Warships and War Shifts

They’re all so serious when they present it on media. But, it looks like a gag show segment. Two big ships chase a small ship. The Chase gets faster and faster. Two ships almost gain on the small ship. One big ship tries to ram small ship. Small ship quickly moves past. Big ship severely collides with the other big ship. Chase ends. Cue in sound effect for punchline. This would look good if presented in an animated short film for children.

Forgive me. We should not be laughing at this. This is not at all funny, especially when two Chinese personnel were reportedly killed in the collision. We send our condolences to them. They may have looked forward to retirement. Maybe, they considered the probability of dying in action. But, most probably, they did not in their wildest dreams considered the possibility of dying from a collision with another Chinese ship. It is unfortunate that the incident caused deaths and probably injuries on the other crew members of both ships. It was an accident, in the sense that something unplanned and unintentional happened. So, what did they plan and expect to do? Ram the smaller Filipino vessel? Had they rammed the smaller vessel, would it not be an accident anymore? That would qualify as an attack. As it turned out, they were unsuccessful in their intentions, and one ship rammed on its own, causing a collision. Again, that was unfortunate. But, what were they doing in the first place, anyway? Had not the two Chinese ships chased the Filipino vessel, None of the collision, damage, injury, and death would have ever happened. It’s that simple. Had they simply stayed still. None of the destruction would have occurred.

Let’s set aside the issue of territorial disputes for a while. Let’s presume that the three ships were on Chinese territorial waters. Is it standard operating procedures or within the rules of engagement for two larger ships to chase and ram a smaller presumably foreign vessel? I suppose that the proper thing to do is to call them out through radio and encourage them to stay out of the area they were not supposed to be in.

Let’s presume they were all legally cruising on undisputed waters, perhaps international waters, or the territory of either nation or another third-party nation. Would it be proper for the ships, larger at that to chase the smaller ship? There’s definitely a crime there.

Whatever happens in the future, whatever comes out of this crisis, we will have this collision incident to remember.

Across continents, Russian President Vladimir Putin is suddenly willing to make a peace deal with Ukraine. After ravaging the smaller nation for more than three years, all of a sudden, he’s raising his hand with the index and middle fingers raised for peace. What’s that? This isn’t a boxing match. He commanded the invasion of a sovereign nation, and a smaller one at that. Not only that, he’s also asking for two areas of Ukraine as a condition for peace. Picture this. The former tenant of the house you now live in, broke in and entered. You fought him back. He was unable to enter any further. Cops came and surrounded him. Then, suddenly, he asks for peace, under the condition that he gets the backyard. What? How is he suddenly entitled to territory after breaking and entering into Ukraine.

All this is a smokescreen, an illusion. Reports indicate that Russian military resources are fast depleting. Morale among soldiers are eroding. Russian male citizens for conscription are running out. That would leave Russians in the big cities, who would probably revolt if that would happen. With these factors, in a few months, Russia would highly probably lose the war that it started with Ukraine. A large nation would lose a war against a smaller nation which used to be its subject. That would be humiliating. To save himself from that utter embarrassment, Putin would sue for peace before that happens. Still, he has the audacity to ask for territories as conditions for peace. How ridiculous.

This brings Zelensky back to Washington DC to have meetings with Trump. But to prevent him from being bullied and yelled at, he came with a posse of big friends: the European Commission President, United Kingdom Prime Minister, French President, Italian Prime Minister, German Chancellor, Finnish President, and NATO General Secretary among others. This time, Trump had a hard time to look down at Zelensky. It was interesting how the heads of state categorically declared that they are on the side of Ukraine. That was a clear stand against Trump’s friendly leanings and admiration towards Putin.

Let’s hope and pray that this really leads to peace – a peace in which Russia doesn’t get any Ukrainian territory.

Ecclesiastes 3:8: “a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.”