Today’s Washington rally was not massive, certainly not by West European standards. The rally was also very different than even the broad (often pacifist) anti-Vietnam War movement.
The issue here is far more complex than was the case in Vietnam days, where the U.S. sent ultimately half a million soldiers to wage neo-colonial / imperialist war against a popular national liberation movement, after supporting French colonialists in their failed occupation of Vietnam.
Here the Russians have brutally invaded (and are failing) as the unwelcome imperialist power. The encouragement, arming and financing of Ukrainian nationalists by the West, and U.S. foreign policy in general, has certainly not taken into consideration Russian sentiment, nor recognized fully just how dangerous a long proxy war in Ukraine can be for the world.
After the Russians fail in their new “Spring Offensive,” as I am pretty certain they will, the Ukrainians probably will try to make their own big advances. It is very doubtful they will be able to retake all of Donbas, not to mention Crimea. At that point there may well be a very good chance for serious negotiations to proceed, as both sides will be exhausted.
Any “anti-war movement” should at minimum demand the West not send jets or long-range missiles to Ukraine (whose leaders will be tempted to use them against pre-2014 Russian territory).
In my opinion the U.S. must limit its support to Ukraine to financial aid and essentially defensive weapons systems, while keeping the door open to a “real politique” compromise settlement with Putin’s nuclear-armed dictatorial regime:
The U.S. should recognize an abstract “right to self determination” for Crimea, and make clear to the Zelensky regime that it will not support a proxy war by a military-dominated “Spartan regime” dedicated to endless war with Russia.
But American democrats also must “bite the bullet” and help Ukrainians fight their own difficult war of liberation. Imperialist and authoritarian Russia must not be allowed to brutally crush an unarmed and abandoned Ukraine.
The rally in Washington was an explicit “right-left” fusion, with significant “anti war” groups like Veterans Against War & “Code Pink” not participating — because they believe the logic of such an alliance in the present context will help the right.
Indeed, there is a real possibility that the Trump campaign approaching 2024 will come out openly against aid to Ukraine and come to dominate anti-war sentiment. Trump likes to say he “saved the ass” of his Saudi friend (and butcher) MbS in the past. It is just possible he will do the same for his authoritarian Russian friend Putin in the future.
