Invasion Day +23 As you, our much appreciated readers, writers and correspondents, will have realised by now, 'The War Letters of Hoggy the Yimp', is primarily a place of much needed support for Ukrainians everywhere right now,. Underpinning this support is the knowledge that it is a 'peace' blog, not a 'war' blog. A belligerent peace blog, a peace blog with passion. You might be wondering then why 'peace' isn't in the title? The answer? Because 'war' is catchier than 'peace.'
Isn't it?
Now today's blog. Not content with sacrificing his own people and committing continuing genocide against the Ukrainian people, the limping Putin has now twisted the skewer of his evil into the mercenaries of Syria in a bizarre pay-off for past slaughters he and the butcher Assad have long since been jointly perpetrating. If you are still not convinced the world is at war, perhaps this latest development might help change your mind? Putin is spreading his insidious evil wherever he can find a conduit for his aggrandisement. How is it in the twenty first century, and with all our knowledge and history of the twentieth, one medievally-minded man can set himself on a path to destroy the whole world quite so easily? With all our technological brilliance, the aid of Artificial Intelligence, our ability to develop drugs, the power of drones, deep-sea diving bells and our own incredible diversity, our inexhaustible capacity to exploit just about anything exploitable, and our incredible ability to entertain ourselves, not to mention our greatest inherent capability, that of compassion, how is it we cannot prevent one man of limited capacity for education and intelligent behaviour from exacting upon us all the cruel crudity of the Middle Ages? Somewhere we are missing in action. Today's correspondent, Will Henry, sums it up well, 'War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing.' Come on world, we need to stop this man before this war consumes us all.
(A message from Hoggy: A huge thank you to everyone who has responded to our blog so far, it is heart-warming. If the small gesture that is this blog fails to appear at any time, please know that, together, we tried and the trying has been worth it. Whatever happens.)
Today's Letters:
From our correspondent Anna: 'The Front Line in Kharkiv'
Dear Hoggy,
I want everyone to see the latest from my home in Kharkiv. Here it is. It video is short because of the care needed by those taking it. It is terrible.
This place is called Saltivka. It is one of the biggest residential areas in the city. It is one of the biggest residential areas in eastern Europe. It has been shelled for days. I can't write any more just now, I am too upset. I hope you understand.
Anna.
Dear Anna,
Words fail me as much as they have done for you. It is almost impossible to comprehend. All I can do is thank you for sending these and please thank the photographer for the risks they are taking in sending them. As you say 'terrible' cannot even start to describe it.
Please convey our absolute commitment do doing all we can to try and have this war stopped and support you wherever we can. Words may not seem much use but it is all we have right now.
We are all thinking of you here.
Hoggy
From Rea in Western Ukraine 'What Temporary Safety Looks Like'
Dear Hoggy,
This is Rea from our 'safe' house as refugees from Kharkiv for now. It is in Western Ukraine. We are eight people, two dogs and a cat living in this one room. Thank you all for sending us the money for food, we appreciate it so much and it will feed us for the next two weeks. We are really grateful. As you see we are still able to go out for a walk and buy what food we can find. We will let you know how we get on. We are here for the moment.
Best wishes to everybody.
Rea
Dear Rea,
Thank you for these words and the video: it helps to know you are surviving despite the cramped conditions. Hopefully you will be able to find more room soon somewhere and even more hopefully return home one day and help to rebuild your lives.
Please send us regular updates if you can about how life is for you all: it is a real help to people here to try and understand the effect on you who are facing it all. We are doing what we can here to move our government; the public response has been amazing across the country. We stand with Ukraine.
Our wishes come to you all,
Hoggy
From Will Henry in Scotland
A Letter of Hope
Dear Hoggy,
This is a letter to you for our World Leaders to read. It is time for action.
Today, as our little blue planet is ravaged with global warming, a pandemic, conflict, and poverty to name but a few concerns, I write to ask you, the world leaders, to step up to the plate and take on the challenge of ensuring that our way of life is not allowed to slip into one of continuous terror, starvation, and corruption.
In the vastness of space, and as far as we know, we, that is all of us, are the only living race in the universe. Surely that must be something worth protecting? Yet, as we see daily in our news broadcasts, our future is being eroded away from us by a consolidated policy of inaction to ensure that we all have a future that is free from poverty, illness, and war.
I am a member of an organisation titled the International Police Association (IPA), founded on the principal of providing a ‘service through friendship’. Our actual motto is just that but translated into Esperanto it reads, ‘Servo per Amikeco’.
Our membership is over 360,000 serving and retired police officers and civilian staff and sees its members in 66 countries worldwide including both Ukraine and Russia. It also has U.N. status. Like all organisations we have rules and guidelines, none more so than the basic principles of our aims, aspirations, and beliefs in a world equal for all. Sadly we have had to suspend Russia from membership because of this war. But we are all sending support to our members in Ukraine and trying to positively influence those in Russia who will listen.
At times it is hard to comprehend that even in my country, the United Kingdom, we have such outlets like the ever-increasing food banks and charity-based clothing shops and we also contribute through our charitable consciousness to many different groups both at home and abroad.
However, on doing so one cannot help being riled when you see countries whose majority of their population live in terrible conditions, cannot feed themselves and yet watch millions of pounds being spent in sending a rocket in to outer space to keep up with the latest I.T. equipment that many of us, and I include myself, possess today.
There must be another way to end such unfairness. There must surely be an effort by all concerned in running our countries to sit together to dispense with the one-upmanship and red tape and make constructive and workable decisions. Perhaps it is too late for that, but surely it must be tried.
In my IPA world we extend the hand of friendship to one and all and today, as a new conflict erupts, it is an unwelcome addition to the many other ongoing conflicts and those that have gone before. Within my organisation we have established Special Interest Groups, one of which is for writers, poets, and illustrators. This group have recently embarked on producing poems and other written work highlighting not only their concern for the state of our world but the concerns for those who are afraid to speak.
Of course, top of the list at present is the conflict in the Ukraine, but it is not the only conflict.
I conclude by adding a part of the lyrics of a well known pop song which I have used in many conversations of late and that is,
'War! What is it good for? Absolutely nothing'.
I hope that my humble effort in highlighting the many concerns of the human race is worthy of at least consideration. I believe my little blue planet and those who reside there are worth saving, do you?
Yours most sincerely,
Will Henry
Scotland March 19th 2022
Dear Will,
Thank you. Another powerful letter. A timely reminder that the world is at war on many fronts. And yes, it is worth saving.
We were also asked yesterday 'Why this one? Why are you supporting Ukraine in this war and not others?' We will answer that tomorrow, which is the twentieth 'anniversary' of another invasion, the Invasion of Iraq. It might make hard reading.
Meanwhile we will write to the leaders of the main political parties and ask them to read your letter in this blog. Should we obtain responses we will publish them here.
We wish your organisation well in its important endeavours, the concept of friendship and service is now being seen in the near global unification against this war. Only the other reviled dictators of the world remain isolated from this movement. And they are all beneath contempt. Please convey our respect for what your members are working for in the world and let us hope that our little blue planet' will indeed be saved.
Best wishes and thank you Will,
Hoggy
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