Please Don't Hate Us For What Our Government Leaders Have Done, Say Russians

..We Didn't Hate You For What Bush Did to Iraq!

Russian kids attending a youth camp called Artek in Crimea. (2016 Photo by Ann Wright)
(Image by Ann Wright)   Details   DMCA

As a U.S. diplomat who resigned from the U.S. government in 2003 in opposition to Bush's war on Iraq, I hoped at the time that all Americans would not be vilified by the world for the actions of the Bush administration.

As hard as it might be for some, I plead that we not vilify Russians for the actions of their political leaders. I hope that we can be as generous to peace-seeking Russians as the world was to anti-war Americans.

I have visited Russia twice in the past 6 years and I know the Russians I spoke with, and I would guess that most Russians, do not want war and object to Putin's war on Ukraine.

Thousands of Russians have taken to the streets to protest the war and have been jailed. Thousands of Russians have signed letters and petitions to their own government to stop the military action against Ukraine. By March 3, 2022, 1.5 million Russians had signed a petition

calling for President Putin to end the war on Ukraine. "We demand an immediate ceasefire by the Russian Armed Forces, and their immediate withdrawal from the territory of the sovereign state of Ukraine." The petition described those who decided to start hostilities in Ukraine as "war criminals" who "sanctioned aggressive and war-justifying propaganda in the Russian media." The petition added: "We will seek to hold them accountable for their deeds."

4,000+ Russian scientists, science Journalists have written an open letter against a Ukraine war. Artists, curators, architects, critics, art historians, art managers and other representatives of culture and art of the Russian Federation initiated and signed an open letter against the war. 44 of the top chess players in Russia wrote a letter of opposition to a war on Ukraine.

In Russia's Far East Sakhalin region, more than 600 signed an open letter to Putin titled "We are against the war" and calling for an immediate ceasefire. "We don't want to live in international isolation."

Next Page  1  |  2  |  3  |  4  |  5  |  6

(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).