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I’m an unapologetic evangelical Christian. If someone disparaged Jesus Christ in my presence, I might pity them, but I wouldn’t get angry about it. However, not everybody looks at life the same way I do.
I was once working an overnight shift in a busy inner city emergency room when the cops dragged in a homicidal maniac who happened also to be Muslim. This guy was a product of his sordid world and was also hopped up on some pretty serious illicit substances. It took four police officers to get him strapped down.
If you can divest yourself of the emotions of the moment, it is fascinating to just stand back and watch people like that operate. This guy was absolutely unhinged. His insensible rages mixed ghetto slang with simply incalculable venom directed at frankly everybody. What made it really weird was the Muslim eschatology he sprinkled over the top of his rant for flavor.
I have no idea what initially sparked his interaction with Law Enforcement. At some point during his arrest, he had suffered a pretty impressive gash to the side of his head. I got plenty of help to hold him sort of still and sewed his head back together. The result will not hang in the Louvre. However, he didn’t bleed to death, either, so there’s that. I can only imagine what that dude felt like the following day when all the wicked X/crank/cat valium/whatever finally ran its course.
I have several Muslim buddies who are simply great blokes. This guy, however, was a freaking lunatic. What I recall most clearly about that exchange is how passionate he was about his faith, even under conditions of such extremis. One of the cops goaded him a little bit about that, and I feared the poor guy might just explode. Under the wrong circumstances, Muslim extremists simply have no sense of humor. We see the results of that play out on the news somewhere almost every day.
The Foundation
Vladimir Putin’s legions rolled into neighboring Ukraine on 24 February 2022. The Russian Special Military Operation was the largest attack against a European country since World War 2. What Putin clearly thought would be a brief but violent incursion wherein the locals welcomed his occupying forces with open arms has turned out to be something altogether different. Now more than three years on, Ukraine has been a bloodbath for all involved.
It’s kind of weird if you think about it. Even this deep into the Information Age, a nation-state invaded another, driven solely by the hubris of a single megalomaniacal dictator. As a species, one might hope we would be beyond that these days. By now, however, Putin has painted himself into a corner out of which he cannot seem to escape.
Putin is a monster, but he’s not stupid. If he loses this fight, he becomes a prime candidate for summary defenestration. This is an unnecessarily polysyllabic way of saying that somebody will throw him out of a tall window. Accidentally falling from high places is a common refrain in Russia these days. As a result, with more than a million dead and wounded on both sides, there seems to be no handy off-ramp. To support his ill-conceived boondoggle, Putin has had to dig ever deeper into his reserves of manpower. Eventually, this was destined to cause problems.
The Setting
On 15 October 2022, a mixed-ethnicity combat unit preparing for deployment to Ukraine was training at a military facility near Soloti, Valuysky District, Belgorod Oblast, Russia. The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organization that was formed from the wreckage of the Soviet Union back in 1991. The CIS has a land area of some 7.8 million square miles and a population of nearly 240 million people. It is from this deep well that Putin draws meat for his expansive military machine. However, such a large country encompasses a great many disparate political and religious groups.
There is an intimacy implicit in military service that really has no parallel in the civilian world. Young, fit, testosterone-fueled troops come together for a common mission and bond via corporate suffering. This odd milieu can create some of the most powerful friendships as well as some of the most acrimonious conflicts. In this case, a trio of young Muslim soldiers was having second thoughts about the appropriateness of the enterprise. Eyewitnesses actually later reported that these three had formally declared that, “This was not our war,” and attempted to extricate themselves from their current sordid situation.
Kerosene on the Campfire
In response to this simmering dissent, their battalion commander, one Lieutenant Colonel Andrei Lapin, called a confab. His subordinates drew his unit up in formation and had the troops sing the national anthem. Now appropriately infused with patriotic fervor, LTC Lapin addressed the group, no doubt intending to inspire his charges for the inevitable fight to come. Tragically, his motivational speech did not have the desired effect.
Lapin explained that Putin’s Special Military Operation was actually a holy war. He likely invoked thoroughly debunked Nazi imagery and sundry talking points that Putin and his minions used to con the Russian people into this boondoggle in the first place. There resulted a most acrimonious discourse on what it actually meant for a Muslim to engage in jihad. The Muslims present were apparently concerned that the current circumstances did not technically meet the criteria.
It Gets Worse
These three increasingly agitated Tajiks tried to explain that holy war only happened when pious Muslims were fighting infidels. The group began to fractionate into Muslims and everyone else. Then somebody started shoving. Now letting his temper get the better of him, Lapin said, “Allah is a coward if he does not allow you to fight for the country to which you swore an oath.”
That phrase could also be translated, “Allah is a weakling.” There were devout Muslims among both the officer and enlisted ranks, and this characterization did not go over well with any of them. Now simply frustrated, Lapin dismissed his troops to sort out their troubles quietly. However, that’s not exactly how things unfolded.
