What is Ukraine trying to do by their constant cries of war criminals and punishment
That wording or story line of "war criminals and punishment" really makes Ukraine look like they want the world attention focused on them
This is propaganda toward western powers for more arms. Pure and simple, plus a bit of encouragement to the civilian population
Yes I think war crimes have happened and a trial and punishment would be warranted
But who is going to go into russia and drag out the criminals???
Russia won't be a defeated country
Russia won't say: Yes these people did war crimes and you can have them
War crimes?? Propaganda for sympathy and yes the civilians need that and more but unfortunately the civilians will get nothing
What this really does is prove a headline has a maximum cycle of approx 4 weeks
Then the americian public want to be entertained with new material
Have you heard the term "old news"
Well this is it
Americans are tired of seeing burned out tanks etc
Now we need new material
Lucky for the press, Ukraine regained some territory and now the head line is war crimes with suitable pictures and stories
I wonder what the next news cycle will be??
Will it be about shortages and high prices of all kinds of stuff including food and gasoline right at the top of the list
Or maybe neighbouring countries receiving damaged war material and doing repairs to re-enter the battle
There will be no shortage of material for the short term
When will america get tired of Ukraine and seek different entertainment in the nightly news cast hour
.What is a war crime? Rules that go back to the 17th Century....
Best I can interpret this rule is as follows….
When an errant missile or shell hits civilians, it’s called “collateral damage”. It’s not a war crime
When a military intentionally targets and kills civilians ... that’s considered a “war crime”… but only when the other side is doing it.
In this war, for example, if Russian military intentionally targets apartment buildings… that would be a war-crime.
On the other hand, the Ukraine, for the last 8 years, has shelled and killed civilians in the Donbass region, resulting in 9000 civilian deaths (some say 17,000) this would not be called a war crime, because we are on the side of the Ukraine.
I can easily think of other such situations in history.
A WW2 example…
Marschall Goering, head of Hitler’s Air Force, bombed London during the “war for Britain”. Killed some 26,000 civilians. War crime? Most certainly.
In retaliation, the Allied Forces then bombed numerous cities in Germany. My hometown was also the subject of a “carpet bombing”. I can’t blame them for this. I fully understand why this was done.
Right at the end of the war, Marshall Harris of the Royal Air Force bombed Dresden. Many say, this raid was not necessary... the war was almost over This city was filled up with refugees, escaping from the advancing Russian army. In this bombing raid, the feared phosphorus bomb was used. It created so much heat that the streets melted. Estimated fatality rates vary, but 150,000 is a good guess.
Goering was sentenced to death during the Nuremberg Trial, for his war crimes (I can’t argue with that conviction)…. while Harris received a statue as a war hero.
In the Pacific theatre….
Curtis LeMay firebombed Tokyo, a city with mostly wooden buildings. It started a firestorm so hot that people burst into flames just running on the streets. Some 200,000 civilians died during these bombings.
Why did he do this?...to break the spirit of the people in the enemy country and encourage them to surrender. (can't argue with this logic))
After the war, LeMay admitted that he would have been charged with war crimes, had Japan won the war.
I believe, this is how the rules about “war crimes” have been used, and will always be used.
Coming to think of it… not long ago, there was another big country that invaded a small country and killed a lot of people there…Iraq
ahhh, let’s not go there
I can tell who gets their news from Zero Hedge here.
You make a great point on the Iraq War, and the US doing a similar thing in the past, under the Republican administration at the time (good old Dick Chaney) and it's hypocrisy, Gunter.
This is not Iraq though.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/order-from-chaos/2021/09/17/9-11-and-iraq-the-making-of-a-tragedy/
These are 2 different situations, independent of each other, almost 2 decades apart.
The actions/results of the first one, should have no bearing on the 2nd one.