Day: August 17, 2022

Those War Crimes

War crimes are crimes against humanity…..participants involved in any conflict that are accused of acting with barbarity toward their enemies.

War crimes, under international law, happen when civilians, prisoners of war, hospitals or schools – essentially anyone and anything that isn’t involved in military activities – are targeted during a conflict.

This brings us to Ukraine…..The West has been accusing Russia of committing war crimes…..Ukraine is accusing Russia of war crimes…..Russia is accusing Ukraine of war crimes…..and the rhetoric goes on.

There was a big push for there to be an investigation into all the allegations…..but just how hard is it to prove war crimes?

The United Nations reports that at least 5,237 Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the Ukraine war – but other estimates place this figure at more than 10,000.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has started more than 16,000 investigations into suspected war crimes committed by Russians.

For me and my colleagues – who since 1998 have worked in securing forensic evidence of these types of crimes in Afghanistan, Guatemala and other places – it is apparent that identifying and collecting evidence of international crimes like killing civilians during conflict is beyond the capabilities and resources of local police crime scene teams, criminal investigators and prosecutors.

It’s also likely that the full extent of war crimes committed by both Ukraine and Russia won’t be investigated and possibly prosecuted until after the war finally ends.

This means that in the case of the Ukraine war, a new, unbiased judiciary and investigatory organization will likely need to be set up to handle the claims and questions about tens of thousands of victims on all sides. This will take decades of work and cost a large amount of money, requiring the support of rich countries.

https://theconversation.com/proving-war-crimes-isnt-simple-a-forensics-expert-explains-whats-involved-with-documenting-human-rights-violations-during-conflicts-from-afghanistan-to-ukraine-182579

Before any indictments are handed down this war will be just a vague memory in most Americans minds……and the cost is another item all together.

I know everybody wants justice….but will justice be forthcoming?

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”

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The Black Hole Of War

Our country has been at war since the end of WW2….and each of these wars has become a black hole or a money put.

In recent years a prime example is Afghanistan….a country into which the US pour dollar after dollar and in the end got nothing for the price we paid.

And now we have the war in Ukraine to take the place of Afghanistan as the money pit…the black hole with no end……

The Western countries and the US have pledged a long term involvement in Ukraine….

At a conference in Denmark on Thursday, 26 Western nations agreed to continue supporting Ukraine in its war against Russia for the long term and pledged more than $1.5 billion in new military aid.

The $1.5 billion includes donations from the UK, Denmark, and Norway, but more countries are expected to pledge money. “It will grow,” said Danish Foreign Minister Morten Bødskov. “Some of the countries need to go back home and get the support of their parliaments.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the conference via video link, and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov attended the meeting in person. Neither official specified what sort of weapons Ukraine was going to receive from the new aid.

The UK said Thursday that it would provide Ukraine with more multiple rocket launch systems that have a range of about 50 miles. Norway said that it will start training Ukrainian troops in Britain.

The new aid pledged by 26 nations on Thursday is just a fraction of what the US has been sending Ukraine. On Monday, the US announced $4.5 billion in budgetary aid for the Ukrainian government and a new $1 billion weapons package.

Ukraine is expecting to receive $3 billion of the new budgetary aid this month and for the remaining $1.5 billion to arrive in September. According to the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the new funds brings the total budgetary aid the US has provided Ukraine to $8.5 billion.

Since Russia invaded on February 24, the US has pledged over $9 billion in weapons for Ukraine. The funds are being pulled from the $40 billion Ukraine aid bill that President Biden signed into law back in May, which is meant to last through September 30.

(antiwar.com)

A report on the money spent on Afghanistan…..

Pentagon contractors operating in Afghanistan over the past two decades raked in nearly $108 billion—funds that “were distributed and spent with a significant lack of transparency,” according to a report published Tuesday.

https://www.commondreams.org/news/2022/08/09/pentagon-contractors-afghanistan-pocketed-108-billion-over-20-years

The US goes even further and is basically censoring zany reports in the MSM about the war in Ukraine……

Following objections from the Ukrainian government, CBS News has removed a short documentary which had reported concerns from numerous sources that a large amount of the supplies being sent to Ukraine aren’t making it to the front lines.

The Ukrainian government has listed its objections to the report on a government website, naming Ukrainian officials who objected to it and explaining why each of the CBS news sources it dislikes should be discounted. After the report was taken down and the Twitter post about it removed, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said this was a good start but still not enough.

“Welcome first step, but it is not enough,” Kuleba tweeted. “You have misled a huge audience by sharing unsubstantiated claims and damaging trust in supplies of vital military aid to a nation resisting aggression and genocide. There should be an internal investigation into who enabled this and why.”

The CBS News article about the documentary was renamed, from “Why military aid to Ukraine doesn’t always get to the front lines: ‘Like 30% of it reaches its final destination’” to the far milder “Why military aid in Ukraine may not always get to the front lines.” An editor’s note on the new version of the article explicitly admits to taking advisement on its changes from the Ukrainian government, reading as follows:

The Ukrainian Boondoggle as a Black Hole

All this is about keeping the money flowing into the pit….and trying to keep the American people out of the equation….and Taiwan will be the next black hole.

The voters have new shiny objects to chase other than the wasted resources and cash thrown at Ukraine….as always the attention span is limited.

Maybe it is time to involve yourself and stop the flow of cash to black holes we create…..if you are worried about the deficit then stop all misadventures and wars that do nothing but waste money.

Get involved….be the voice of the nation….

Enough said!

I Read, I Write, You Know

“lego ergo scribo”