Letters from Kabul and Odessa
Today at the Cosmopolitan Globalist, we have two essays for you. The first is an update from the Afghan family of whom we’ve written before, and to whose GoFundMe campaign you very generously contributed. I wish I could report good news. Unfortunately, they’re still very much trapped in Kabul:
I am writing this letter to inform you about our situation in Afghanistan. We are still hiding in Afghanistan, in a bad situation, in the darkness, disappointed. But we will never give up, we will try to escape from this situation.
There is hope, as you’ll see from the letter, even if it’s exceedingly slender. But the world is eager to put Afghanistan out of its mind as quickly as possible. Throughout the West, the bureaucracies in a position to help this family, are moving at a glacial pace that betrays no comprehension that for a family like theirs, a visa is the difference between life and death.
If you’d like to contribute to the fund we’ve established for them—which is what they’re surviving on, now, because none of them dare leave the house they’re hiding in, and even if they could, women and girls are no longer allowed to work—it would be a great help.
But if you can’t, there’s something else you could do. The family has a growing sense that the world has forgotten them. They’re correct about this, of course. No one in the West wants to think about Afghanistan or the people we left behind because their existence is a rebuke, a reminder of our shame and failure. Their sense of abandonment, of having been forgotten while the rest of the world moves on, is adding to their depression. To protect their anonymity, I can’t share their email addresses, but if you send me a message for them, I’ll forward it. All you need to say is that you’re thinking of them. It will mean a great deal.
READ THE LETTER FROM KABUL HERE.
Babelesque
For those of you who now need your spirits lifted, we’ve also got the true story of the Dane who defeated the Odessa mob and erected a Viking rune to commemorate his triumph.
Cosmopolitan Globalist Vladislav Davidzon sent us the essay, and if you’re on Twitter, he’s in Kyiv right now reporting on the situation as things deteriorate. You can follow him for up-to-the minute news from Ukraine.
In the photo below, he’s having coffee with Cosmopolitan Globalist Olga Tokariuk, a journalist and researcher in Kyiv, whom you can also follow for up-to-the minute news from Ukraine. Tomorrow, they’ll both be coming on the Cosmopolicast to tell us how things look from Kyiv.
Vladislav sent us the story with the admonition that we should publicize his book:
Done, Vladislav.
“Put all the whistles and bells on my piece,” Vladislav requested, “including the fact that it is Babelesque and an unpublished part of my book.”
Done, Vladislav.
“And tell people that I wrote a piece for Foreign Policy, an analysis of the new push on Ukraine from Biden—with the French President putting pressure on Kyiv.”
Done, Vladislav.
Read the story here:
THE VIKING WHO BEAT THE ODESSA MOB …
And buy Vladislav’s book and follow Vladislav and read Vladislav’s essay in Foreign Policy.
Done twice.
Notes from Europe
A few more notes on the crisis:
Notable
It looks like Russia wants to all but wall off Ukraine’s coastlines next week. “The timing of Russian drills that could restrict access to much of the northern Black Sea and the Sea of Azov is concerning.”
By Olga Tokariuk: My generation of Ukrainians has fought hard for democracy. We stand ready once again:
As Russia and the United States clashed at the United Nations on Monday over Ukraine, all I could feel was anger. That has been the predominant feeling these past few weeks here in Kyiv.
Because of the actions of a madman, it’s as if we Ukrainians have ceased to exist: We cannot worry about raising children, do the work we love, make plans, build our future. Instead, we are forced to pack go-bags, make evacuation plans and spend our weekends studying how to survive in an occupied city—and learning first aid. …
Also by Olga Tokariuk: Ukraine will fight, and Ukraine will be right:
Renewed Russian aggression against Ukraine will spark enormous popular resistance. A scenario in which a potential new Russian intervention is welcomed by the local population, as was partly the case in Donetsk and Luhansk regions in 2014, is unimaginable this time. No Ukrainian region, even those in Eastern and Southern Ukraine that are predominantly Russian-speaking, would welcome the invaders. The simplistic argument that language indicates loyalty has long been disproved by the tens of thousands of Russian-speaking Ukrainians who joined the armed forces to fight against the Kremlin's aggression in Donbas.
If you have any questions for Vladislav or Olga, send them our way: We’ll be speaking to them both tomorrow.
The podcast will be for subscribers only.
I have donated generously to this family and I would like to do so again. Claire, is there any way to make a financial contribution other than through GoFundMe?
As you may be aware, that site, like many social media sites, is run by deluded leftists who have great animosity towards working people. As evidence, all you need is to watch their despicable behavior towards the fundraising program of the Canadian truckers. GoFundMe basically stole $10 million (Can) from that movement.
This Afghan family is in such need and so deserving of our support that, if there is no other vehicle to donate, I will break my promise to never donate through GoFundMe again.
But if there is another way to give it would be preferable.
In the meantime, Claire, I hope that all of your loyal readers support this family. And congratulations to you, Claire, for sponsoring this important effort on their behalf.