If You Want Respect, Don’t Be Such a Turd
Lapin and his command team had not been terribly accommodating up to this point. The Russian rank system is notoriously top-heavy. Their officer class has a reputation for being both draconian and cruel. The American professional NCO corps is trained to take the initiative and get the job done at the lowest possible level. That’s the primary strength of our inimitable military system. By contrast, the Russians are much more dictatorial.
Before this time, the Muslim members of the unit had complained vociferously that they were not given the time, facilities, or space to practice their faith adequately. This created a simmering anger. LTC Lapin’s poorly-reasoned motivational speech disparaging their holy prophet was the match that lit a most horrible fire.
The Russians and Muslims continued to scrap in small groups, no doubt debating the finer points of Islamic doctrine. From Lapin’s point of view, the situation was defused. However, later that afternoon, the training schedule had the battalion slated for the rifle range. Once everybody was issued automatic weapons, it was game on.
A Suboptimal Place to Resolve Serious Conflicts
The original three rabble rousers, senior sergeants Bikzot and Anushe, along with a junior NCO named Ami, were indigenous Tajiks who were clearly serious about their faith. As soon as they were issued live ammunition, these three quietly directed their fellow Muslims to step aside. They then tracked down the heretic LTC Lapin and blew him away. This deed done, they turned their weapons on the rest of their infidel comrades.
Bikzot and Anushe chewed into the tightly packed troops with their assault rifles. Ami dropped his weapon and ran away. The result was carnage most ghastly.
The Empire Strikes Back
The two zealots ultimately murdered eleven of their comrades and wounded a further fifteen. An Ensign named Semyonov was in the nearby hut where they stored ammunition. As the shooters struggled to reload and continue their rampage, Semyonov heard the gunfire and responded instinctively.
The Russians were understandably tight-lipped on the details afterwards. However, witnesses reported that Semyonov was carrying his service pistol, and he obviously also had access to plenty of rifle ammo. In the subsequent chaos, Ensign Semyonov killed Bikzot and Anushe. He also shot Ami in the shoulder as he attempted to flee.
This was a secure military facility surrounded by wire. However, there was a nearby spot where troops had pulled the barrier material loose so they could sneak into the nearby town without clearing the guard shack. Ami dove through this hole and escaped. I was unable to determine whether or not he was ever caught, though I feel certain he was.
READ MORE HERE: SSG David Bellavia: It’s All Fun and Games Until Some Unwashed Lunatic Bites You in the Balls
Denouement
The current situation in Ukraine is just a mess. The last Ukrainian offensive degenerated into a stalemate, and both sides slaughter each other wholesale with drones, tanks, and artillery. Though the Russians clearly have their own myriad problems, tragically, I see no end in sight.
A point of personal privilege—There is currently great acrimony in Washington about support for the Ukrainians in their existential fight against the invading Russians. I honestly fail to comprehend this. The Ukrainians have problems with corruption, but our own President Biden was investigated for taking money from the Chinese. Corrupt politicians are a timeless scourge.
Additionally, we have been churning out weapons to fight the Russians my entire life. Much of what we are sending the Ukrainians is stuff we just pulled out of storage that was excess to our needs. Now that we have someone else who is willing to do the bleeding for us, this seems a once-in-a-century opportunity to drive a stake through the heart of the Russian menace once and for all.
It’s likely a good thing I’m not the President. Given their stellar performance in Afghanistan and on our own southern border, Biden and Company couldn’t have done much worse. It remains to be seen if President Trump will be able to talk the world down from all this.
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Will is still trying to figure out what he really wants to be when he grows up. However, shooting guns and claiming it was work seemed like a pretty sweet hustle. As a result, Will serendipitously transformed an avocation into a vocation.
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Another great story. I had to look up “eschatology”. I think the good doctor is a fan of William F. Buckley, Jr. 😉 (So am I..)
Many of the munitions we sent to Ukraine were and are scheduled to b we removed from our inventories as they are well beyond their expected service life or are obsolete.
