Statement on the war in Ukraine
March 3, 2022
The Ithaca, New York chapter of Democratic Socialists of America condemns the agents of military aggression, including the Putin regime in Russia and NATO forces, whose bids for global control have driven the crisis in Ukraine and endangered civilians throughout the region and the world who need a just transition to a humane economy and a livable planet—NOT a war on behalf of ruling class interests.
Putin is an expansionist who governs on behalf of the rich and powerful, and who aims to reconstruct the territories of the Soviet Union. His invasion of Ukraine and his claim that Ukrainians can have no identity separate from Russians violate principles of self-determination and international law that all advocates of peace must uphold. Putin has manipulated history and claims of genocide to justify unleashing Russia’s military might against the people of Ukraine. He has jeopardized the lives of countless civilians, further destabilized the world, and generated new refugee disasters. These crimes can only fuel militarism and far-right extremism within and beyond the region. Russian imperialism must be denounced. We reject the twisted logic that holds that “Socialists condemn U.S. foreign policy; Putin condemns U.S. foreign policy; so socialists should condone Putin.”
At the same time, the U.S. and its allies deserve condemnation for their aggression in Eastern Europe and around the globe. U.S. efforts to promote a western-friendly Ukraine are designed to surround Russia while sinking the roots of global capitalism deeper in the region. The collapse of the Soviet Union and the Warsaw Pact provided an opportunity to dismantle NATO, a machine of permanent Cold War conflict. Instead, the U.S. helped NATO expand and threatened to bring Ukraine into the alliance, a provocation that amounts to installing missiles in Russia’s backyard. U.S. condemnations of Russian violence are absurdly hypocritical. The world’s chief invader, the U.S. in the last two decades has killed almost a million people while pouring trillions of dollars into a crusade for oil, power and wartime profit. The so-called War on Terror has spread chaos and bloodshed across Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Somalia, and other parts of the Middle East and Africa. Meanwhile the U.S. has continued its tradition of interfering in the affairs of sovereign nations in Latin America and elsewhere. The U.S. and NATO’s obscene assault on Libya a few years ago no doubt helped provoke Putin’s latest act of hostility in Ukraine.
People of conscience in the U.S. have a special duty to oppose American imperialism and reject its lies. That means exposing the dishonesty of American warmakers and their servants in the corporate media. U.S. political elites mouth democratic ideals while relentlessly pursuing global capitalism. Their calls for security and human rights are meant to camouflage war profiteering and empire-building. By accepting the demonization of foreign adversaries, ordinary Americans serve the private interests of a ruthless ruling class. We refuse to vilify the Russian people. As the discredited War on Terror loses its power to justify endless conflict, we must not let our government reignite Cold War hostilities or launch new overseas adventures.
We must also unmask the racist hypocrisy behind western outrage over Russia. Where is the outcry against routine violations of Palestinian self-determination? Where is the anguish over the suffering caused by U.S. air strikes and lopsided warfare in the Global South? We must combat the white supremacist logic that normalizes violence against brown-skinned people while portraying military clashes between Europeans as unthinkable disasters.
It is our responsibility as Americans to resist the warmongering of our leaders, just as it is the Russian people’s responsibility to defy the antihuman agenda of their political elites. We reject all forms of aggression, including sanctions, which disproportionately harm vulnerable civilians. Sending Ukraine more U.S. military aid and weapons can only further destabilize the region while empowering the far right.
We demand an immediate ceasefire, the withdrawal of foreign troops, and an end to brinkmanship. We demand that Russia and NATO deescalate, and that all parties in the Ukrainian dispute seek diplomatic solutions. We stand with the brave Russians who have protested their government, and with the besieged Ukrainians who seek survival and coexistence.
We recognize that the threat of mass bloodshed and nuclear war casts a perverse shadow over the dreams of the masses for dignity and peace. We pledge to work for the demilitarization of our planet, and to seek the ecological repair and the reorganization of power and wealth that a world without war requires.
We call on people of conscience everywhere to participate in mass rallies and other actions in the name of a just peace. Soldiers, defy orders! Civilians, oppose nationalism and militarism! No war but class war!
Ithaca DSA Steering Committee
