Editor’s Note

WORDS: Editor - Brian Usher PHOTOGRAPHY Brian Usher - www.usherusher.com

LIFE on Planet Earth during the past couple of years has been anything but boring. First, there was the world-wide pandemic, then we experienced the worst floods in 1000 years and now war has broken out in Europe – and we have another Cold War on our hands, with chilling rhetoric from Putin that has many people worried what next? Historians are drawing similarities between Hitler and Putin and as it stands, the West is doing a lot of talking with very little action.

As bad as the floods in our region have been, at least people are not shooting at us or trying to kill us for no apparent reason. The people of the Ukraine are facing an unprovoked attack and at the moment, they seem very much on their own. Where does the West draw a line in the sand? When do we say enough is enough? Putin loves using brinkmanship as a weapon and, combined with a widely held view that he is stark raving mad, the West seems scared shitless to do anything about his actions in fear of a nuclear Holocaust. And this is exactly what Putin wants.

As the old saying goes: “Bad things happen when good people do nothing.” With China watching to see what the West will do, we find ourselves in a very high stakes game – one we cannot afford to lose. At the moment, the war in Europe seems a long way away but the significant increase in fuel prices clearly shows that this war has already started to affect us even down here in the lucky country. Sanctions will affect the poor people of Russia but this is not something that Putin was not ready and prepared for. He might be mad but he’s not stupid.

The big question is, does Biden have what it takes? Does Putin see the leader of the free world as a soft touch; someone who won’t call his bluff? Will Putin march his way across Europe like Hitler did, until good men do something? I am no advocate for war and it really is a last resort but there must be a line that once crossed, the West must show Russia and the Chinese Government (and North Korea for that matter) that we are not to be messed with. We cannot live in fear of what Putin might do. If we look weak then the rogue states of the world will see it as a free for all and our wonderful existence on this planet will never be the same.

Sometimes you have to fight fire with fire, no matter the consequences.