Kash Butler

Ukraine War

“The war in Ukraine,” this headline has been on the front of every major media company all over

government invaded Ukraine. The Russian army began to make its push in Ukraine in hopes of

taking Kiev the capital of Ukraine. Since then, it’s been two months and the most Russia has to

show for it is the death that has plagued the country pushing the Ukrainian Government to the

breaking point. But, with this there has been push back by the Ukraine people. There has been

reports of the people picking up arms and using gorilla warfare tactics to run out the Russian

military. But in the past months there has been discussion about the civil rights that the

Ukrainian people have given up fighting for their country. The most recent infringement that

Ukraine has made against Russia is blocking Russian media stations from entering the country.

Which consequently would put pressure on free speech. Also, the Ukrainian government has put

a ban on the Russian orthodox church and has blocked any priest from Russia to enter and gather

any religious property or text. With this, I believe that yes, freedom of religion is the case but

given the circumstances of the current conflict I would say that he is justified. The government

has also put a ban on any social media from Russia to bring the Ukrainian people together

without any negative influence. I think that this is not the most constitutional thing and really is

unconstitutional under the peace time law. I understand the approach of the Ukrainian

government but to keep to the basis of democracy, civil liberties must be upheld. However, the

conflict is not morally correct as the Russian government is invading Ukraine and because of

that, the two counties are at war. So, the question remains, “Should Ukraine set aside democracy

and a free society to overcome their invaders?” The answer I would give is yes. I feel that the

people agree with the current rise and the peoples urge to fight back. The people are willing to
fight and the documentation of this is astounding. People are giving up their comfortable lives

and risking the possibility of death to fight for their civil liberties. It is inspiring and the constant

push to have support from allies is essential in their task. So there has been a partial waiver, in a

sense, to do what ever it takes to protect Ukraine and the people standing behind this. With this, I

feel that we should look back to the most previous war. The Afghan war is one that I feel has the

same circumstance in regard to protecting the civilians’ civil rights. Now this conflict was a very

controversial war involving American lives. But, more importantly the manner in which the very

violent war raised concerns in regard to potential Afghan people being collateral to U.S. attacks.

The American military made tactical decisions to clear areas before potential attacks to combat

the concern. The Afghani people were in some eyes forced out of their homes. But some would

lean more to the fact of keeping them safe rather than be respectful of their civil liberties. With

that, I would have to agree with this in this case to not only keep American lives safer but also to

keep the free and innocent Afghan people safe. With this the restraints that were imposed by the

U.S. government followed the same context and the statement made by the administration of that

time. One of the restraints was a curfew stating that if an Afghani citizen was caught out past a

certain time they were considered the enemy. Consequently, the matter is that the collateral

damage still went on the New York Post reported that 48,000 Afghan civilians have been killed

since 2001. Now given this, the culture in Afghanistan was very different with regard to social

normalities. Also, the war was to fight terrorism and given the circumstances, civil liberties were

put on the back burner do to the more aggressive conflict. In addition, the relationship between

the two conflicts is that stronger governments were willing and committing murder for political

gain and power. So, with this I would have to say that in the context of war and violence the

compromise for safety and future outweigh the current infringement on civil liberties. Also, I do
feel while setting civil liberties aside for the betterment and safety of the countries people does

need to be cautioned. This may lead to future wrongful infringement of the people’s rights and

could lead to a slippery slope of giving the government too much power and not being able to

return to righteous democracy. With this the decision is only left to the people and needs to lie

with the people to protect the future and current liberties Ukrainian citizens hold dearly.

However, I feel that the question now really becomes is it possible for civil liberties to be upheld

in times of war. With the current conflict becoming more violent and tension rising still between

Ukraine, and Russia I do not think will get better. But in essence looking back to the past and

going over the more similar parts of these two conflicts I feel that in times of war, civil liberties

of the people will continue to be pushed back and will not change. In conclusion, the Ukraine

conflict certainly has some infringements of civil liberties and I believe will continue to get

worse in the coming months. Also, to furthermore prove my point looking back on the Afghan

war more similar things happened in regards to civil rights and to compare and contrast I feel

that history is repeating in front of the worlds eyes without question. The two conflicts are only

two examples of the consequences of war and the infringements that will continue to happen. So,

I will leave with this, with war comes consequences and the undeniable truth is humanity is

forgotten in conflict and civil rights just one example of what violence can easily destroy.

Works Cited

Archive, View Author, and Get author RSS feed. “By the Numbers: US War in Afghanistan’s

Toll in Lives Lost, Money Spent.” New York Post, 29 Feb. 2020,
 nypost.com/2020/02/29/by-the-numbers-us-war-in-afghanistans-toll-in-lives-lost-money-

spent/?msclkid=ac41c8fac72c11ec8e9a8b37a8641546. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022.

---. “The Cost of the Afghanistan War: Lives, Money and Equipment Lost.” New York Post, 31

Aug. 2021, nypost.com/2021/08/31/the-cost-of-the-afghanistan-war-lives-money-and-

equipment-lost/?msclkid=70fbb18ec72111ec81676df1152a25fa.

“Ukraine: Freedom in the World 2021 Country Report.” Freedom House,

freedomhouse.org/country/ukraine/freedom-world/2021?

msclkid=d34c623ac68d11ec8235e30f6644a9f8. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022.

“When Did the Ukraine War Begin?” CounterPunch.org, 10 Mar. 2022,

www.counterpunch.org/2022/03/10/when-did-the-ukraine-war-begin/?

msclkid=b3bf1372c72c11ec82059f7d8cc1676c. Accessed 28 Apr. 2022.