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Germany Goes To War | 150 comments (150 topical, editorial, 0 hidden)
America Big Tech Censors (none / 0)

Sanctioned for not toeing the line of White House and Pentagon propaganda ...

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 04:13:35 PM EST
Re: America Big Tech Censors (none / 0)
In less than one week, @PayPal has shut down the accounts of @calebmaupin, @MnarMuh, @AlanRMacLeod, @MintPressNews and @Consortiumnews. This is the new wave of censoring everyone critical of the bipartisan war machine: directly attacking their finances.

I may not agree with you, but I will always defend your right for freedom of expression ...

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 04:14:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
The Emperor Has No Clothes (none / 0)

The remark is actually often attributed to Voltaire but that's not who said it. The quote is the work of his biographer Evelyn Beatrice Hall.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 04:16:00 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: America Big Tech Censors (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 04:16:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: America Big Tech Censors (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 04:17:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Nit picking (none / 0)
this time with the historic states of the former Prussian empire across Poland, Baltics and the Ukraine.

(Part of) Poland, check. (Most of) Lithuania, check.

The other Baltics, and Ukraine: you must be confusiong Prussia with Russia. Easy mistake to make.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 04:52:40 PM EST
People Who Row: Vikings Meet Russians (none / 0)

Why Did Russia & Prussia Have Such Similar Names?

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 05:20:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: People Who Row: Vikings Meet Russians (none / 1)
... in English you mean?

Rossiya, Preussen. Not so much.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Tue May 3rd, 2022 at 08:13:15 AM EST
[ Parent ]
War: financing (4.00 / 2)
antiwar | House Republican Introduces Bill To Give Biden Sweeping Authorities To Wage War in Ukraine
On Sunday, Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-IL) announced a new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). If passed, the AUMF will allow President Joe Biden to deploy American troops to defend Ukraine if Russia uses chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons.[...]
The bill titled "To authorize the use of United States Armed Forces to defend the territorial integrity of United States allies," allows the President to determine if Russia has used WMDs. The AUMF terminates once the "President certifies to Congress that the territorial integrity of Ukraine has been restored."

Similar to the 2002 AUMF, the legislation gives the President nearly a blank check to wage war. The bill does not include oversight on the determination of WMD use or sunset date.

by Cat on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 05:03:40 PM EST
American Oligarchs and the Second Gilded Age (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 05:05:31 PM EST
Republicans Get Boost On Twitter (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 08:16:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Nazi Crimes and ICJ The Hague (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 05:42:02 PM EST
We Can Sell A War, But Climate Change? (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 06:56:12 PM EST
Re: We Can Sell A War, But Climate Change? (none / 0)

'A File of Shame': World on Track for 3.2 Degrees Celsius of Warming, Latest IPCC Report Warns|

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 06:57:07 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Germans Divided Over Military Escalation Ukraine (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 08:50:06 PM EST
Germans Divided Over Military Escalation Ukraine (none / 0)

Turkiye's president to 'most probably' have meeting with Putin this week

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 08:51:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]
India Cannot Escape Self-interest Ukraine Conflict (none / 0)

Modi, Scholz call for peace in Ukraine following talks in Berlin

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 08:53:26 PM EST
India Cannot Escape Self-interest Ukraine Conflict (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 2nd, 2022 at 08:54:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (4.00 / 3)
It just occurred to me : you chose Martin Reichardt, member of the German federal parliament, to support your criticism of German fascist warmongering.

Reichardt is, of course, a federal MP for AfD. One wonders if their opposition to supplying weapons to Ukraine is principled pacifism, or principled fascism.


It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Tue May 3rd, 2022 at 08:24:41 AM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 1)
What? German fascist supporting Russian fascists?

I'm SHOCKED, I tell you, SHOCKED

by Bernard (bernard) on Tue May 3rd, 2022 at 06:31:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]
German Party Politics Above War Casualties (none / 0)
Abhorrent ... never liked the fellow ... a triple failure in German politics.

At least in US Congress both parties are equally Russophobic ... united we stand.

British propaganda to counter a call for peace and never war of choice.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue May 3rd, 2022 at 11:00:40 AM EST
Re: German Party Politics Above War Casualties (none / 0)
German opposition leader Friedrich Merz plans controversial trip to Ukraine

German opposition leader Friedrich Merz is set to visit Ukraine's capital -- a trip Chancellor Olaf Scholz so far has no plans to make. The Social Democrats see Merz's move as a PR stunt ahead of crucial state elections.

Friedrich Merz, the head of the conservative opposition, seems to be trying to one-up the German chancellor. The leader of the conservative Christian Democrats (CDU), both as a party and in parliament, held a fiery speech last week during the Bundestag's vote on sending heavy weapons to Ukraine. With Olaf Scholz away on a state visit to Japan, it was an opportune moment to grab the spotlight.

Merz described Scholz as insecure, weak, hesitant and timid. He warned Scholz against an "appeasement policy" toward Russia -- referring to political, material or territorial concessions to an aggressive power in hopes of avoiding conflict. Merz's CDU has been lashing out at the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) for weeks over their historically friendly attitude toward Russia.

The CDU has been in power in Germany for most of the time since World War II, including for almost 16 years under Chancellor Angela Merkel, who protected Germany's economic ties with Russia. Much of Merkel's time was in coalition with the SPD. Since her retirement and her party's loss in the September election, the conservatives have been trying to develop a new strategy. A party paper published in Cologne this week hones in on security, a cause the CDU is known for championing.  

Germany's oldest comeback kid: Friedrich Merz wins CDU leadership | Politico |

Related reading ...

Merkel, Putin & Obama: The changing balance of power | by Frank Schnittger on Aug 6th, 2014 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue May 3rd, 2022 at 11:18:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Yuval Harari Knows Little About Ukraine (none / 1)
Harari Knows Little About Ukraine, East and West

Yuval Noah Harari: No matter what he does, Putin has already lost this war | Times of Israel |

I liked his global perspective and he makes interesting conversation. When it is about specifics, he offers limited knowledge and wisdom.

Harari lamented the effects the war would likely have globally, including changing budget priorities in many countries, leading to increased focus on defense budgets, to the detriment of health, welfare, and education.

He also said the crisis had made clear how relevant the threat of nuclear war remains.

"People thought `nuclear weapons are something from the sixties, there was some Cuban missile crisis ...' [But] it is here and now -- it took three days from the outbreak of war to the beginning of threats with nuclear weapons."

On the subject of Western sanctions on Russia, Harari said Russia has little going for its economy beyond its natural resources.

"If the West is smart, what it should do is not just sanctions, but a `Green Manhattan Project.' Green energy that will dislodge oil and gas from their central role. When oil prices go down to $20 a barrel, it's the end of Putin's regime."

Nuclear deterrence and the Cuban missile crisis: Harari hasn't got a clue ... can't get any more obvious than teaming up with Anne Applebaum in a presentation on Ukraine and the War in Donbas. WTF

Victor Pinchuk Foundation

An online conversation with Yuval Noah Harari and Timothy Snyder, moderated by Anne Applebaum

If you want to support Ukraine's soldiers with medical materials, or Ukraine's Ministry of Defense, or give for humanitarian aid you can donate, among others, to the accounts below ...



