Letters from Frank J. Spula, the President of the Polish American Congress regarding Russian Aggression on Georgia

Polish American Congress

The repugnant scenes of death and devastation perpetrated by a nation of nearly one hundred fifty million sending its air, land, and sea armed forces against a nation of five million conjures up all the past historical images of a brutish, autocratic Czarist empire and then equally brutish Soviet empire having its way with ethnic, religious, and political minorities within its empire and in neighboring states contiguous to it. Today the death and devastation is perpetrated in the name of an allegedly democratic Federation whose thinly-veiled antecedents persist into the 21st century.

As an American of Polish descent whose democratic birthright I hold dear and value by expressing my opinion at the ballot box, the ongoing events in Georgia provide me with a sobering reminder that the struggles for democracy are not easily won.

As an American of Polish descent whose ancestors lived under Russian oppression, I expect that my country – the United States of America – will do everything in its power to reasonably succor the people and the democratically-elected government of Georgia because, as we are the world’s best exemplar of democracy that upholds rather than tramples on human rights, it is the morally right thing to do.

Respectfully,

Frank J. Spula
President

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Lech Kaczynski
President, Republic of Poland
Presidential Palace
Warsaw, Poland

Dear President Kaczynski,

On behalf of the Polish American Congress, I commend your courage and resolve, along with that of the President Toomas Hendrik Ilves of Estonia, President Valdis Zalters of Latvia, President  Valdas Adamkus of Lithuania, and President Viktor Yushchenko of Ukraine, for traveling to Tbilisi and in calling for the immediate cessation of hostilities in Georgia, especially as it relates to the clearly inordinate use of force by Russia.

The repugnant scenes of death and devastation perpetrated by a nation of nearly one hundred fifty million sending its air, land, and sea armed forces against a nation of five million conjures up all the past historical images of a brutish, autocratic Czarist empire and then equally brutish Soviet empire having its way with ethnic, religious, and political minorities within its empire and in neighboring states contiguous to it. Today the death and devastation are perpetrated in the name of an allegedly democratic Federation whose thinly-veiled antecedents persist into the 21st century.

The ongoing events in Georgia provide me and all those who witness these tragic  developments with a sobering reminder that the struggles for democracy are not easily won, and that there is no end to this fight until powers such as Russia cease to arbitrarily impose their will on much smaller and militarily weaker nations by the unprincipled and reckless exercise of their military superiority.

As an American of Polish descent whose ancestors lived under Russian oppression, I expect that my country – the United States of America – will do everything in its power to reasonably succor the people and the democratically-elected government of Georgia because, as we are the world’s best exemplar of democracy that upholds rather than tramples on human rights, it is the morally right thing to do.

Respectfully,

Frank J. Spula
President

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Polish American Congress
1612 K Street, N.W. Suite 410
Washington, D.C. 20006
Tel: (202)

 296-6955
Fax: (202) 835-1565
Web: www.polamcon.org