The minimum you must know

Poland is an extraordinarily compassionate country. During Ukraine’s greatest moment in need, when millions of people were fleeing the possibility of conflict there into Poland, Polish people clothed, housed and provided food to millions of desperate people. Every couch and bed in the country became occupied. Polish people opened their doors to help strangers. Some refugees in Poland eventually distributed to throughout Europe. But Ukrainians will always feel a deep sense of gratitude for the extraordinary Polish people. It’s one of the most amazing populations and governments on earth.

Ukrainians departing for Europe describe themselves as pro-NATO to become accepted where they settle. They would love for peace to return to the Ukrainian-Russian relationship, and grumble to themselves about U.S. involvement in the relationship. But they won’t say that to Europeans. Nor should they. They repeat the narrative they hear in NATO news to believing Europeans.

There are two things that distinguish the Polish government from every other member of the United Nations besides their extraordinary compassion and near perfect integrity. The first is that Poland lost its government in an airplane accident that wasn't their fault. The second is that Poland has thus far neglected to pattern peacefully at the United Nations. The country furthermore announces increasing military expenditures to 4% of GDP (compared with 2% throughout the rest of Europe.

The Polish government aircraft accident was one of the worst tragedies in the country’s history. Close to a hundred very important people went down on Polish Air Flight 101 less than a decade ago, including the Polish President and First Lady of Poland, the former President of Poland, the Polish military Chief, several supporting figures, the President of the National Bank of Poland and eighteen members of the Polish Parliament. Poland lost its clergy, too.

Russia had nothing whatsoever to do with the event and wasn't held accountable. Poland responded peacefully. The government publicly accepted that nobody was at fault because harsh weather was probably involved. But there were suspicions an adversary might have been responsible. Those suspicions were greatly exacerbated by a second commercial airplane crash perhaps fifty miles away in Ukraine. Russia wasn’t responsible for that crash either. But NATO news and an international court blamed the victims anyway. (There were Russian and Ukrainian speaking people down below.)

This writer believes the United States should update Poland on innocent possible causes of NATO airline incidents, and tell them directly that Russia wasn’t to blame.

The Polish government has secondly distinguished itself from other countries at the United Nations by patterning "war." Most countries that present there nowadays pattern "peace." There were well over forty speeches at the most recent United Nations General Assembly patterning "peace," "respect" and/or "love," according to our statistics. Poland's speech wasn't one of them. Instead of words like "peace" and "love," Poland used the word "war" twenty seven times. We would be thrilled at Gaivna to publish a Polish government speech for peace.

Poland has every reason to choose peace and pattern "peace." For instance, Russia helped NATO countries, including Poland to become safer. This is starting to be understood in the United States and some European countries. This writer wonders if Poland is aware.

Poland does not have a modern history of conflict. Poland was occupied by Germany in the 1940s, and consequently lost its capital at that time. But the Second World War wasn’t Poland’s fault. There was nothing the country could do about it. Poland simply was situated next to Germany. And Poland successfully rebuilt into an extraordinary place that has flourished in peace ever since then. There is an incredibly ethical, creative and vibrant population there. This writer is very fond of Poland - it's an extraordinary place. The population and government deserve tremendous credit for their compassionate treatment of the Ukrainian population there. It’s one of the best countries on earth because of their integrity with respect to refugees.

Poland deserves its excellent reputation and foreign relations. Poland enhances the European Union greatly. After all, the country is far more than at peace almost everywhere. Polish people are welcomed everywhere. There's a wonderful sense of culture and tradition in Poland. The country became a capitalist miracle that chooses its leaders through democratic elections. Poles have an incredible work ethic. They deserve their success. They have tremendous integrity, deep respect for minority rights and deserve to have an outstanding country.

Poland is presently hosting refugees from other places where NATO has intervened as well. Europe has taken in Iraqi, Syrian and Afghanistan refugees. Poland has taken in an extraordinary number of them in addition to Ukrainians. Polish hotels and streets were overwhelmed during the Ukraine incursion. (Free bussing and train rides out of the country alleviated the burden.) But many refugees headed towards the warmer climate in southern Europe. Some ended up in southern European streets.

The European Union has wide open borders between countries the way the United States has open borders between states. It's the reason the union formed. But emotional populations in Europe may respond to migration the way the British did, and vote to close their borders to refugees. They may end their membership in the European Union as a result. This probably won't affect overall participation in the NATO military alliance. But it could according to one of the most respected European heads of state. One or two popular votes anywhere in Europe could have a profound affect on the unity of the European Union, marketplace and security alliance. This is unlikely to affect Poland’s participation in NATO.

Poland and Russia are on opposite sides of Ukraine from each other. Poland wants peace there more than most countries as a result. Poland truthfully claims their troops aren’t involved in Ukraine except as advisors. But as a practical matter, according to the NATO media, Polish and Russian weapons advance towards each other through Ukraine all the time. Newspapers reported that Polish air force capabilities are now involved.

Poland and Russia have assured one another that they will not allow military resources to advance across each other's borders, and that the countries will not confront one another directly. But keeping air forces within borders is very different from troops and tanks. Troops and tanks are easily kept within regions. Airplanes sometimes cross borders without realizing it. Polsih Air Force involvement in Ukraine poses a serious risk to global peace.

This writer is deeply concerned. Poland may not realize that Russia wants only peace and safety for Poland: Russia was not responsible for the Polish Air Flight 101 accident. Russia was not responsible for the subsequent airplane crash in Ukraine. This is becoming understood perfectly for the first time in the Polish and U.S. intelligence community: the accidents were no fault of anyone’s. They were least of all the Russian government’s responsibility, because they tried to save everyone.

This writer urges Poland and Russia not to advance capabilities towards each other anymore, and to choose Ukraine peace. Russia told the media that Russia would agree to just that - offering a buffer zone between NATO and Russia. Russia hasn’t used these words, but basically asked NATO to honor NATO’s own peace accord agreed to in Minsk. So far, NATO hasn’t seemed in the media to have agreed.

Future Polish-Russian conflict is unimaginable. This writer believes generosity towards millions of Russian and Ukrainian speaking people in Poland is creating the possibility of improving Polish, Ukrainian and Russian relations in the future. The populations are peace-loving and very likely to enjoy themselves with one another in the future.