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Tue May 3rd, 2022 at 09:51:59 PM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (4.00 / 3)
I don't come by ET very often nowadays. Have too many projects and too many years to do much more than lurk occasionally. Just wanted to tell you, fwiw, that I appreciate what you're trying to do. Maybe you're being too subtle by using the actual USUK/EU sources of the misdirections and bs of the hegemon itself and its satraps. Folks are so immersed in it, they may actually believe that there is a cause with which to align; and, therefore, they may think that you're just being snarky rather than pointing out actual contradictions.

Oh well - but I am surprised when Bernard, eurogreen, and Jacques subscribe to the NATO scheme. One would think that French folks would be a bit more skeptical... Just remembered that eurogreen is not French.

paul spencer

by paul spencer (spencerinthegorge AT yahoo DOT com) on Tue May 3rd, 2022 at 10:34:48 PM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 1)
Much appreciated! Tis a place for a very long time and I do miss Jerome, ask, shergald, LondonBear, da Gondi, Sirocco and so many others ... passage of time and entry social media,

Try to use sources that are acceptable to MSR (main stream readers 😉) and find still excellent writers who are true to principles of no more wars of choice. The US and UK are lost in white supremacy, misogyny, racism and pure capitalism. Most comfortable to build an Empire and bully other independent and sovereign nations. Too much abuse on the side of western states during my lifetime ... born in 1945.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 4th, 2022 at 04:32:05 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 1)
Same age here.

paul spencer
by paul spencer (spencerinthegorge AT yahoo DOT com) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 03:36:45 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 1)
Should have added same experience, too.

paul spencer
by paul spencer (spencerinthegorge AT yahoo DOT com) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 03:37:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Sorry to disappoint you Paul...
Yes, for sure there are all sorts of ambiguities and shared blame to be sprayed around, but the Russian army has no business in Ukraine, no more than the US army had business in Vietnam in the 1960s.

Sure, some Ukrainians side with the Russians. But they had not been getting slaughtered by Nazis -- surely no sane person can buy that pseudo justification -- and slaughtering thousands of Ukrainian civilians is simply unjustifiable. So : are we interfering by supplying arms to the Ukrainians? Are we making things worse? (I am speaking as a European here. What the US should do is another question.)

I know a few Ukrainians, who grew up in the Soviet Union, and what they say fits with what I understand from various sources as the majority sentiment there : they have no desire to return to Putin's uber-dystopian fascist version of the Soviet Union.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 06:57:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Sure, some Ukrainians side with the Russians ...

Zelensky came to power with a vast majority in parliament on promises for peace he couldn't keep due to violence of a group of neo-nazi terrorists (defined by the White House). Thus Zelensky did not keep the Minsk agreement and continued a policy of ethnic cleansing, prosecuting opposition leaders for high treason, supported by fascist war hawks by NATO, in Poland, Lithuania, UK and US.

In fact Kyiv admitted the present Ukrainians are divided in ethnic division by culture and language. The Donbas became the Cuban crisis in reverse for the Kremlin. The roots of the confrontation came from policy under the Clinton years and continued ever since with the colour revolutions in 2004 and 2008. The Democratic election of Yanukovich thwarted the plans of the West and a violent uprising led by thugs of neo-nazis ended in a US supported coup d'état in Feb. 2014. The definite split of the Ukraine translated into new facts on the ground.

What was this war all about? Stubbornness in Washington DC, London and in the end Brussels not willing to compromise as was done in 1962. Not learning from historic mistakes will inevitably lead to more conflict and war. The big losers are the constituents of Zelensky ... on a fool's errand for NATO. Do not be so gullible to propaganda in the West over past two decades. Living through way too many wars ...

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 07:52:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
This is raving nonsense.

Putin is clearly set on genocide and utter destruction. There isn't a reasonable excuse for this.

Pretending this is somehow Ukraine's fault for wanting to join NATO is the equivalent of blaming a rape victim for asking for it.

Whatever else the US may have done - and there's a lot to criticise - none of it justifies the kidnap, abuse, and torture that Putin's psychotic regime is inflicting on a close neighbour.

Why are you trying to excuse it with an obsessive stream of whataboutery? Where are the demands for Putin to compromise on his expansionist imperialism, which - in case you have forgotten - has included a long list of similar actions in other nearby states?

It's absolutely shameful and completely unconscionable.

by ThatBritGuy (thatbritguy (at) googlemail.com) on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 09:06:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 1)
Putin is clearly set on genocide and utter destruction
And that's based on what? I'm certainly not 100% endorsing oui's position here, but if the war was really inevitable because Putin is Hitler, why didn't he start the invasion eight years ago? They could have taped Yanukovich to a tank and driven straight to Kiev. Now it's been eight years of NATO arms shipments, literal fascists being increasingly integrated into the state apparatus and the armed forces, and the old USSR systems Russia still relies on have been insufficiently serviced for another bunch of years.
And if there is a legitimate use for the accusation of "whataboutery" I haven't seen it yet? If we are talking about principles it is obviously nonsense to limit discussion to the official enemy at hand. And if we're talking about material reality I really don't see what the term would even signify.
by generic on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 10:31:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Indeed, why did he, why didn't he. Paging Dr Freud?

The civil war in Donbass was a real, organic Ukrainian conflict, which stopped being so once the Russian troops were there to make sure the rebels didn't lose.

AND, interestingly, it started just after the Russian annexation (reputedly bloodless, but a certain number of people just disappeared) of Crimea, which if anyone would like to justify, please feel free.

And what happened? World War Three? No. Nothing much.

Which means that Putin, in his own good time, decided to finish the job (Novorossiya, a monument to his eternal glory).

He expected that the liberal democracies would huff and puff, and that he would get away with it. The fact that he didn't is down to the Ukrainians, who in their majority, did not take kindly to being invaded and stopped him in his tracks.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 11:12:32 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 1)
And the annexation of Crimea happened after the Maidan revolution that had armed fascist militias running the elected government out of the country to then have the US pick his successor. Which also justifies nothing of course.
But it also doesn't tell me why I have to pick a side in a classic proxy war between two decaying imperial powers.
by generic on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 11:25:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
When a president elected on a pro-EU platform flip-flops and decides to sell his country back to the previous imperial hegemon, revolution is not unjustified.

It was followed by elections, as a proper revolution should be.

Sure, Putin wouldn't have been forced to annex Crimea or support the secession of the Donbass if they had only elected his proxy. But that's how it goes.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 11:45:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
"Fuck the EU" was a clear message to the neo-Nazi forces of the Maidan revolt not to lay down arms after a truce was agreed and a compromise reached between representatives for the European Commission and the officials of the fairly elected government of Yanukovich. The agreement was double-crossed by US administration officials such as regime-change Ambassador Pyatt and VP Dick Cheney Biden's New Europe advisor Vicky Nuland.

See my diary of the events a day before the Maidan Square murders of innocent people ... almost certain a false flag operation by CIA led neo-Nazi terrorists.  No one was held to account.

I do hope you recognize the difference with a democracy and a coup d'etat led by a foreign government.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 04:30:03 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (4.00 / 2)
Weird, so the people of Ukraine voted in "Putin's proxy" because they were dead set on continuing alignment with the west? Though of course the category of pro-Russian traitor has expanded quite a bit after Maidan. Last year the accusation came back to Poroshenko.
So anyway, in case you forgot, the offer that Yanukovich rejected in favor of the Russian one included the usual IMF conditions, including the end of gas subsidies. And instead of upping the offer Washington opted a clear escalation, a coup. Sure, there were real grievances and significant local support, but you still had the democratically elected government flee the country under threat of arms. And the US select their new PM. Of course, the Russians called, officially took over Crimea and encouraged Donbas to disregard orders from Kiev. Though just as in Maidan you can have reasonable doubts about how much encouragement was necessary, de-Russification can't have been a very popular policy in the East, and just as with the Maidan coup the end result was a regime that was beholden to their foreign patron.

