By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

The story of the Ukrainians' courageous actions against the savage onslaught of psychopathic megalomaniac KGB-trained killer Vladimir Putin's Russians is the gist and essence of world history.  It is as though Putin's life of nonstop butchery happened here and now alone; and he was like a trapped beast that was encircled or surrounded, and his death was necessary and inevitable.  Good versus evil.  Order versus chaos.  Courage versus cowardice.  God versus the Devil incarnate.  They have all arrived at this moment in time, and the world is riveted.  Everything else pales by comparison.[2]

Yes, those of us who are alive have survived China's Coronavirus pandemic thus far, which has killed or hurt so many physically, psychologically and economically.[3]  Just when it seemed that a light was shining at the end of that dark tunnel, Putin attacked Ukraine and began killing its people and threatening mankind: men, women and children, of all ages and locales.  The Devil had been unleashed; and the Dark Ages seemed to descend on the world again, compliments of one man who was threatening a nuclear holocaust.

To many citizens of the world, it was like a nightmare that continues after one awakens.  A dark and ominous cloud, or a brutal storm that does not pass.  A tornado that keeps coming and coming, and will not go away.  Destroying houses and tall buildings, and creating massive throngs of refugees, and corpses where seconds before there was a human being with hope.  Women whose grief is preyed upon by those who would enslave them, and force them into prostitution.  The wholesale degradation of the human spirit. Hell hath arrived with a mind-numbing thud.

At the very least, Putin will be remembered as one of history's greatest killers, along with Adolf Hitler and Joseph Stalin who killed millions.[4]  It is as though he is in the Roman Colosseum watching his gladiators fight to the death, for his sheer enjoyment and amusement, utter delight and pleasure.  Somehow he was transported back in time to feast on the blood of corpses, honestly believing that he would be adored by the multitudes whom he was entertaining.  Yet he will die; that is a given.[5]  And the Ukrainians will have triumphed.[6]  That will be their legacies.

Throw in the insatiable appetite of China's Xi Jinping for global domination, and the possible plight of the Taiwanese, and we are faced with the possibility of World War III.[7]  Granted, it may be aborted if Putin dies, and dies a horrible death, sending a chilling message to the equally-brutal Chinese leader. Does he want to end up like Putin, a pariah whose life is over, and whose cruelty is ended because he defied an omniscient loving God?[8]

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© 2022, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate's Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass).  See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6  and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/  He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University.  He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who's Who in America, Who's Who in American Law, and Who's Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams.  He can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2] See, e.g., https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10593177/Ukraine-war-Russia-reopens-evacuation-routes-besieged-cities.html ("Putin sinks to a new low: Maternity hospital in Mariupol is bombed") and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10571561/First-Ukrainian-city-falls-Mayor-Kherson-tells-people-follow-orders-Russian-soldiers.html ("Russian forces seize control of Kherson: Mayor tells residents to obey Putin's soldiers and begs troops not to shoot civilians as huge explosion hits Kyiv and Russia's warships prepare amphibious assault on Odessa one week after start of the invasion") and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10573065/Ukraine-war-Kyiv-convoy-hardly-moved-three-days.html ("More children's blood on Putin's hands: Father weeps over the body of his son killed by Russian shelling as Zelensky says 'heroic' resistance will stop Kyiv from falling and Ukrainian minister accuses Vladimir of war crimes") and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10594341/President-Zelensky-survived-DOZEN-assassination-attempts-close-adviser-claims.html ("President Zelensky has survived 'more than a DOZEN assassination attempts' with various killers 'liquidated', one of his close advisers claims") and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10592485/Tatyana-Perebeynos-cut-alongside-two-children-Russian-ceasefire-shelling-Irpin.html ("Tatyana Perebeynos cut down alongside her two children during Russian 'ceasefire' shelling of Irpin") and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10576675/Polinas-little-brother-Semyon-five-loses-fight-life.html ("Polina's little brother loses fight for life: Five-year-old Seymon dies two days after parents and sibling were killed in hail of Russian bullets while they fled Kyiv... as critically-ill sister Sofia, 13, has no idea entire family are now dead") and https://www.the-sun.com/news/4822326/russian-troops-accused-of-raping-numerous-women/ ("Russian troops accused of raping ‘numerous’ women as they rampage through Ukrainian cities") and https://kyivindependent.com/national/russian-soldiers-murder-volunteers-helping-starving-animals-near-kyiv/ ("Russian soldiers murder volunteers helping starving animals near Kyiv") and https://www.thedailybeast.com/ukraine-forecast-of-freezing-temperatures-endangers-russian-troops-and-complicates-ukrainians-escape ("Ukraine Forecast of Freezing Temperatures Endangers Russian Troops and Complicates Ukrainians’ Escape")

[3]  See Timothy D. Naegele, “The Coronavirus and Similar Global Issues: How to Address Them,” 137 BANKING L. J. 285 (June 2020) (see also https://naegeleblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/timothy-d.-naegele.pdf)

[4]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/02/06/the-silent-voices-of-stalin%e2%80%99s-soviet-holocaust-and-mao%e2%80%99s-chinese-holocaust/ ("The Silent Voices Of Stalin’s Soviet Holocaust And Mao’s Chinese Holocaust")

[5]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2022/02/25/sever-the-head-of-a-snake-and-it-dies/ ("Sever The Head Of A Snake, And It Dies")

[6]  See, e.g., https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10571663/Pro-Russian-mayor-city-eastern-Ukraine-shot-dead-kidnapped-home.html ("Pro-Russian mayor of city in eastern Ukraine who welcomed Putin's invasion is found shot dead in the street after being kidnapped from his home") and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10578783/Two-Russian-commanders-killed-frontline-Ukraine-Western-official-claims.html ("Two more Russian commanders are killed on the frontline in Ukraine after a top general was shot dead by snipers, Western official claims")

[7]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2022/03/01/world-war-iii-has-begun/ ("World War III Has Begun")

[8]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/05/12/what-and-where-is-god/ ("What And Where Is God?") and https://www.facebook.com/groups/DailyWordfromUnity/permalink/698329984513934/?app=fbl

Rabbi Harold S. Kushner wrote a book many years ago entitled, “When Bad Things Happen to Good People.”  The author’s distillation of what he said is that more often than not the bad things that happen are a result of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man.  But where was God in the midst of the most horrific events imaginable, such as the coronavirus, wars and the like?  Why didn’t God prevent them?  God gave men and women free will, for good or evil.  God was present, providing meaning to events that seem so random and unfathomable and hurtful at the time, and giving us the courage to go on, as Rabbi Kushner has written.

See Timothy D. Naegele, “The Coronavirus and Similar Global Issues: How to Address Them,” 137 BANKING L. J. 285 (June 2020) (see also https://naegeleblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/timothy-d.-naegele.pdf), p. 289, n.18.