In October of 1962, President Kennedy ordered a blockade of Cuba in order to stop Russia from placing ICBM’s 90 miles from Florida on Cuban soil. We wouldn’t tolerate that kind of threat next door then and we wouldn’t now. The Warsaw Pact dissolved in 1991 but let’s pretend it still existed, and Mexico or Canada decided they liked Russia and wanted to be a player and join up? Not a good scenario. That being said & if we’re to believe the news media at all, the U.S. had some involvement in a chemical agent lab in Ukraine (possibly two) and Zelensky was insisting, with Biden’s blessing to be a member of NATO. Is my point floating to the surface, here? Putin is a cold blooded, heartless monster-no doubt about that. But why in the hell did we give him the excuses he needed to invade Ukraine? Trump has said, over & over that this war should have never started & he’s absolutely right. Democrats love wars-makes their defense contractor donors richer with each shell fired & this war, in my humble opinion was promoted (Biden did say a “small invasion” -and I’m paraphrasing here, wouldn’t be much of a concern). You made the comment that Putin is backed into a corner and you’re right, he is. But the fact of the matter is that he was backed into a corner before this war started. He couldn’t allow his next-door neighbor to become a member of NATO any more than we could allow Russian missiles in Cuba or one of our neighboring countries to be in the Warsaw Pact. And I’m pretty sure our administration would get upset if either Canada or Mexico decided to operate a Russian chemical agent lab (again, if that’s true-I’ve never seen the proof). Now Putin has been given the opportunity to set his sights on taking all of Ukraine-or at least the parts of it he really wants, and he’ll probably get a big chunk just to shut this horrid, murderous campaign down.
Now that all this has erupted with no end in sight, the question of what to do about it lingers from day to day and week to week. And perhaps the most concerning part is that it’s brought Putin and Xi Jinping together and the two combined presents a really big problem to the U.S. and the world. Let’s hope that Trump’s planned sanctions and tariffs, along with his innate ability to make deals will prevail and end this senseless slaughter.
I thoroughly enjoy reading every article you write and respect your wit, wisdom and accomplishments. I do believe there is part of this story you’ve either avoided or just left out and it deserves to be said. I’m sure there are those that will disagree with what I’ve put on the table here and that’s okay-it makes for good conversation. Thank you for taking the time to educate and entertain us with your amazing writing skills. We truly do appreciate you.
I hate to trot out the number one Nazi here but it’s only a reference point. By April 1943 it was pretty obvious to the Nazis high command that they were going to lose, yet Adolf kept fighting another two years before committing suicide.
I really don’t think that the Flatulent Russian is going to stop until he’s dead and someone else will have to clean up the mess. Having said that maybe he should be introduced to “the rods of God”
Not our monkeys, not our circus.
Mike, I respect your opinion, brother. I really do. I have followed your posts for years now. However, the same could have been said of the Germans in both 1918 and 1940. Bullies never stop unless they are confronted with overwhelming force. We either do thing thing now or we do it later….
Excellent piece Dr. Dabbs. Always appreciate you continuing to speak out against Russian aggression against Ukraine and continuing to recognize Putin for what he is.
Wish I could say the same for many of my fellow commenters. Lots of useful idiots, witting or unwitting.
Although we are Brothers in Christ, and brothers in the majority of our accomplishments and outlooks on life Will, we will always view this latest European war differently. I agree wholeheartedly that Putin is the very definition of “narcissistic megalomaniac”, as are many in the upper echelons of the former Soviet Union. That doesn’t mean the entire populace of Russia, or even all the members of the their armed services, share their leaders’ desire for power. Indeed, you point that out quite elegantly in this very article. Quite similarly, we had (and in part still have) a cabal of unelected bureaucrats, who ran our nation hiding behind an animated corpse prior to late January of this year. Many, many, ungodly, immoral, illegal, and outright reprehensible actions were taken by these bad actors in the name of our own country. Should our entire populace be condemned for as much?
We see innumerable examples of “Orange Man Bad” every single day, but praise God that there were enough people not afflicted with TDS, to swing our last election. From reading all (or nearly all) of your writings that touch on anything involving Russia, you always paint the picture of “Russia Bad”. It’s as much the result of your Army training as anything else you may have seen/heard, or read about. For any group of warriors to be successful, they need an arch enemy. Prior to the collapse of the USSR, it fit the bill quite nicely. The reality on the ground now however, is quite different. Other than the long-heralded, doomsday nuclear strike, Russia poses zero threat to the USA. The very fact that Russia has yet to roll over Ukraine proves that point. If peace is not achieved via diplomacy, Russia will eventually gain peace on their own terms in Ukraine. There aren’t enough European soldiers to prevent it… which brings me back to the best reason of all for us (US) to pursue nothing other than diplomacy. It’s NOT our fight. It never has been. Even if by some miracle, Ukraine prevails, they would beg yet even more hundreds of billion$ to rebuild. Even after all of that, going forward they wouldn’t feel one ounce of gratitude for the help they’ve received. If you doubt that, just look at the rest of our so-called allies in NATO. They’ve been living the high-life while we’ve been responsible for nearly 100% of the military capability and actions for the last five decades. It’s long past time that the Europeans become responsible for their own backyard!
