Lakhota
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- Jul 14, 2011
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In the eyes of the world and almost certainly history, Vladimir Putinâs invasion of Ukraine on Thursday was an epic miscalculation, drawing comparisons to Adolf Hitler and Saddam Hussein for cold-blooded aggression that could challenge the world order and change its borders. The Russian leader appeared almost delusional in a pre-dawn speech from the Kremlin announcing a âspecial military operationâ to âprotectâ Donbas, the eastern region where Russian-backed separatists have waged a war for eight years. Putin, instead, immediately ordered Russian tanks into Ukraine and air strikes on the capital and more than a dozen cities in a country of forty million people. âPeace on our continent has been shattered,â the nato secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg told reporters. âWe now have war in Europe on a scale and of a type we thought belonged to history.â Putinâs ârecklessâ attack risks âcountless innocent lives,â Stoltenberg warned.
Putin is now, at minimum, a pariah condemned by leaders across the world. âPutin is the aggressor. Putin chose this war,â President Biden said in a speech to the nation announcing new sanctions on Russian financial institutions and Ă©lites. He charged that Putin âhas much larger ambitions than Ukraine.â âHe wants to, in fact, reĂ«stablish the former Soviet Union,â Biden said. âHis ambitions are completely contrary to the place where the rest of the world has arrived.â In one of a flurry of statements reflecting outrage globally, the European Commission chief, Ursula von der Leyen, called Russiaâs act âbarbaricâ and dismissed its justifications as âcynical.â In a tweet, the British Prime Minister, Boris Johnson, said he was appalled by Putinâs âhorrificâ decision to pursue âa path of bloodshed and destruction.â Putinâs military offensive put him on the diplomatic defensive. The French President, Emmanuel Macron, called the attack âa turning pointâ in history that will have a profound and lasting impact across the continent.
Putin may now also qualify as a war criminal, according to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. War crimes include willful killing and extensive destruction of property ânot justified by military necessity and carried out unlawfully and wantonly.â The term has been inconsistently interpreted and unevenly applied to leaders or countriesâincluding to the U.S. and its officialsâwho have initiated aggression for reasons considered unjustified. In Ukraine, Putinâs âwar of choiceâ has clearly violated international law through his invasion of a sovereign country and attempt to oust its government. After an emergency United Nations Security Council meeting, on Wednesday, the Secretary-General, AntĂłnio Guterres, warned that the Russian invasion could be the âworst warâ of the century âwith consequences not only devastating for Ukraine, not only tragic for the Russian Federationâ but for the entire world.
Much more at the link below...
Putin's Historic Miscalculation May Make Him a War Criminal
I totally agree. The above article was written by Robin Wright - a smart lady. What do you think?