A Syrian-American’s perspective on Putin’s war

… and a warning for Americans here at home ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ {NAME}, As the Executive Director of No Dem Left Behind, you usually only hear from me when we endorse another stellar candidate, or for end-of-quarter recaps to update you on our progress. This time, I wanted to reach out because I feel like I can offer a unique perspective on the situation going on in Ukraine right now. You may not know that I was born in Syria; my family moved to the U.S. when I was three. As a Syrian-American, I am unfortunately all too familiar with the depths of depravity to which Vladimir Putin will sink in order to achieve his goals. For more than a decade now, Putin, Bashar al-Assad of Syria, and the illegitimate dictators of Iran have used cluster bombs, chemical weapons, and other heavy illegal weaponry to go after civilians – well, I won’t say “indiscriminately,” because it’s worse than that – they in fact target them. That is the way of the dictator, and that is the Putin way. I find it difficult to put into words the level of disdain I have for this monster and the fact that we are here again: Another war, another humanitarian crisis. The victims are always the same – innocent, ordinary people who are just trying to live their lives. As Americans, we need to understand one thing: Putin is not a normal human being, he is a deranged psychopath hellbent on world domination. That is the lens through which we need to view him, and that is the way we need to treat him. Right now, I believe President Biden is doing an excellent job of choking off the Russian economy from the rest of the world, and he is doing it in phases. Each day, he intentionally issues another executive order, meticulously crafted and coordinated with our allies, that delivers yet another blow to Putin. But I do fear that despite our best efforts, this war will be a long, drawn-out one, with zero winners – as is the case with most wars. What we need to do is to be more aggressive in our media and messaging by trying to reach out and directly connect with regular Russian citizens. If you think the FOX State Propaganda Network was bad under Trump, can you imagine what it is like to watch the "news" in Moscow? We need to be creative; we need to be relentless in finding ways to reach their citizens and show them the truth about what is going on. “Why is your currency almost worthless? Why do you have food shortages? Why can you not access your bank accounts? One word: Putin! He and he alone did this to you, he did it all! Take back your country, and you can enjoy your lives again and prosper!” Deep down, I think we would all love to see what Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted out last week actually happen … but saying what he said from the position that he holds was incredibly stupid and dangerous. As a sitting Senator, you don't put American security at risk for a stupid tweet. Everyone knows that, and certainly a seasoned politician like Lindsay Graham should know that. Again, if someone in Russia were to do what Graham suggested, no one would be happier than me, but we here in America must be smarter and more measured in the way we deal with Putin. One thing we can do to turn the pressure up on Putin is to go after his Achilles’ Heel – his overinflated ego. Things have gotten so bad for Putin’s army that he’s bribing members of the Syrian armed forces to come to Ukraine to help them fight. Can you imagine how desperate he must be to do that? In my opinion, we can use that to our advantage – continue to hit him economically, but also, let’s publicly humiliate him. Remember, megalomaniacs like Putin have very fragile egos. (We saw that over and over again with Trump – remember how he reacted to people saying he had small hands?) We should mock Putin, call him out, and use official State Department channels to do it: “The mighty Russian military is no match for a bunch of Ukrainian farmers, so Putin needs the Syrian army to bail him out! And they don’t want to go fight in his pointless war, so he’s bribing them with fifty times their usual salaries while his own troops starve and freeze to death.” That’s all pretty embarrassing, and bound to throw him off his game, while diminishing him in the eyes of any remaining loyalists. But most of all, here at home, we need to be vigilant against the Putin sympathizers in our midst – namely, the “Party of Putin,” a.k.a. the Republican Party. Like Congressman Madison Cawthorn, who told his supporters this weekend that he thinks Ukraine’s heroic President Volodymyr Zelenskkyy is a “thug” whose government is “incredibly corrupt,” “incredibly evil,” and “pushing ‘woke’ ideologies.” Or Donald Trump, who praised Putin as “genius” and “wonderful” when he first invaded Ukraine. Or Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Paul Gosar, who both spoke at a white-nationalist conference where the audience cheered “Putin! Putin!” just before they took the stage. Or House Speaker wannabe Kevin McCarthy, who rather than point the finger for rising gas prices at Putin, where it belongs, said, “These aren’t Putin prices, these are President Biden’s prices.” And then there are all the up-and-coming Putin wannabes in red-state governors’ mansions’ and legislatures who have big ambitions to bring their authoritarian flavor of crazy to Washington someday – Rick DeSantis, Greg Abbott, Wendy Rogers, and Janice McGeachin, just to name a few. It’s up to you and me to stop them. My experience as a Syrian-American has taught me that when it comes to authoritarian thugs like Putin and his Republican cronies, there’s no room for compromise or hesitation – they must be denied access to power, end of story. [The way we do that here in America is at the ballot box, so let’s get to work.]( Hassan Martini, Executive Director No Dem Left Behind P.S. [CLICK THIS LINK]( to watch a short video exposing Putin’s Republican cronies in their own words. 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