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With so many unknowns about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, what is clear is that having an armed citizenry works in street-to-street combat. Before getting into the devastating potential for a Russian nuclear attack, let’s focus on self-defense.
Because it is pride for one’s home and country and the ability to fight back that makes self-defense work. This is not a sophisticated subject. Give your people the ability to defend themselves, and chances are they will.
Look at the food lines in Ukraine this Monday morning wrapped around buildings peacefully waiting for their turn. We’ve seen how crises like this can turn into a disaster of looting and violence. Not in Ukraine because there are consequences. It should be case study A for progressive DAs and mayors of big blue-state cities. Period.
In my reading of Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Serhii Plokhy, what you realize is how lucky, yes lucky, we were to avoid a nuclear offensive by then Russian leader Nikita Khrushchev. One misstep or misunderstanding and we have an offensive strike by tactical nukes from Cuba, only 90 miles south of Key West.
“Today, every inhabitant of this planet must contemplate the day when this planet may no longer be habitable. Every man, woman, and child lives under a nuclear sword of Damocles, hanging by the slenderest of threads, capable of being cut at any moment by accident or miscalculation or by madness.” —JOHN F. KENNEDY, SEPTEMBER 1961
“Of course, I was scared. It would have been insane not to be scared, I was frightened about what could happen to my country and all the countries that would be devastated by a nuclear war. If being frightened meant that I helped avert such insanity, then I’m glad I was frightened. One of the problems in the world today is that not enough people are sufficiently frightened by danger of nuclear war.”— NIKITA KHRUSHCHEV, DECEMBER 1962
In reading The Gulag Archipelago, Volume 1, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, you see how thin the line is between being the one serving 20-years in the gulag for no reason compared to being the one making up your crimes on the fly. How much has really changed in Russia? Are not everyday Russians constantly in fear of being bullied by Putin? The end of the USSR did nothing for a ground-up revolution by the people. Can it happen today?
As Your Survival Guy, you know I’m not in the prediction business, especially in times like these where talk is cheap. No, when we’re talking about your life’s savings we’re dealing with deadly serious business. In a matter of days, you see what happens to predictions that are wrong. Predictions that we’re banking on a Fed rate increase in March that looks less likely to be as aggressive as originally thought.
If you have the right investment plan heading into a crisis, then you can live with the phrase “don’t just do something, stand there.” And let’s not forget how our own politicians are working against us, with John Kerry for example talking about global warming while Europe freezes. And how about the leaders in these countries making their populace dependent on a tyrant for heat and hot water. Hello?
Action Line: Get your guns and your training now and do what you can to harden your family’s self defense.
P.S. When it comes down to it, the real defenders of any country are its ordinary people. The WSJ reports:
At Polish border posts in the country’s southeast, a steady stream of Ukrainians who have been living in Poland have crossed over on foot and in cars, answering calls on social media to join the fight.
“Every truck company in Europe has Ukrainian drivers, and we are organizing ourselves to go,” said Vitalis Kos, a 38-year-old trucker, waiting to drive across the border. The car behind him, and another in front, were also carrying men to the front.
“We’re not going to let him turn our country into Syria,” said Mr. Kos.
About one million Ukrainians live in Poland, a country that is fervently supportive of its eastern neighbor’s struggle. Arms and ammunition now flow across Poland’s European Union-flagged border, passing Ukrainian men flagging down cars for a ride.
“On social media, this is what people are talking about,” said Pasha, a young Ukrainian hitchhiking a ride across another nearby border crossing. “I’m going to fight for my family, my girlfriend and all of Ukraine.”
Ukrainians’ spirits have been lifted in recent days by heroic tales of resistance, often in the face of massive Russian firepower. Military officials said an army engineer had blown himself up along with a road bridge to halt a Russian tank column in southern Ukraine. Border guards on Serpent Island in the Black Sea responded negatively to a demand to surrender by a Russian warship, saying in a radio message shared online by officials: “Go f— yourself!” They were wiped out by the Russians and would be posthumously recognized as Heroes of Ukraine, the state’s highest honor, Mr. Zelensky said.
The Russian president said his forces are mainly facing “nationalist formations” rather than regular Ukrainian army units, a claim ridiculed by Ukrainians of various backgrounds.
Protecting family and home is normal for anyone, said Mr. Batozsky, “even a fat Jewish boy” like himself, who fled the eastern city of Donetsk in 2014 when it was seized by Russian-led militants.
“We won’t retreat or surrender,” pizzeria owner Leonid Ostaltsev, a combat veteran, wrote on his Facebook page. “Together with the police, veterans, cultural figures, civilians and our army—we’ll show the world what UKRAINE is.”
“Welcome to hell russian invaders,” he added in English.
Ukraine’s government earlier this year established so-called territorial battalions of volunteer fighters who trained for just this kind of scenario. Now, the government is giving out rifles and ammunition to anyone willing to fight. Lines formed at distribution points, and authorities said they would have to bring in more weapons.
Territorial battalions have been hunting saboteurs, reinforcing police roadblocks and protecting infrastructure, such as bridges.
P.P.S. Normal Ukrainians are eager to fight for their country. The WSJ reports on the volunteers willing to risk their lives for Ukraine:
Outside, hundreds more aspiring recruits, including women, patiently waited their turn in a line that snaked around the building. “I never expected so many would turn up. The whole city has risen up now,” one of the officers at the site said. “A bit too late, but better late than never.”
Concerned about Russian infiltrators and spies, members of the Territorial Defense didn’t allow photography and didn’t provide their names. The volunteers said they had no choice but to fight now that Russian forces were on Kyiv’s doorstep.
“A Russian rocket hit a building near my home this morning. This was the last straw for me, and now it’s time to take up arms. Everyone in this city who wanted to escape has already fled,” said one of the new recruits, a 35-year-old IT specialist.
“There is nowhere to run and no point in hiding. We just have to repel the invaders and send them back where they came from,” said another, a human-resources specialist.
Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.
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