she and many other Western leaders have to go along with the charade. So, they treat Trump like a slight deranged ally whereas they all know full well he is one of the enemy. They have to play along.

The tyrants of the world you see are fed up of being ordered around by the West. They reckon they can do a better job if such niceties such as democracy, human rights and the rule of law are resigned to history. Russia, China, North Korea, Turkey, The Philippines are under the grip of tyrants. The US is locked in a fierce battle and it’s who wins this battle that will decide the outcome of the outcome of World War 3. Will democratic forces fight back or will Donald Trump with the help of his ally Putin somehow seize control of all the levers of power that they need? You can watch this unfold in real time.

We are in the gravest danger since the end of World War 2. If Putin and his cohorts win then the future looks very bleak for anyone who believes in democracy, freedom and humanity. NATO, the EU, the UK will stand no chance if the US falls. If the fightback againts tryanny wins through in the US though we will then have the chance to blast away the enemy.

We can though all join in. We do not have to be passive. Silence is not an option. We can help by seeing through the tricks and the mind games and by calling out the enemy for what it is.