Letters to the editor Sept. 21

History warns us

In the late 1930s, Japan’s imperial ambitions collided with U.S. economic sanctions, particularly the 1941 oil embargo that cut off 88% of its petroleum imports. Dependent on foreign oil, Japan faced a stark choice: retreat from China and Indochina, sacrificing its empire, or strike preemptively to secure resources. 

The U.S., aiming to curb Japanese aggression, imposed measures that left Tokyo with dwindling reserves — barely two years’ worth in peacetime. Diplomacy faltered; the Hull Note of November 1941 was seen as an ultimatum. Feeling cornered, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, a desperate bid to neutralize the U.S. Pacific Fleet and seize Southeast Asian oil fields. The lesson is clear: economic strangulation can corner and push a nation into catastrophic escalation.

Today, Russia faces a similar bind. Oil and gas exports, funding up to 30% of its budget, are under siege. In 2025, revenues dropped 27% year-over-year to $9.8 billion in July, hit by sanctions, falling exports and a tightened price cap. The U.S. has targeted Russia’s “shadow fleet,” while the EU and UK slashed the oil price cap, potentially cutting revenues by 40%. 

Russia, unlike Japan, relies on energy exports to sustain its economy and war in Ukraine. Further measures — secondary sanctions on buyers like India and China, stricter vessel bans or a global phase-out of Russian energy — could halve Russian revenues, mirroring Japan’s crisis.

Yet, pushing Russia too hard risks unintended consequences. Moscow, viewing sanctions as economic warfare, may retaliate with supply disruptions, cyberattacks or escalation in Ukraine. Alliances with Iran, China or North Korea could deepen. Though Russia has BRICS partners, prolonged pressure could spark military escalation, echoing Japan’s gamble. The Kremlin’s rhetoric already hints at desperate measures, much like Japan’s leaders saw no “honorable exit” in 1941.

History warns us: cornering a nation with vital resource dependencies can provoke unpredictable aggression. As we tighten the screws on Russia, we must balance pressure with diplomacy to avoid pushing a nuclear power into a corner from which it sees only one way out — conflict.

— William Lincoln, Lakeside

Updates on Conrad Memorial Cemetery

The C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery Association, and its board of trustees, is committed to serving the families of Flathead County with dignity, transparency and continuity. We want to update our community on a recent operational challenge and the steps we are taking to serve our Conrad Cemetery community.

The board would first like to announce the hiring of our new caretaker, Jeff Epperly. As of Sept. 1, Mr. Epperly is managing all cemetery operations, including assisting current and prospective Conrad Cemetery families with burial plot purchases and internment arrangements. Mr. Epperly can be reached directly at 406-955-9808 for any cemetery business. 

Unfortunately, the board must also announce that one of Mr. Epperly’s immediate and difficult tasks is to help us resolve an ongoing issue with former cemetery management personnel.

In early June 2025, keys to the cemetery office were removed by the then-caretaker and his office assistant without authorization, preventing trustees and staff from accessing important operational and plot-availability records. Although the keys were returned in late June 2025, the Association trustees discovered that critical cemetery plot maps, log books and computer records had been removed from the office in the interim.

Despite exhaustive outreach efforts — initially to the former caretaker and office assistant directly, then through their family and friends, and ultimately including civil legal action — the board has been unable to procure the return of critical plot-availability records. The locations of the cemetery records, and of the former employees who took them, are currently unknown.

Sadly, because the missing records are essential to confirming available plots and coordinating burials, some Conrad Cemetery families have had to endure the added grief of delaying arrangements for their loved ones until the records are returned, or making alternative arrangements when delay is not an option.

The Conrad Cemetery Association remains dedicated to its mission of maintaining a beautiful, historic and respectful resting place for our community’s loved ones. 

To that end, we ask for any help the public may be able to offer to facilitate delivery of Conrad Cemetery’s records to caretaker Jeff Epperly, or to any of our trustees, being Jeffrey Ellingson, C. Mark Hash, Mark Hensley and B.J. Lupton.

— Jeffrey Ellingson, board president, C.E. Conrad Memorial Cemetery Association