Frank, I respect your perspective. And, yes, I was conditioned to distrust the Russians while in uniform. That stuff is hard to unlearn. However, Putin rolled into a sovereign neighboring country with 110 battalion tactical groups. He’s killed tens of thousands of innocent Ukrainians. You say that’s not our fight. By the same logic, we would also have left the English at the mercy of Hitler. Somebody will have to stop the Russians eventually. We can do it now, when they are already on the ropes and somebody else is willing to do the bleeding, or our kids will have to. Overwhelming force here would send a good message to China as well. As it is, letting the Ukrainians die at the hands of a geopolitical bully just leaves the door open for Xi to do the same thing to Taiwan and Lord-only-knows who else down the road. Saving Ukraine wouldn’t cost a fraction of what Vietnam or Korea did and we strike at the very heart of the problem rather than the satellites. That’s just my take…
You saved that muslum’s life at the beginning of the article. Why did you do such a foolish thing? You’re a doctor, you save human lives? You do that by letting muslums die.
Having chased Dr. Dabbs around in print for awhile now (and enjoying every sentence of the way) in both the GA website and in hard copy, I can fault him only in a clip from his bio. I believe that Dr. Dabbs, despite his multiple accomplishments and interests, struggles not one whit with what he wants to be: a little boy.
There are four outcomes possible to the Russian Ukraine war, the west is bankrupted and China becomes the dominant financial power in the world and everyone including Russia takes a back seat, the Russian conventional army is destroyed and the Chinese needing new territory, overrun Russia, Russia and the West engage in Nuclear War and China takes over the remains of the world, Russia and Ukraine finally come to a peace agreement and both recover, this is the only scenario where China loses! Russia is fighting the wrong enemy!
As for Muslims, there can be no peace with them, they are only your friend until they gain supremacy and then your dead.Islam is an ideology designed for conquest and slavery, nothing more.
Or we do what it takes to defeat the Russian imperialists and our united resolve causes the Chinese to blink…
That ship has likely sailed, but that would have been my objective had I been President back in 2022.
The Chinese have a very long term plan, they are building colonies all over the world. We will probably end up fighting bloody civil wars across the world with the Muslims first, then when we are weakened, we will have to fight the Chinese. And then there is the World Economic Forum trying to undermine everyone in the world, that will have to be dealt with.
“Putin is a monster, but he’s not stupid. If he loses this fight, he becomes a prime candidate for summary defenestration. This is an unnecessarily polysyllabic way of saying that somebody will throw him out of a tall window. Accidentally falling from high places is a common refrain in Russia these days. As a result, with more than a million dead and wounded on both sides, there seems to be no handy off-ramp. To support his ill-conceived boondoggle, Putin has had to dig ever deeper into his reserves of manpower. Eventually, this was destined to cause problems.”
There’s a third option, the war that America’s well entrenched monsters, Barry Soetoro, George Soros, Susan Rice, fake POTUS #46, Willie Jeff Clinton, Victoria Nuland and a cast of thousands who have pushed for this costly conflict that might well end in a nuclear disaster.
Strangely, there were numerous opportunities to build a stable relationship with Russia and at almost every turn the US power brokers sought conflict, why? Clinton got the US into sectarian conflict during the Croat War. His was motive was strictly for self-serving political reasons that ended up with Milosevic dead while awaiting trial. Conveniently Clinton avoided trial with the Serbian leader’s death. Most Americans had no idea what that really has meant to Russia and most Americans have idea what a horrible man that proves Clinton to be, he is still an aging goofy “monster.”
Then there was the coup of dually elected Ukrainian, Viktor Yanukovych, that all of Russia knew was CIA through Nuland and Barry in the phony “Revolution of Dignity.” This led to Putin seizing the Crimea, which like many of those regions has both Russians and Ukrainians on both sides of the border. The US should never be involved; it has NOTHIONG to do with anyone’s “freedom.” Then Ukraine cut of water access to Crimea which would devastate all the people in Crimea and thus led to Putin’s current invasion. No negotiations by the Biden WH, the Democrats, under Soros these monsters wanted this deadly war between the two Slavic peoples Soros is pushing his grotesque “open society” and to cheer on this war is to cheer on that low life Soros.
The Honorable American, General Michael Flynn and others tried to reset with Russia after the Dems lost the election. The monsters of America nearly destroyed this awesome American, and the details are now being uncovered. Can’t have it both ways, either Genral Flynn is a traitor to this the US and Barry and Soros are great Americans or the opposite is true. I know the opposite to be in fact true.
During the Cuban missile crises, both JFK and RFK were urged to take shelter in nuclear bunkers. Both declined and were apparently ready to suffer the same fate as America and the rest of the world. Not Barry, his multimillion-dollar home in Martha’s Vineyard has been preped, you know the place where his beloved Chef Tafari Campbell died from a drowning. Terrible but not all problems fall off roofs or out of windows. How about the Choir director, Donald Young, he was the first. And then the Obama’s sought to make money at the box office with their dystopian racially charged view of the world that they have cause. What a smooth operator.
So, the question is, who do you consider to be a “monster”? General Fynn? Or George Soros and Barry Soetoro etc.?