So in short, no. No one forced the Russians to annex Crimea, no one forced the Maidan to send the army to conquer the Donbas seperatists and then integrate fascists into the state when that didn't work. No one forced the Russians to send their army in, no one forced Washington to arm fascist militias. I won't say no one forced Zelensky to abandon the Minsk peace plan, since he seemed pretty forced. And finally, no one forced the Russians to launch an all out invasion. Very few actors were forced to do anything, but quite a few parties chose escalation whenever the option presented itself.

by generic on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 06:45:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (4.00 / 2)
Anyway, to not only rant. I listened to this interview which I highly recommend:

by generic on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 07:13:25 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 07:41:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 07:42:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Big Tech and Operation Mockingbird (none / 0)
"liberal democracies"

Ashamed the UK, USA didn't act by what they postulate. Simply differentiate what comes out of the mouth and the aggressive and violent acts of the empire. Never in my lifetime heard so much bullsh*t from officials in government. Not happy with those taking spokespersons at face value.

Not surprising under Obama the act preventing domestic spread of disinformation and utter propaganda was partly lifted. Just in time for America's grand old fake news oligarch as president. January 6th sedition didn't happen and Biden lost the election. Just do not speak of "post" Trump era ... his acolytes are winning votes and throw out the Tea Party moderate candidates. Watch 2024!

Smith-Mundt Act Reform under Obama

Overseen by the Broadcasting Board of Governors - (political appointees)

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 04:14:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Big (none / 1)
Gotta love that one
Is that akin to propaganda when people get paid to write rules that are meant to be circumvented?
https:/www.euractiv.com/section/economy-jobs/news/the-eu-works-when-it-ignores-its-rules
by Tom2 on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 09:36:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: French Greens Ignoring EU Rules (none / 0)
The EU works - when it ignores its rules | EurActiv |

Given the circumstances, the European Union's economy is doing reasonably well. However, this success currently relies on the EU circumventing its own rules, putting into question how sensible they are in the first place.

The French Greens have received a lot of flack for joining a coalition with left-wing firebrand Jean-Luc Mélenchon for the upcoming French legislative elections in June because Mélenchon's party is ready to ignore EU rules if they stand in the way of the party pogramme.

"We could almost put `Europe' in brackets in the party's name," Sabine Thillaye, a lawmaker of President Emmanuel Macron's La République En Marche party said about the French Greens, whose official name is "Europe, Ecologie, les Verts".

Pro-Europeans are right to be afraid of countries unilaterally ignoring EU rules, since the level playing field created by the common rules is the basis of a functioning internal market.

Fiscal rules and state aid

Nevertheless, it should be remembered that the EU as a whole is currently not applying many of its most basic rules, and is arguably all the better for it.

The fiscal rules mandating low budget deficits and low debt levels have been suspended for the third year in a row now, and, looking at the insecure economic outlook, it is not at all clear that they will be reimposed next year.

Greens #StandWithUkraine ... question arises with the Galiciërs of Lvov or the Russian speaking population of East and Southeast Ukraine. A civil war was inevitable as the corrupt oligarchs too are divided between the EU and Russia, with Israel supporting both sides.

A long read ...

Deception: RussiaGate and the New Cold War | Kent Academic Repository - 2022 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 11:33:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: French Greens Ignoring EU Rules (none / 0)
That's very noble of you, Oui : using arguments from the French right-wing parties to discredit the French left.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Sun May 8th, 2022 at 06:00:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
by Cat on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 12:15:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
continued a policy of ethnic cleansing

Seriously, you are going to have to document this. I know Putin keeps on saying it (also "genocide" which has different meanings for different people but...)
We need more than his, or your, say-so.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 11:04:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]
You have a problem with this one? (none / 1)
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Genocide Convention) is an instrument of international law that codified for the first time the crime of genocide. The Genocide Convention was the first human rights treaty adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on 9 December 1948 and signified the international community's commitment to 'never again' after the atrocities committed during the Second World War. Its adoption marked a crucial step towards the development of international human rights and international criminal law as we know it today.
Article I
The Contracting Parties confirm that genocide, whether committed in time of peace or in time of war, is a crime under international law which they undertake to prevent and to punish.
Article II
In the present Convention, genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:
(a) Killing members of the group;
(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its
physical destruction in whole or in part;
(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;
(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
Article III
The following acts shall be punishable:
(a) Genocide;
(b) Conspiracy to commit genocide;
(c) Direct and public incitement to commit genocide; (d) Attempt to commit genocide;
(e) Complicity in genocide.
Article IV
Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be
punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private
individuals.
Article IV
Persons committing genocide or any of the other acts enumerated in article III shall be
punished, whether they are constitutionally responsible rulers, public officials or private individuals.
Article IX
Disputes between the Contracting Parties relating to the interpretation, application or fulfilment of the present Convention, including those relating to the responsibility of a State for genocide or for any of the other acts enumerated in article III, shall be
submitted to the International Court of Justice at the request of any of the parties to the dispute.
Article X
The present Convention, of which the Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish texts are equally authentic, shall bear the date of 9 December 1948.
[...]
Article XI
The present Convention shall be open until 31 December 1949 for signature on behalf of
any Member of the United Nations and of any non-member State to which an invitation
to sign has been addressed by the General Assembly.
The present Convention shall be ratified, and the instruments of ratification shall be
deposited with the Secretary-General of the United Nations.
After 1 January 1950, the present Convention may be acceded to on behalf of any
Member of the United Nations and of any non-member State which has received an
invitation as aforesaid.
Instruments of accession shall be deposited with the Secretary-General of the United
Nations.
Article XII
Any Contracting Party may at any time, by notification addressed to the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations, extend the application of the present Convention to all or any of the territories for the conduct of whose foreign relations that Contracting Party is responsible.
Or are you unaware of the laws enacted by the Ukraine government to "to destroy, in whole or in part" ethnic Russians present in its jurisdiction?
by Cat on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 12:54:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: You have a problem with this one? (none / 0)
I'm not asking what genocide is. I'm asking how it applies to Ukraine, in the sens in which Putin keeps using it.

It would appear to be a manifest nonsense. Even Oui has only been able to poste some rather lame stuff about lame legislation which restricts the use of Russian in higher education and in certain interactions with the civil service.

It's an honest question: if it's genocide, where are the mass graves? (No, not the ones filled with Ukrainian civilian killed by Russian soldiers. The other ones.)

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Sun May 8th, 2022 at 06:03:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: You have a problem with this one? (none / 0)
I was actually asking about ethnic cleansing. Same honest question. Have yet to see an honest answer over these past months.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Sun May 8th, 2022 at 06:04:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
No. The big losers are the thousands of citizens being killed in Putin's denazification program.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 11:40:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Denazification : Amnesty doesn't understand it (none / 0)
Russian troops committed `reckless shootings and torture' near Kyiv, says Amnesty

Russian troops committed `reckless shootings and torture' near Kyiv, says Amnesty

Amnesty International said there was compelling evidence that Russian troops had committed war crimes, including extrajudicial executions of civilians, in the Kyiv area in February and March.

Civilians also suffered abuses such as "reckless shootings and torture" at the hands of Russian forces when they occupied an area outside Ukraine's capital, including the town of Bucha, in the early stages of the invasion, the rights group said in a report.

