Confessions of a Cold War Kid

As of this writing, there is a possibility of a war between the United States and Russia over Ukraine. Before I begin this article, let me say that Russia is in the right. Since the end of the Cold War, rather than treat Russia as a nation that had been liberated from communism, the United States and its allies have treated Russia as an enemy to be humiliated, likely because it was around that time the Marxists took over the Empire. The U.S. installed an incompetent puppet in Boris Yeltsin, a man who looked the other way while transnational corporations raped Russia. Additionally, NATO was expanded to Russia’s doorstep, leaving them in a vulnerable position and every right to be paranoid. The American Empire bombed Russia’s close ally Serbia, at a time when Russia was powerless to help its Slavic brother. Increasingly, the U.S. has taken to vigorously promoting values that are antithetical to the vast majority of “Holy Mother Russia” – including those who oppose Putin.

To think of the possibility of a war between the American Empire and Russia terrifies me. This is not a war the Empire can hope to win. This would be a land war in Russia, something they are built to win. Russia is too vast, and it is difficult to penetrate deep into it before the supply lines start breaking down. I consider Napoleon to be one of the greatest, if not the greatest, general to ever live and even he failed to win in a land war against Russia. The German Wehrmacht is considered one of the greatest modern armies in history, they were unable to defeat the Russians. Unless the world is more or less united against them (as in the Crimean War) or Russia is internally divided (as in the Great War), Russia is incredibly hard to beat on land. There is a reason Japan’s strategy in the Russo-Japanese War was to strike first, strike hard, and keep the war at sea – otherwise, they knew they would lose.

Back when I was younger, I was angry at Tsar Nicholas for fighting in World War I as long as he did, losing his throne, life, family, and country in the process. I thought he should have cut his losses and focus on beating the Bolsheviks at home. And while that is certainly what he should have done in retrospect, my study of Russian history tells me why he did what he did – Russia has a long history of eventually winning a war by outlasting an opponent.  From the Russian perspective, a potential war with the American Empire would be one against an opponent that has not won a war in over half a century and has repeatedly shown little willpower to fight a long and hard war. The United States has decided that social justice is more important than competence in its military.

This could be the big one, the first war between two major powers since World War II. We should certainly all pray for peace. If war happens, life as we know it will end.   

But there is another emotion at play, one that is strange for me to feel even though I reached this conclusion years ago. In a war between the American Empire and Russia, I would consider Russia to be “the good guy” (to keep it in simplistic terms). Like I said, this is something I have thought about for years, but to see Russia and the U.S. so close to war has caused me to really think about what all of this means. I was a Cold War kid. I grew up in a conservative family where Ronald Reagan was near deified, it came with the territory. I was staunchly anti-communist (still am, though now I’m more worried about American communism than communists elsewhere), and while I thought the issue was communism rather than Russia, I still considered Russia as an enemy. They were all godless commies, or so we were told. We were America, we were a Christian country. The pop culture I consumed only reenforced this notion further. From Rocky IV to Red Dawn, from Rambo: First Blood Part II to Red Scorpion, the films of the 1980s and early 1990s depicted commies as the evil bastards they were/are (yes, younger readers, I’m sorry you missed that period of filmmaking).

However, in the thirty years since the end of the Cold War, things have changed. Holy Mother Russia, that bulwark of Orthodox civilization, has begun to reassert herself. Meanwhile, the United States has become more anti-Christian by the day. In Russia, support for communism is almost entirely restricted to the older generation, and that has more to do with a nationalistic yearning for a time when Russia was a great power, not actually support for communism. In America, communism is finding increased and open support. The tables have turned, and so has my attitude. As hard as it is to believe from this former, *junior* Cold Warrior, as a Christian, my brothers speak Russian. The antichrist communists are now ruling the United States.

Of course, I hope no war happens. I hope that the U.S. backs down, either because they realize such a war would be unwinnable or because they realize Russia is being completely reasonable with Ukraine. I’m sorry, Mom and Dad. I’m sorry, Ronald Reagan. But the America of Red Dawn is no longer in charge of America, and the “Russia” of October: Ten Days That Shook the World is no longer in charge of Russia. No Russian called me white trash. No Russian told me that my ancestors were evil. No Russian tore down monuments to men I love and admire. No Russian thought Southerners dying from opioid overdoses is the height of comedy. Maybe Russia really did win the Cold War.

Today, they are free from communism. In America, Marxists are increasing their hold and getting more brazen about how much they hate my people and my religion. I still hate communism with every fiber. At this point, I no longer think the Russians have funny accents and a weird alphabet. If war is to come, I do know who the good guys and the bad guys will be.