Joseph Stalin (1878 – 1953) One of the most powerful and murderous dictators in history, Stalin was the supreme ruler of the Soviet Union for a quarter of a century. His regime of terror caused the death and suffering of tens of millions, but he also oversaw the war machine that played a key role in the defeat of Nazism.
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By Tony Olsson, North Devon, UK (guest blogger)

How could the western nations ignore the abuse by its wartime ally the USSR of all of the countries it had conquered during WW2?

Why didn’t America and Britain declare war on the USSR as its tanks and troops invaded Hungary, Czechoslovakia, and Poland?

Why was the attempt by Gorbachev to bring the Baltic States countries to heel by armed force ignored by the British press?

Why do western arms manufacturers sell guns and tanks and war planes to corrupt regimes that they know cannot act responsibly?

Why did the western nations not only not take punitive action against China for the Tiananmen Square massacre and on-going human rights abuses, but have put their countries in hock to China by closing down and moving the bulk of their manufacturing capacity to that country?

Why did NATO take so long to decide to act against Libya, and why hasn’t it acted against the rulers of Syria, Yemen, Zimbabwe and ... ? I could go on and on; the list is endless.

And why hasn’t action been taken against the rulers of Israel and Russia for the atrocities they are inflicting against other nations in the support of their own vested interests?

If Russia did invade in order to bring “its” Baltic republics back into the fold, would NATO come to their aid?

I was born the day President Roosevelt of America died a couple of weeks before the end of WW2, so have lived through, but mercifully have not been involved in any of the above conflicts. I can remember as an eleven year old, being very angry that Britain and America did not go to the aid of Hungary in 1956. The invasion of Czechoslovakia produced the same reaction, but was tempered by the bizarre coincidence that on the day the USSR invaded, I was at a concert in Norwich, England, given by the USSR State Symphony Orchestra conducted by Maxim Shostakovich. I think his father’s 5th Symphony was one of the works performed.

Sadly the answers to the questions boil down to VESTED INTERESTS.

A fear of WW3 is always at the back of the mind, but none of the major conflicts since 1945 has gone that far. It can’t be ruled out though..

So ultimately it comes down to smaller scale vested interests, all of which revolve around money: the arms manufacturers who don’t care who gets killed as long as they make a profit; the financiers who make money by investing money with firms who do business with corrupt regimes; the manufacturing bosses who put thousands out of work because they will make bigger profits if they move production to other countries (and I’m not talking just about China here); the politicians who will not act against a corrupt regime because that could result in reprisals against the organisations doing business with the corrupt regime; the group of countries that will not support a member that wants to act out of line, or even an enlightened politician who has ideas out of line with the prevailing majority (as a former USSR republic you know only too well what I am referring to).

Sorry to be a pessimist, but I see no end to the suffering. But to Aage Myhre and everyone who has suffered and is suffering pain because of past and present injustices, all I can say is the problems were too big to be dealt with at the time, and many are too big to be dealt with now. But be reassured by the fact that the tyranny of Stalin and his neo-Nazi version of Communism came to an end eventually. Patience rather than mental agonising and reprisals can win, even though it will be painful at the time. Wisdom to judge when a course of action can achieve the desired result is useful, as is the bravery needed to take a stand against injustice.

Tony Olsson
10 Oxford Grove, Ilfracombe, North Devon, EX34 9HQ, UK