Donatella Rovera, Amnesty's senior crisis response adviser, said:

    These are not isolated incidents. These are very much part of a pattern wherever Russian forces were in control of a town or a village.

A view of new graves for people killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at a cemetery in Bucha, Kyiv region, Ukraine.
A view of new graves for people killed during Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at a cemetery in Bucha, Kyiv region, Ukraine. Photograph: Zohra Bensemra/Reuters

The report concluded that Russian troops had committed a "host of apparent war crimes" in Bucha, including "numerous unlawful killings", most of them near the intersection of Yablunska and Vodoprovidna streets.

It said it had documented 22 cases of unlawful killing by Russian forces - "most of which were apparent extrajudicial executions" - in Bucha and nearby areas.

Ukrainian authorities say they are investigating more than 9,000 potential war crimes by Russian troops. The international criminal court is also looking into alleged war crimes.

The Kremlin has denied its forces committed abuses in Ukraine, claiming "the Bucha story is a set-up and a fake".



It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 12:27:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Was the government of Ukraine (none / 1)
at war with "Russian-backed separatists" (ethnic Russians) present in Crimea and Donbas before then or not?
by Cat on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 01:19:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Was the government of Ukraine (none / 0)
Your hypothesis is that the government of Ukraine fought against the Donbass separatists, not because they rebelled and seized government buildings and set up autonomous governments, but because they were "ethnic russians".

That's an interesting hypothesis. Thought experiment : if they had been Ukrainian speakers, do you think the government would have said OK, fine, you're independent?
Governments defend their territorial integrity. That's one of the essential regalian attributes of a stare.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Sun May 8th, 2022 at 06:08:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
How the government of Ukraine (none / 1)
at war with "Russian-baced separatists" (ethnic Russians) present in Crimea and Donbas before [PUTIN'S WAR]?

Why, yes, reveals non-aligned amateur's situation report: Google map UAF "contact line" fortifications (2014 vintage) with Y2022 D71 combat positions over-lay

(EN subtitles enabled)

by Cat on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 01:09:59 AM EST
[ Parent ]
How the government of Ukraine (none / 1)
was at war with "Russian-baced separatists" (ethnic Russians) present in Crimea and Donbas before [PUTIN'S WAR]?

Why, yes, Off-Guardian's succinct Timeline: The Crimean Referendum (1954-2014) explains.

by Cat on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 01:17:27 AM EST
[ Parent ]
archived (none / 1)
LQD: More Context for the Ukraine Mess, Mon Mar 17th, 2014
by Cat on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 04:04:24 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: archived Post-Maidan and division (none / 0)
Re: LQD: More Context for the Ukraine Mess

And the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires should be reconstructed?  :-)

It seems that 'nationalism' is only really effective for some mix of minimum size times nationalist fervor. And, of course, a standard ploy of imperial rule is to break up and relocate ethnic and linguistic groups while suppressing expression of national identity. When dealing with Tatars it may be useful to remember that the Mongols had always been pastoral and routinely returned farm land to pasture when they conquered. The horse was the basis of their society. I assume that one of the reasons for the relocation of Tatars under the Tsars was to facilitate the return of pasture to agricultural cultivation. The effects were similar to the removal of Native Americans from the great plains in the US. But another effect was the replacement of Tatar speaking Muslim people with Russians, Ukrainians, Jews and various other European peoples. In the case of the Trans-Dniester Putin is faced with an area that is largely Russian speaking, is adjacent to Mother Russia and has significant elements clamoring to be joined to Russia. Putin has shown restraint -- so far.  

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer on Wed Mar 19th, 2014

Must take issue with description of transfer of Tatars to Central Asia. It was clearly a punitive exercise for collaboration with Nazi Germany and massive suffering and deaths of Soviet citizens. Turkey was kept neutral by US allies not to join the German Axis with Italy and Japan.

Debate in March 2014 much more realistic than today after 8 years of constant bombardment of anti-Russian rhetoric disseminated by the likes of U.S. Congress, White House, Pentagon and NATO in Brussels in order of importance.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 08:02:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: archived Post-Maidan and division (none / 0)
Allied Relations and Negotiations With Turkey

A. Turkey's Neutrality in World War II

On March 31, 1941, President Roosevelt implemented the Lend-Lease Act by declaring that the defense of Britain and Greece (then under attack by Italy and Germany) was in the national interest of the United States, beginning the allocation of Lend-Lease military assistance to those countries. In February 1941 U.S. Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall had approved a list of surplus artillery that could be allocated to Britain.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 08:03:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]
World War III trivia (none / 1)
I'm somewhat startled by how often I encounter online a belief that Germany received US Lend-Lease monies. This deception largely seems to express suspicions about sanctioned private-sector commerce between corporations in the US and NAZI-occupied Germany; also, generalized ignorance about public-sector functions of states' and federal governments, especially deficit spending, "entitled" budget accounting, and taxation. So. Let's recap US government records, then and now, pertaining to lethal and financial "aid" appropriated for the use of foreign armies at war in sundry overseas territories with fictional US "isolationism".

THEN
Pub.L. 77−11, 55 Stat. 3034, H.R. 1776, "An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States," enacted March 11, 1941; US colloquial title, "Lend-Lease Act"; context: GD III Emergency Banking Act, 1933; Reconstruction Finance Corporation Act, 1932, amended 1933 in re: suspended gold-standard operations to 1952

SEC.3(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of any other law, the President may, from time to time. when he deems it in the interest of national defense, authorize the Secretary Of War, the Secretary of the Navy, or the bead of any other department or agency of the Government -
Y1 eligible parties in chronological order
11 March UK, GR
 6  May CN
 4  June NO
 7 Nov USSR: "Even before that date urgent supplies were sent to the Soviets with the help of 50 million dollars credit advanced by the United States government."
(SIDEBAR: FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN, MAY 1941 Review of the Month--Gold, Capital Flow, and Foreign Trade in 1941--Federal Reserve Bank Organization Lend-Lease Act Member Bank Earnings)
• US declaration of war 8 Dec 1941
1942 US exports total $607M
1943 US exports ~ $1B/mo
1944 US exports ~ $1.5B/mo, "As of December 31, 1944, total direct lend-lease ... $35,382,646,000"
What Principles Should Govern the Final Settlement?
• US Marshall Plan, April 1948 - Dec 1951

NOW
S.3522 - Ukraine Democracy Defense Lend-Lease Act of 2022, introduced 19 Jan 2022, enrolled by passage of the House 28 Apr 2022; enactment forthcoming

SEC.2 (a)(1) IN GENERAL.--Subject to paragraph (2), for fiscal years 2022 and 2023, the President may authorize the United States Government to lend or lease defense articles to the Government of Ukraine or to governments of Eastern European countries impacted by the Russian Federation's invasion of Ukraine to help bolster those countries' defense capabilities and protect their civilian populations from potential invasion or ongoing aggression by the armed forces of the Government of the Russian Federation.

by Cat on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 03:59:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
errata (none / 1)
FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN, MAY 1941 Review of the Month (html)

FEDERAL RESERVE BULLETIN, MAY 1941 Review of the Month (pdf)

by Cat on Tue May 10th, 2022 at 03:59:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
By same author Jeffrey Sommers (none / 0)
The Contradictions of Austerity
The Socio-Economic Costs of the Neoliberal Baltic Model

The great financial crisis of 2008 and the ensuing global economic and financial turmoil have launched a search for "models" for recovery. The advocates of austerity present the Baltic States as countries that through discipline and sacrifice showed the way out of crisis. They have proposed the "Baltic model" of radical public sector cuts, wage reductions, labor market reforms and reductions in living standards for other troubled Eurozone countries to emulate. Yet, the reality of the Baltic "austerity fix" has been neither fully accepted by its peoples, nor is it fully a success. This book explains why and what are the real social and economic costs of the Baltic austerity model.

