“If I wasn’t bald, I would pull my fucking hair out.” I think to myself as I sit idly in this breakroom while I listen to all of my co-workers debate the current and calamitous unfolding of geo politics. Everyone is suddenly THE subject matter expert on an event that has yet to have even lasted a full twenty four hour period. Everyone is suddenly a diplomat ready to dissolve the world of its various and complex issues. Armed only with the regurgitations of headlines they read earlier in the day.
Blaming Biden. Blaming Trump. Blaming Putin. The arguments
ensue as we make rash judgements based off the content being carefully curated
into the palms of our hands.
The direct blame for today’s events lie on Putin. He has
ordered the acts of war that are unfolding in the Ukraine. The subsequent set
of events that led up to this are now in the control of historians and should
be the lesser concern of journalists.
The purpose and practice of journalism is to inform the public
of the events happening now. Not provide theoretical explanations to the
countless “could have been” situations.
The events happening now:
+On Early Thursday morning Vladimir Putin enacted a “special military operation” against Ukraine. Thus beginning a war between Russia and Ukraine.
· +“Ukraine’s Health Minister Oleh Lyashko said 57
people had been killed and 169 wounded.” (AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES, 2022)
· +“Ukraine’s military said it had destroyed four
Russian tanks on a road near the eastern city of Kharkiv, killed 50 troops near
a town in the Luhansk region and downed six Russian warplanes elsewhere in the
east.” (AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES, 2022)
· +The Biden administration has imposed trade and banking
sanctions on Russia in order for Russia’s economy to “bear the consequences”
(Pres. Biden, 2022) of Putin’s actions.
· + Days prior to Russia’s attack on Ukraine,
President Biden mobilized US troops to Germany. “About 6,000 U.S. forces have already been
sent to Germany, Poland and Romania.” (Hennigan, TIME, 2022)
· + At this time there have been no directives or
orders given to US troops to engage in this conflict.
In short, the world is once again falling into the throes of
war and violence. The outcome of these events will certainly be profound and
will echo through the halls of world history. But now we are forced to watch,
observe, learn, and adapt to the ramifications of this event. Opinions
(including my own) in reference to these
events are useless because this event is still in its infancy.
Discourse is wonderful. But pretending you know more than
you do while conversing with others in the name of being hip with contemporary news
is the language of fools. Don’t be a fool. Be informed.
Sources:
https://time.com/6150266/troop-movements-ukraine-russia/
https://www.npr.org/2022/02/24/1082776912/biden-russia-ukraine-invasion-live
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/2/24/russia-ukraine-invasion-casualties-death-toll