Already almost a year that this absurd war rages in Ukraine and we still do not see an end on the horizon. Rather, we are witnessing something chronic, the sustainable development of demolition. Russia does not want, or cannot, crush Ukraine under a carpet of bombs and Ukraine, thanks to all the help it receives, is holding its own. One can even afford to plan training programs to teach the operation of the most advanced military equipment. The destruction of homes and public utility infrastructure, surprisingly, does not prevent the country from functioning (so to speak), and the number of victims, civilians and military, is kept at a “reasonable” level ( so to speak, again). Russian losses appear to be much greater, but in a country of 145 million people the supply chain for cannon fodder is unbroken. No offense to Putin, the Ukrainian president and his government seem well in the saddle and not about to ask for mercy. Vladimir Putin, for his part, reigns as an almost uncontested master and can also count on the support of his good people thanks to his control of information and his propaganda machine, embellished when necessary with a little repression.
So we, poor us, look on helplessly at this unbearable spectacle. We want to be welcoming to Ukrainian refugees, but we know that the solution cannot be to empty the country of its population. We send weapons, we have to, to maintain a certain balance, but we must avoid overdoing it, because there are limits to playing with matches in the haystack.
Taking a step back, we know that aggression is a behavior practiced or suffered since the dawn of time. But how not to be completely discouraged when we see the phenomenal amount of resources and intelligence that societies devote to armaments: tanks, missiles, guidance systems, etc., to attack or defend themselves. We would have thought that over time, we would have managed to get rid of a very bad habit.