Dear CCI Folks,
Here is a wise and tragic interview with a Russian General who opposed and opposes the current war and says why. Everything he says is arguably true at some level. It seems to be a combination: of a smart military man who knows the specifics of the situation, and of a former combat soldier who, as most other combat veterans, like myself, does not want to go back to war or to send his progeny. We combat veterans all have experienced the problem of politics and big egos driving a war and eschew it. As Clausewitz said, “War is the continuation of policy with other means.” This war is no exception and we have outlined the politics that have brought this one to us and continue to force it to some unknown conclusion.
Sadly, as he says the current egos and long standing political ideas and mistakes make this one very difficult to stop. We can only hope that in the end we will be able to get back to our purpose which is to help create better relations between the USA and Russia through citizen to citizen diplomacy. That will allow us to work on his ultimate point which is that we will not have a better world until we have better humans who understand that we are all in this together. Hopefully we will get back to working on that soon.
All my best,
Charles Heberle, COL, USA(Ret)
Director, Center for Citizen Initiatives
From Filmmaker Alexander Korobko:
“In January 2022, just weeks before Russia launched its Special Military Operation in Ukraine, retired Russian General Leonid Ivashov published an open letter titled “The Eve of War.” In this letter, the former top Russian general cautioned Putin against invading Ukraine. The letter attracted significant international attention and was widely reported by Western media – from the New York Post to the Daily Mail and beyond. At the time, Michael McFaul described Ivashov’s text as a “big deal.”
Since then, while General Ivashov has granted a few interviews to online media outlets, he has never been asked about his anti-war open letter. Consequently, “The Eve of War” and its arguments against the realities of the past four years have largely been ignored. As an independent journalist and filmmaker originally from Donetsk, who has known CCI for a long time, I decided to break that silence. In a rare and candid conversation, General Ivashov spoke about the letter, its warnings, and the current state of the Russian-Ukrainian war.”The video of the interview and the interview transcript follow.
The video of the interview and the interview transcript follow.