We examine each of the Baltic States by connecting national level studies within a European and global political economy, thereby delivering comparative breadth that supersedes localized understandings of the crisis. Thus for each of the three Baltic states, individual chapters explore the different economic and social dimensions of neo-liberal post-communism and the subsequent wider global economic and financial crisis in which these newly financialized economies have found themselves especially vulnerable. The "austerity model" adopted by Baltic national governments in response to the crisis reveals the profound vulnerabilities created by their unwavering commitment to liberalized economies, not least in terms of the significant "exit" of their labor forces and consequent population loss.　

This book looks beyond basic financial metrics claiming a success story for the Baltic austerity model to reveal the damaging economic and social consequences, first of neo-liberal policies adopted during transition, and latterly of austerity measures based on "internal devaluation." Combined these policies undermine the possibility of longer-term recovery and even social and economic sustainability, not to mention prospects for successful integration in the now-faltering European project that has departed from its "Social Model" roots.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 08:04:47 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Putin's Empire Draws Up Sanctions (none / 1)

Putin signs decree on Russia's new tit-for-tat sanctions

The document prohibits fulfilling obligations and concluding deals with foreign individuals and legal entities under the retaliatory restrictive measures as well as exporting raw materials and products from Russia in the interests of these individuals.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 4th, 2022 at 07:22:56 AM EST
Re: Putin's Empire Draws Up Sanctions (none / 1)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 4th, 2022 at 07:23:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]
"forbade export" (none / 0)
< wipes tears >

Is that the good or bad sort of ban on Russian imports?

by Cat on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 01:25:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: "forbade export" (none / 0)
I'm guessing it's some sort of embargo

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 02:12:57 PM EST
[ Parent ]
EU Drafts Sixth Package of Sanctions (none / 1)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 4th, 2022 at 07:24:29 AM EST
Kyiv Declares Russian Roots Alien (none / 0)
Accepts secession of Russian speaking towns and districts across Northeast-East-Southern parts of the nation. Facts on the ground. Amputating the sick parts of the body.

Ukraine passes law banning political parties with `pro-Russian stance' | Anadolu Agency |

Nothing new here as first Poroshenko followed aggressive Western policy and Zelensky promised peace, but soon learned not he but the Right sektor and Svoboda had the manpower to alienate Russian speaking population. A confrontation with Russia by design Minsk agreements. No peace ☮️ #WeAreNato

Why did Ukraine suspend 11 `pro-Russia' parties? | Al Jazeera - Mar 21, 2022 |

The suspensions have more to do with the post-Euromaidan polarisation of  Ukrainian politics than genuine security concerns related to the Russian invasion.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 4th, 2022 at 07:26:27 AM EST
Fascist Elements In German Society (none / 0)

In Ukraine the Right Sektor and Svoboda party have their goal of complete independence from any outside power, Ukraine and its people first. Trumpeting Donald's clarion call for fascism in America.

The core of the ideology of the radical right includes three features: nativism, authoritarianism, and populism.

Nativism is a xenophobic form of nationalism, a belief that the state should be inhabited only by members of one nation. Everyone and everything that's non-native -- that is, alien -- is threatening.

Why is so little known about the 1930s coup attempt against FDR? | The Guardian |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 4th, 2022 at 07:27:26 AM EST
Re: Fascist Elements In German Society (none / 0)
My goodness, that's as bad as the Ukrainian army. I really think Putin needs to hurry up and invade Germany too.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Sun May 8th, 2022 at 06:11:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Right-wing isolationism, nativism and racism (none / 1)
Rollback!: Right-wing Power in U.S. Foreign Policy | By Thomas Bodenheimer - 1990 |

An interesting analysis, from the left, of the broad move to the political right of the American foreign policy elite, and of division within that elite between traditional conservatives and advocates of a hard-line attempt to roll back the Soviet Union.

Clearly the latter personified in neo-conservatives won to make Russia a pariah state.

Mere "Isolationism": The Foreign Policy of the "Old Right" | Feb 1, 2000 |

These so-called "isolationists" (to use the term foisted on them by their interventionist enemies) worried about the risk of war, the costs of war, and the domestic consequences of imperial policy. They well understood Randolph Bourne's statement that "war is the health of the state." Permanent mobilization in time of peace--the essence of the Cold War--fostered many undesirable policies. Conscription was especially evil. Senator Robert Taft of Ohio called it "essentially totalitarian" and added, "it is the most extreme test of our whole philosophy. . . . We shall have fought to abolish totalitarianism in the world, only to set it up in the United States." When the Truman administration brought in legislation for peacetime conscription, or UMT (universal military training), Representative Howard Buffett of Nebraska argued that Selective Service "would prove to the world that Hitler was right--that the threat of communism externally justifies militarism and regimentation at home." It rested on "the totalitarian concept that the state owns the individual." Representative Lawrence Smith of Wisconsin complained that there would be "no escape" from "economic controls, manpower controls, and the regimentation that goes with dictatorial power."

Fortress of Liberty: The Rise and Fall of the Draft and the Remaking of American Law

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 4th, 2022 at 12:10:20 PM EST
Pope Francis On Conflict and Nuclear Arms (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 4th, 2022 at 07:43:08 PM EST
Visit PM Kishida of Japan to Vatican (none / 0)

"Use and possession of nuclear weapons are inconceivable".

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 4th, 2022 at 07:46:28 PM EST
Will Pentagon Add Francis to Cancel List? (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 4th, 2022 at 07:48:17 PM EST
British War Cemetary Vandalized In Nijmegen (none / 0)

The Jonker Bos war cemetery in Nijmegen contains the graves of 1,642 soldiers who died on Dutch soil during World War II. The graveyard on Burgemeester Daleslaan is British territory because the vast majority of the graves are of British soldiers. But soldiers from Canada, Australia, and other allied countries are also buried there. 

The entrance gates to the plot were tagged with swastikas and Ukrainian flags. Gravestones bear slogans, including "Fuck Russia" and "Fuck Putin."

The combination of swastikas and Ukrainian flags will be noticed ...

Role Red Army in defeat Hitler and Nazi Germany

Related story ...

The seventy year campaign to convince people the USA, not USSR beat Hitler | Vox - June 2014 |

Russian President Vladimir Putin has said it is "not a problem" that he was not invited to join other world leaders marking the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings in northern France.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Thu May 5th, 2022 at 06:02:53 PM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
M777 HEAVY HOWITZERS ARE NOW IN SERVICE WITH KIEV FORCES (VIDEO), 5 May
Kiev forces are set to receive a total of 100 M77 howitzers, 90 of which were donated by the US, four by Canada and six by Australia.

The US, Canada and Australia will also supply Kiev forces with tens of thousands of 155 mm rounds, including GPS-guided Excalibur rounds which have a CEP [circular error probable] of less than 4 meters.

Ukrainian service members are being trained on M777 howitzers in Germany, apparently out of fear of Russian strikes on military training centers in Ukraine.

by Cat on Thu May 5th, 2022 at 08:09:40 PM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Centuries of almost continuous war, yet national boundaries stay practically the same.
by asdf on Thu May 5th, 2022 at 08:10:17 PM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
That's factually wrong. Look at some maps of Europe! Poland (now you see it, now you don't), Germany, the Russian empire, the Austro-Hungarian empire... Get out of here! Revised by every war. I think it's time to stop revising them, and wait for a better time when they will wither away.

