Short memories and untrained civilians won’t do Ukraine any good

OTTAWA—On Feb. 24, Russian President Vladimir Putin launched what is being called the “largest ground invasion of a European country” since the Second World War. The descriptors are carefully selected to make the current Russian breach of international law seem to be without precedent. For those with short memories, it was in 2003 that the U.S. led an invasion of Iraq based upon the fabricated excuse that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein possessed weapons of mass destruction. But Iraq is not in Europe. Ditto for Afghanistan, which the U.S. invaded in 2001 under the pretext of a manhunt for al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in the wake of his 9/11 terror attack. Bin Laden was killed by a U.S. Seal Team in Pakistan in 2011, but the U.S.-led occupation continued until the Americans’ disastrous withdrawal from Afghanistan last August. In 1999, NATO launched a devastating 78-day air bombardment against Serbia, which resulted in the alliance’s occupation of the province of Kosovo. Serbia is definitely within Europe, but since it was an air campaign, which forced a peace settlement prior to ground troops moving in, Putin’s current invasion is still the biggest ground assault since the Second World War. For the record, I wholeheartedly condemn Putin’s military violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty. However, unlike the hypocritical apologists for the Pentagon, I also vehemently opposed the illegal invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Kosovo at the time in which they were occupied. I can also admit that I wrongly predicted Putin was bluffing with the threat of invasion, as I did not believe he would be mad enough to actually launch such an attack. That said, I also questioned why my fellow pundits were so quick to dismiss the combat capabilities of the Ukrainian military. Since 2014, Canada has been contributing some 200 service personnel to assist in a NATO-led effort to train the Ukrainians. Prior to the Russian invasion, Ukraine had approximately 260,000 regular force personnel, and after President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s Feb. 24 call to arms, another 600,000 reservists were mobilized. Equipped with modern, sophisticated U.S.-supplied weapon systems, the Ukrainian military has put up some stiff resistance in the early fighting. They are, after all, fighting for their own territory. Conversely, the Russian military machine has proven to be, so far, cumbersome, unwieldy, and, most importantly, unmotivated. The modern Russian soldier is not like the illiterate peasants that used to fill the ranks of the czar’s army. Despite the Kremlin’s best efforts to spin this as a “special military operation to demilitarize and de-nazify Ukraine,” these soldiers can easily communicate with the largely Russian-speaking Ukrainian population. Nearly 35 per cent of Ukrainians are either ethnic Russians or Russian-speaking ethnic Ukrainians. In fact, one would expect that those Russian soldiers currently deployed on Ukrainian soil are better informed of the international condemnation of their invasion than the misinformed Russian public at home. Martial pride and professionalism will only go so far when soldiers are asked by their leaders to carry out questionable actions. Between their unexpectedly flawed logistics and supply system and the demoralizing impact of being employed to subjugate defiant Ukrainian citizens, the mighty Russian bear may soon prove to be a toothless foe. If Putin’s mighty army breaks itself apart on the Ukrainian resistance without any direct intervention from NATO, the Russian leader will have no justification to resort to his threat of nuclear weapons. Far beyond the borders of besieged Ukraine, the now internationally heralded President Zelenskyy has been the major unifying figure to generate the global outpouring of support for Ukraine. Early in the conflict, Zelenskyy called upon international volunteers to travel to Ukraine to fight the Russian invaders as part of a newly formed Foreign Legion. This call from Zelenskyy has led to an instant wave of eager volunteers from the U.K., U.S., and even as far away as Thailand. In Canada, there have been a lot of stories in the media of average Canadian citizens heeding Zelenskyy’s call. The problem is that while most of those volunteering are doing so out of a sense of moral obligation to freedom, they lack any form of military training. The precedent of a Foreign Legion is not a new one, with France probably being the best example of historically employing foreigners to fight for their empire. Spain also had a well-respected Foreign Legion to maintain order among its colonies. It’s not enough to simply ask untrained individuals—or even military veterans—to risk their lives to fight for Ukraine. If these volunteers are ever to be anything more than simple cannon fodder, there needs to be a serious investment by Ukrainian authorities in equipping and training such a formation. In preparation for a six-month tour of Afghanistan, the Canadian military would take trained and formed regular units, augment them with trained reservists, and still spend 12 months in intense preparation prior to deployment. Bringing in an eager untrained civilian, who does not speak Ukrainian, and sending them to the front line will not only endanger that volunteer, it will also hamper Ukraine’s military’s current war effort. Scott Taylor is the editor and publisher of Esprit de Corps magazine. The Hill Times

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Short memories and untrained civilians won’t do Ukraine any good

If volunteers for a Foreign Legion are ever to be anything more than simple cannon fodder, there needs to be a serious investment by Ukrainian authorities in equipping and training such a formation.

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