High Time War Crimes Declared
By Wayne Saalman
AS MORE BOMBS BLOW, as more cities and villages burn, as untold numbers of innocent civilians continue to die in Ukraine in full view of camera crews from around the world, as well as in full view of the millions of camera-phones belonging to countless ordinary citizens who are trapped in the heart of this conflict, the naked aggression of the Russian forces and the truth of war has never been made so obvious to so many.
Because it is so unmistakably clear that the slaughter of civilians is taking place, it is high time that war crimes be declared and with the same swiftness that governments around the globe have imposed sanctions on Russia so that their dictator knows without equivocation that his unconscionable violation of human rights is not just unacceptable, but criminal in the extreme.
The free world has acted swiftly to impose these sanctions as never before, which is a sign that governments can act in unison, in outrage and in decisiveness when the need presents itself. This presentation is again due to the all-seeing eye of the camera lens. In today’s world, there is no hiding the truth of war. No propaganda machine nor spin lackey can erase what appears on our television, laptop and phone screens. Naked aggression in today’s world is visually unfiltered, which speaks louder than the rhetoric of any aggressor. In Putin’s case, the rhetoric has reached absurd proportions. Calling the leaders of Ukraine “Neo-Nazis and drug addicts” as this criminal leader has done is so obviously untrue as to make the man appear mentally deranged, especially when we hear Ukraine’s courageous president, Volodymyr Zelensky, speak with such measured rationality.
While the sanctions imposed have had an impact and will continue to do so in the coming months and perhaps years, they send a message loud and clear about what is acceptable behavior and what is not, yet the Russian dictator continues to be hell-bent on stealing what is not his.
As a pariah on the world stage, Putin needs to know that he will be brought to justice one day in the future, that no government of conscience will choose to do business with him from this day forward, that he and his cronies may be bunkered in their fortress for now, but they are sacrificing all their tomorrows for their ruthless, heartless acts today.
As an American, I know that my country has imposed its will on foreign people numerous times over the decades and that some of those interventions have been proven to be wrong. (Vietnam was wrong and so was the “Shock and awe” in Iraq.) For that, the American government and people have paid a heavy price. Yes, innocent civilians have died at the hands of certain American leaders, which breaks my heart the same as how today’s conflict in Ukraine breaks my heart. Any spiritually sensitive human being cannot but be horrified by what is happening there.
Time and again, government leaders have badly miscalculated their remand, just as Putin is badly miscalculating his remand in Ukraine today. The difference is that American leadership is forced by constitutional law to change hands in time if the results of a free election make that determination. New leadership can be voted into office. While Russia for a time also enjoyed democracy and a free press, Putin has put an end to that and has installed himself in place as president for life.
Now the Russian government is going draconian on its own people and outlawing any and every journalistic freedom across the land. It is shifting into absolute totalitarian mode, and this bodes very ill for both the Russian and the Ukrainian people as the propaganda machine revs up it menacing and dangerous rhetoric and has its evil way with the citizenry of Russia, even as it continues to send its own innocent young to die for the lie they insist is truth.
Declare the Russian dictator a war criminal now! The sooner the better. Please. The future of the world depends on it. Let all people of conscience speak up and do so loudly.