Or are you being subtle?

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 07:03:16 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 1)
You're short several empires and a few continents.
by Cat on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 11:53:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
I do not pretend to exhaustivity.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 12:42:05 PM EST
[ Parent ]
But you do purport to possess (none / 0)
correct facts?
by Cat on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 01:29:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: But you do purport to possess (none / 0)
I'm sure you will correct me if my facts are insuffisiently factual.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 02:14:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: But you do purport to possess (none / 0)
Nope 😂

... that would be similar to fact checking Murdoch's media empire.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 03:39:20 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Re: Putin's Zero-Sum Narrative in Eastern Europe

... and what about a coherent stream of allegations about corruption and injustice?

Admittedly, the EU's standards with respect to democratic process, separation of powers, transparency, corruption etc. are absurdly low (cf. Hungary, Bulgaria, etc...). Yet I haven't seen anyone suggesting that Ukraine would be capable of meeting even these low standards. I would certainly put it well behind, for example, Turkey in many respects.

by eurogreen on Tue Oct 15th, 2013



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 01:45:51 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
From my diary in Nov. 2018 ...

Ukrainian activist Kateryna Handziuk (33) dies from acid attack | Irish Times - Nov 4, 2018 |

    Yuriy Lutsenko appeared to adhere to this call and announced he is ready to step down. However, this intention soon turned farcical as the parliamentary coalition announced it would not support the resignation, which predictably failed to be voted through.

    The calls on him and Avakov to resign came because Kateryna's fatal acid attack is one of the latest in a string of assaults on civic activists all over Ukraine - at least 55 since 2017. Human rights defenders say one of the reasons for them is the incapability of Ukraine's law enforcement to conduct an effective investigation.

    There are also suspicions of the law enforcement being in cahoots with the attackers and sabotaging the investigations.

Ukrainian Protesters Commemorate Slain Anti-Corruption Activist Kateryna Handziuk | RFERL - June 18, 2021 |

Key suspect in savage murder of Ukrainian activist Katya Handziuk detained in Bulgaria | Kharkiv HR Protection Group - July 2020 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 09:42:38 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Yes, I wrote that in 2013 and it was true in 2013.

Things have evolved since then; for example, Ukrainians elected a president who was not an oligarch. And despite strong resistence by the oligarchs, and having to deal with a war of succession etc, he was clearly working in the right direction, and making limited progress, obviously less than we would all like.

In the normal course of events, it probably would have taken another couple of electoral cycles to attain credible candidate status. But war changes things; the EU now has a moral responsibility to support Ukraine, including by accelerating adhesion.

Remember the waves of adhesion of central European nations. Clearly it was too soon in many cases, because visibly the basic rules of separation of powers, pluralism and rule of law were insufficiently entrenched.

But it was still the right thing to do.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Sun May 8th, 2022 at 06:20:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Temporarily there was no Poland, but there were still a bunch of people culturally Polish. And after the next war, it came back again. It's hard to change somebody's culture.

 

by asdf on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 02:58:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Back on topic (none / 0)
Germany : Generation divide in attitudes to supplying arms to Ukraine
A first open letter
published in the feminist magazine Emma on Friday last week, days after the German government announced it would send about 50 Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine, urged the chancellor, Olaf Scholz, to refrain from directly or indirectly contributing further heavy weapons systems to the conflict.

Signed by 26 prominent artists and intellectuals including Emma's feminist publisher, Alice Schwarzer, the novelists Martin Walser, Juli Zeh and Robert Seethaler, the film-makers Andreas Dresen, Alexander Kluge and Helke Sander and the actor Lars Eidinger, the letter condemned Russia's war of aggression as a "breach of the basic norms of international law".
[...]
The economy minister, Robert Habeck, accused Schwarzer and her co-signees of "vulgar pacifism".

"What is the conclusion of such an argument?" the Green politician asked. "It's basically that a little bit of occupation, rape and execution should be acceptable and that Ukraine should capitulate swiftly. I don't think that's right."

Another open letter, published on Wednesday in the weekly broadsheet Die Zeit, expanded this counter-argument, urging Scholz to continue supporting Ukraine's defence with military hardware.

Initiated by the former Green politician Ralf Fücks and signed by 58 artists and intellectuals including the Nobel literature prize recipient Herta Müller, the pianist Igor Levit and the German PEN's president, Deniz Yücel, the letter said preventing a Russian victory in Ukraine "lies in Germany's interest".

"Those who want a negotiated peace that doesn't result in Ukraine's submission to Russian demands must increase [Ukraine's] defensive capabilities and weaken Russia's belligerency as much as possible," it said.

The Booker-nominated German novelist Daniel Kehlmann, who was another of the Zeit letter's signees, told the Guardian he had been motivated to put his name to the appeal after seeing the "deep shock and horror" among his eastern European friends at reading the Emma letter.

[snip]
With an average age of 54, the signatories of the letter in Die Zeit are noticeably younger and have more multicultural backgrounds than those of the preceding letter in Emma, who average 76.



It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 01:20:16 PM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Fri May 6th, 2022 at 08:06:42 PM EST
Biden's Long Road to Regime Change In Kremlin (none / 1)
Urging regime change in Russia, Biden exposes US aims in Ukraine | Poland Visit - Mar 28, 2022 |

Inside the White House, Obama was virtually alone. His concern that flooding Ukraine with weapons "would escalate the crisis" and give "Putin a pretext to go further and invade all of Ukraine," Senior Pentagon official Derek Chollet later recalled, marked a rare situation "in which just about every senior official was for doing something that the president opposed."

Obama's misgivings about arming Ukraine helped yield the 2015 Minsk II accords, in which an outmatched Kiev accepted limited autonomy for the Donbas in exchange for the Russian-backed rebels' demilitarization. While this bargain would end the war, it would also grant the Donbas region an effective veto over Ukraine's NATO ambitions. The Ukrainian far-right, empowered by the 2014 Maidan coup and in no mood for an accommodation with Russian-speakers in the east, successfully undermined the Minsk accords with violent protests. (Aug. 31, 2015)

    Protesters led by the populist Radical Party and the ultra-nationalist Svoboda (Freedom) party - who oppose any concession to the Russian-backed separatists - gathered outside parliament early on Monday.

    After a rowdy debate, 265 MPs out of 450 backed the first reading of the decentralisation bill, granting more powers to areas of Donetsk and Luhansk.

    Initially, there were only minor clashes but a BBC correspondent then heard small explosions followed by a much larger one - apparently from a grenade.

With Obama's exit from the White House, the DC foreign policy establishment -- also opposed to an accommodation with Russia -- seized the opportunity to permanently sabotage Minsk and escalate the Ukraine proxy war that the outgoing president had tepidly waged. Their goal was made clear by two of the Senate's leading hawks, Republican Senators John McCain and Lindsay Graham, during a visit to Ukraine in December 2016.

"Your fight is our fight. 2017 will be the year of offense," Graham declared to a group of Ukrainian soldiers at a military base. "All of us will go back to Washington and we will push the case against Russia... It is time for them to pay a heavier price."

"We are with you, your fight is our fight and we will win together," McCain told Ukrainian state media. "In 2017 we will defeat the invaders and send them back where they came from."

