Russian Tensions
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Ministers who disagree with Bozo might fear for their positions, but they don’t fear for their lives.
I prefer the hooting, whistling and cajoling of the House of Commons to the subdued silence of Putin’s court.
Amid the talk of war crimes in Ukraine, a reminder of what happened when NATO bombed cities in Yugoslavia in from March to June 1999:
“The NATO bombing killed about 1,000 members of the Yugoslav security forces in addition to between 489 and 528 civilians. It destroyed or damaged bridges, industrial plants, hospitals, schools, cultural monuments, private businesses as well as barracks and military installations.”
“‘Dual-use’ targets, used by civilians and military, were attacked, including bridges across the Danube, factories, power stations, telecommunications facilities, the headquarters of Yugoslav Leftists, a political party led by Milošević’s wife, and the Avala TV Tower. Some protested that these actions were violations of international law and the Geneva Conventions. NATO argued these facilities were potentially useful to the Yugoslav military and thus their bombing was justified.”
And got away with it.
More hypocrisy, double standards and lack of historical knowledge, this time over the vote today in the UN General Assembly to condemn the Russian invasion.
The media were emphasising how rare such emergency sessions are, this being only the 11th since the UN was set up in 1946. No mention that the two previous ones were aimed at Israel following its occupation and virtual annexation of the Golan Heights in 1982 and East Jerusalem in 1998. These sessions were held following the USA using its veto in the Security Council.
Politicians have been saying that the Russian annexation of Crimea marked the end of the principle of the UN that no member state should annex the territory of another. Israel did this in annexing the Golan heights from Syria. Not only did Israel use the resolution condemning this as toilet paper but the US ignored it too; in fact defied it in 2019 when it recognised this annexation.
The UN (Security Council and General Assembly) is a talking shop incapable of preventing wars as it was was intended to. It is also a producer of toilet paper and Russia can add the latest resolution to its stock.
Polish far-right attack non-white refugees
George Monbiot criticises the anti-war left
True anti-imperialism means opposing not only the west’s imperialism, essential as this is. It’s about opposing all imperialism, whether western, Russian, Chinese or other. It’s about opposing all aggressive wars, regardless of who wages them. It’s about resisting the temptation to believe that your enemy’s enemy must be your friend.
UK unions refuse to handle Russian cargo
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/02/pluto-tanker-oil-russia-uk-ban-loophole
Russian anti-war protests
War-hawk John Bolton denies Trump was anti-Russian
John Bolton pushes back on Newsmax host: "[Trump] barely knew where Ukraine was…It's just not accurate to say that Trump's behavior somehow deterred the Russians" pic.twitter.com/ICRmmeJ8C3
— Jason S. Campbell (@JasonSCampbell) March 1, 2022
As you say, ALB, praise and endorsement by the UN are selectively cited.
Likewise, the condemnation of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch of the Russians who were just mere weeks ago unreliable sources regards apartheid Israel.
But once again with Ukraine we face the problem of being neither pro- or anti-invasion, the third-camp position. We are tarred as either apologists for Putin or imperialism and fascism.
Damned if we do and damned if we don’t
Russia demanded NATO withdraw to its 1997 borders. Could this mean confronting the Baltics is indeed a possibility?
Anti-war voices silenced
Labour backbenchers including John McDonnell and Diane Abbott have pulled out of attending a Stop the War rally in London.
https://www.rferl.org/a/russian-pows-interrogation-ukraine/31726675.html
Russian soldiers say they were lied to and did not know they were going to war.
Craig Murray comments
“Initiating a war on this scale has no legal justification, and no moral justification either. Russian troops are in areas which have no wish to be ruled by Russia.
Those of us who opposed the illegal invasion of Iraq must also oppose the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Whether the Ukrainian government is obnoxious or not is as irrelevant now, as the obnoxiousness of Saddam Hussein was irrelevant then. I am as fed up now with being asked if I support Ukrainian Nazis as I was then with being asked if I supported Saddam Hussein.”“The more fundamental point is that Putin is no more a “good guy” than Western leaders. Russia is a massively kleptocratic state where the gap between the extremely wealthy and the exploited general populace is every bit as big as the gap in the West, and until recently was inarguably much bigger. The human rights situation in Russia is poor. In fact in both those respects, the West is moving increasingly to looking like Russia, which is a very bad thing.
Putin’s Russia is no kind of socialist model.
Putin’s image as the strong man of Eurasia is boosted out of all proportion by those on the right who benefit from portraying a powerful enemy: and by those on the left who yearn for a powerful friend. This is the universal boosting of Putin. But in real life he is a much smaller figure, controlling a waning power of very limited resources. He has just made his largest miscalculation.”
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