Updated: March 01, 2022 03:58 AM GMT
Today my op-ed is short, simple and straight to the point: 2022 is 1939 all over again.
It is also 1989 — the Tiananmen Square massacre and the iconic image of “Tank Man” — all over again.
And, I remind you, the people of Myanmar are fighting 1988 all over again.
And it’s 9/11 all over again.
These iconic dates used to be etched in our calendars as anniversaries to be honored. Today they are battles to be continued.
The world faces a choice. To live in freedom and in peace — or under tyranny and in fear. That’s the dividing line.
It is not a division between races, religions, continents or nations. It is a division between ideology and way of life. It is a division between two fundamental questions:
Do we wish to govern ourselves freely, to hold our leaders accountable and preserve the rule of law?
Or will we allow the world to be run by the law of the jungle, the rule of the madman, the triumph of might over right?
That is the choice we face.
It is time to take sides. For freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, peace, justice and truth against tyranny, barbarity, brutality, inhumanity, criminality, lies, war and disorder
As in 1939, we are at a turning point.
We either allow a madman to tear up the international rules-based order and rampage across Europe.
Or we stand up and fight to defend not only ourselves, our order, our sovereignty and our values, but also to deter other tyrants from following suit, for the sake of the whole world.
The truly courageous people of Ukraine have shown us the way through their defiant and brave leadership. Will we be inspired and follow them? Or not?
This is the shortest op-ed I have written. But it may just be my most important. This may also be the world’s most important battle.
It is time to take sides. For freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule of law, peace, justice and truth against tyranny, barbarity, brutality, inhumanity, criminality, lies, war and disorder.
Everywhere. Your choice. Pray.
* Benedict Rogers is a writer and human rights activist, senior analyst for East Asia at the international human rights organization CSW and co-founder and chief executive of Hong Kong Watch. He is also co-founder and deputy chair of the Conservative Party Human Rights Commission, an adviser to the Stop Uyghur Genocide Campaign and co-founder of the International Coalition to Stop Crimes Against Humanity in North Korea (ICNK). The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official editorial position of UCA News.
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