U.S. Senators Vow No 'Faustian Bargain' With Russia, Pledge To Target Putin 'Harder' | RFERL - Dec 30, 2016 |

Sen. Lindsey Graham says 'we could do more in Congress and should' to stop Russia | ABC News - Feb 13, 2022 |

Russia entered the Syrian Civil War in the fall of 2015. The number of deaths were drastically reduced and dictator Bashar Assad stayed in power. The US was forced to strike the Al Qaeda forces in Raqqa and in Kurdish Iraq. The backlash from the 2003 invasion and occupation.

Further reading ...

America's Ukraine Hypocrisy | Cato Institute - Aug 6, 2017 |

The extent of the Obama administration's meddling in Ukraine's politics was breathtaking.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 01:03:43 AM EST
Zelensky the Actor and His Script (none / 0)
Ukraine war: Russia must withdraw to pre-invasion position for a deal - Zelensky | BBC News |

Any peace deal with Russia would depend on Russian forces pulling back to their pre-invasion positions, Ukraine's president says.

Speaking to a London think tank, Volodymyr Zelensky said that was the minimum that his country could accept.

He said he was the leader of "Ukraine, not a mini-Ukraine". But he did not mention Crimea, annexed by Russia in 2014.

Russia is currently battling to take full control of the city of Mariupol.

STFU #zelensky, you have no credibility whatsoever ... your people are dying and the invaders will never leave your country. In war there is no turning back to positions better to your liking ... decisions are made elsewhere and the Ukraine is caught between East and West.

Ukraine Caught Between East and West, Red and Blue | Oct 3, 2019 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 01:52:48 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)

Doesn't matter as the Russia army has secured a landbridge to Crimea. No discussion about ships sailing into the Sea of Azov ...

Poroshenko Doing a 'Gulf of Tonkin' Provocation

Forever Wars(R) by USA

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 08:44:35 AM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 1)
Talking about bridges, I think that ultimately, what happened is simply that the EUrocrats started feeling the ground beneath their feet moving (and the chairs under their asses) under the pressure of the anti-EU, so-called 'populist' political parties, and that they were offered a 'cunning plan' (aka they were sold a bridge) such as going for redrawing Eastern Europe borders, as they can be sure it'll take long enough to bring them to retirement age.
by Tom2 on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 09:28:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (4.00 / 4)
There is zero attention paid here in the US to anything remotely associated with Civil Defense. No calls for household supplies of food, no questioning the availability of gas and electricity, no suggestion of building fallout shelters. We are, presumably, protected from outside interference by a couple of oceans. And we are happy to provide Europe (for $$$) whatever is needed to blow stuff up.

It worked in the 1940s so it must still be true!

by asdf on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 03:00:53 PM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 1)
This is also a byproduct of the USA being geographically isolated by two oceans and not having been invaded by a foreign country since the British burned Washington DC in 1814.
by Bernard (bernard) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 06:05:35 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 1)
I can't find it now, but I've seen someone make the case that the early days of car culture and suburbs were indeed planned as a form of civic defense. Of course then the hydrogen bomb made its appearance.

But nowadays, when I think about Civil Defense in the western context this, now deleted, tweet from the correspondent's dinner comes to mind:

by generic on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 06:43:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 7th, 2022 at 05:31:03 PM EST
Ukrainian hackers > Russian hackers (none / 0)
According to the BBC
Russian smart TV owners tuning in to watch the Victory Parade today were faced with an anti-war message condemning their president, Vladimir Putin, for having "the blood of thousands of Ukrainians" on his hands.

Instead of previewing the top shows of the day, the Russian online TV schedule showed every programme had been changed to a message that read:

On your hands is the blood of thousands of Ukrainians and their hundreds of murdered children.

TV and the authorities are lying. No to war.



It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Mon May 9th, 2022 at 10:58:55 AM EST
Putin's objectives : stay tuned (none / 0)
Victory speech, minus the victory
Vladimir Putin said there was no doubt Moscow's "special military operation" in Ukraine would achieve its result, according to Russian state-owned news agency Tass.

The Russian president was speaking after overseeing the annual military parade on Moscow's Red Square to mark the Soviet Union's victory over Nazi Germany in the second world war.

Putin was quoted by Tass as saying:

All plans are being fulfilled. A result will be achieved - on that account there is no doubt.

The coach of RF Army is determined to get a result. Currently 0-0, going into extra time.

Do we know what a result looks like for him? We'll know when we get it. Possibilities :

  • Decapitated regime
  • Landlocked rump Ukraine
  • Complete control of the Donbass plus Kherson oblast [pending]
  • Russia didn't get invaded


It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Mon May 9th, 2022 at 01:40:35 PM EST
Rhine-Westphhalia to the Polls Today (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun May 15th, 2022 at 01:10:14 PM EST
CDU Gains As SDP Loses NRW Election (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun May 15th, 2022 at 07:25:06 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: CDU Gains As SDP Loses NRW Election (none / 0)

Translation:
The voters in North Rhine-Westphalia have made a clear decision. We the
@CDUNRW_de , clearly won the election! The people have clearly made us the strongest force. That is the mandate to form and lead a future government.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sun May 15th, 2022 at 07:58:50 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: CDU Gains As SDP Loses NRW Election (none / 0)
Looks to me like the federal government coalition made a net -0.2% (big gains to the warlike Greens, cancelled out by losses to the SPD and especially to the FDP)

... and small gain to the CDU, mostly from the AfD.

So, the outgoing CDU-FDP coalition lost their majority. The only outright majority possible would seem to be Jamaica, like the federal government. So if the people made a clear decision, that was it.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 05:44:52 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Conservatives and Greens win in NRW (none / 0)
Results
The biggest election winner was the Greens, who nearly tripled their result from just 6.4 percent in 2017 to 18.1 percent, according to the projections.

"This is a huge, huge mandate for us," said Green lead candidate Mona Neubaur.

In contrast, the FDP, which has governed in North Rhine-Westphalia in a coalition led by the CDU, is projected to lose 7 percentage points and come only fourth at 5.5 percent -- a devastating result that is only barely above the 5-percent hurdle that is required for entry into parliament. The far-right Alternative für Deutschland got 5.6 percent of the votes.

Looks like the SPD bounced back after the disastrous Schleswig-Holstein result.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 07:55:14 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Conservatives and Greens win in NRW (none / 0)
The result is a big win for the climate, because the Greens can go into coalition with either the SPD or the CDU, depending on which is better in terms of closing down coal mines etc...

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 08:48:57 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Nice Rebound for Greens in NRW (none / 0)
Landtag of North Rhine-Westphalia

Results last 3 elections ... was a SPD stronghold.

SPD - 39.1% - 31.2% - 26.7%
CDU - 26.3% - 33.0% - 35.7%
FDP -  8,6% - 12.6% - 5.9%
Green - 11.3% - 6.4% - 18.2%

See party polling of May 2021 ... Green the largest with 26% of votes.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 10:45:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]
NRW Election Analysis Gains and Losses (none / 0)
Scholz's party loses North Rhine-Westphalia vote in Ukraine backlash | Bloomberg |

Olaf Scholz's reputation on the line in big German vote | Politico - May 13, 2022 |

As polls show the SPD in a tight race with their conservative rivals, the Social Democrats have bet on the Scholz factor. The chancellor features on posters alongside the party's candidate for state premier, Thomas Kutschaty. And the SPD has boasted Kutschaty would have a direct line to the chancellery if he wins.

But that's a considerable gamble. The head of a three-party government, Scholz has faced a tumultuous first few months in office, shaped above all by the war in Ukraine. The former Hamburg mayor has overseen some historic policy shifts, sending weapons to Ukraine and boosting defense spending. But he has also faced heavy criticism at home and abroad, not least in Ukraine, accused of being too timid in responding to the war and of not communicating clearly.

If the SPD manages to win back North Rhine-Westphalia after five years in opposition, it would be a major boost for Scholz and the party. But if the Social Democrats lose, Scholz will be personally associated with the defeat, just a week after the SPD suffered a crushing loss in another state election.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 07:19:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Schleswig-Holstein Election Analysis (none / 0)
Scholz's Social Democrats suffer crushing defeat in northern German state vote | Politico - May 8. 2022 |

Germany's center-right opposition scored a strong victory in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, dealing a blow to the Social Democratic Party (SPD) of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

The Christian Democratic Union (CDU), which lost power at the national level in last year's general election, got 43 percent of the votes in Schleswig-Holstein, according to initial projections by public broadcaster NDR. That's a gain of 11 percentage points from the last state election in 2017, which means incumbent CDU state premier Daniel Günther will be able to rule for another five years.

In contrast, the SPD suffered a crushing defeat in the northern state, getting only 15.5 percent of the votes, nearly 12 percentage points less than five years ago, according to the projections. The SPD was even overtaken by the Greens, which came second at 17 percent, gaining about 4 points. The liberal Free Democratic Party (FDP) fell back about 4.5 points to 7 percent. Scholz's SPD governs with the Greens and FDP at the national level.

Role Schleswig-Holstein, Nord Stream 2 and LNG terminal  ...

Merkel and Biden push for Ukraine to become a green energy exporter | June 2021 |

Related reading ...

Nord Stream 2 - a red herring at the bottom of the sea | CEPS - March 2021 |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 07:22:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Biden's Blitzkrieg and Value of the Euro (none / 0)

Biden's Blitzkrieg Across Europe

MAGA

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 08:20:07 AM EST
Re: Biden's Blitzkrieg and Value of the Euro (none / 1)
Astonishing unity among headline writers of the free world :)
All wrong in unisson.
The SPD lost NRW in ... 2017. It's the CDU who lost their majority in NRW this weekend (because of the collapse of their partner, the "business-friendly FDP". What's that about?

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 08:51:34 AM EST
[ Parent ]
UK Heading Towards A Recession (none / 0)
UK economic growth slows, raising recession concerns

The figures "suggest the economy had less momentum than we thought even before the full hit from the cost of living crisis has been felt," said Paul Dales, chief U.K. economist at Capital Economics. "The risk of recession has just risen."

Growth is slowing as manufacturers and retailers struggle to overcome supply bottlenecks following the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine fuels rising food and energy prices. Retail sales figures show British consumers are already reducing spending as economists forecast the U.K. will see the biggest drop in living standards in more than six decades this year.

Thursday's figures underscore how the U.K.'s recovery from the pandemic has slowed over the past year.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 10:07:32 AM EST
Re: UK Heading Towards A Recession (none / 0)
UK economy 'only going to get worse' as growth slowdown begins | CNBC |

Sterling hit a two-year low versus the U.S. dollar following the data as traders digested growing uncertainty about the U.K.'s economic outlook.

The surprise monthly contraction in March -- economists had expected the figure to come in flat -- presents a worry for Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government as the country's cost-of-living crisis is yet to reach its peak.

"Ultimately, things are only going to get worse for consumers. Energy bills are expected to soar again later this year when the price cap is reassessed, while inflation is proving stickier than expected," said Hinesh Patel, portfolio manager at Quilter Investors.

U.K inflation hit a 30-year high of 7% in March and in April, the country's energy regulator increased its price cap by 54% [modest increase compared to other nations with no price cap and energy cost more than doubled] to accommodate soaring prices. In the Queen's Speech to mark the state opening of parliament on Wednesday, the government promised to focus on economic growth in order to address the spiraling cost of living..

National policies to shield consumers from rising energy prices | Brueghel |

The Dutch abide by the free-market concept set as policy by the EU in Brussels.

'Cost-of-living' crisis hits consumers as UK economy struggles with inflation | DW News |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 10:09:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]
New German Era Debt, Inflation and Ordoliberalism (none / 0)
Berlin Bulletin: Lindner's hawkish dreams -- German swing state -- Scholz the campaigner | Politico |

Believe me I'm a hawk: Christian Lindner wants to be known for hawkish fiscal policies again. The finance minister this week presented his fiscal policy strategy: a 22-page paper, drafted by his chief economist Lars Feld, which advocates for short-term measures against the current crisis but aims, in the long run, for growth-oriented -- not intervention-driven -- supply-side policies. "Fiscal resilience," respecting German and EU debt and deficit caps that is, is the third pillar: No surprise here, that's the trinity Lindner believes in. But reality looks quite different.

New era, new debt: Fiscal policies in times of Zeitenwende, the paper is titled. And indeed Lindner might well go down in history as the finance minister amassing the highest debt pile in the shortest amount of time ever: Chancellor Olaf Scholz's special defense fund envisages borrowing €100 billion. The 2022 ordinary budget foresees almost the same amount of fresh debt; an additional budget -- fresh debt of almost €40 billion -- is meant to cushion the impact of the war. And there's another €60 billion, originally meant to fight the coronavirus economic crisis but repurposed by the new government into a broader transformation fund. Not so bad for not even six months in office.

Political danger: Lindner had been wary about the consequences of going into government. Concern was that his Free Democrats -- an ordoliberal, market-loving liberal party which ended its last coalition with the Social Democrat's in 1982 by moving over to the CDU -- would suffer from being part of a center-left coalition (and so they did, and badly, in every state election since.) Lindner, the party leader, insisted he get the Finance Ministry for himself and detailed reassurances in the coalition treaty that the new government would pursue sound and conservative fiscal policies.

Heinrich von Stackelberg and the Diffusion of Ordoliberal Economics in Franco's Spain

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 04:36:33 PM EST
Growth Rate: EU Member States Fully Recovered (none / 0)
Leading nations: Estonia - Bulgaria - Malta



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 07:12:03 PM EST
Brown Coal Remains In Fossil Fuel Mix (none / 0)



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 07:13:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]
US Delivery to Europe - LNG Prices Still Bearish (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 07:15:10 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 1)
Turkey vetoes SE, FI application to NATO
by Cat on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 09:51:18 PM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Erdogan not yet satisfied ... wants fighter jets delivery ... F16 instead of the blocked F35s and the harsh US sanctions lifted ... tough negotiations ... at least a bit of de-escalation 💪🏼 #WeAreEurope
 ☮️

'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 09:59:51 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Erdogan is obsessed with extraditing his political opponents, wherever in the world they find refuge from his "justice" system.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Tue May 17th, 2022 at 12:46:49 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
VDL Fails In Sixth Round of Anti-Russia Sanctions



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Mon May 16th, 2022 at 10:17:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]
ICC, ICJ coup (none / 1)
by Cat on Tue May 17th, 2022 at 06:01:57 PM EST
Dutch Offer Finland-Sweden Military Protection (none / 0)
No need to join NATO ... bilateral agreements offer full security 😁

Of course in copy-cat step following Britain's Liz Truss and Boris.

UK's Johnson signs security pact with Sweden, Finland | The Guardian|

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 18th, 2022 at 03:08:47 PM EST
Business As Usual for PM Mark Rutte (none / 0)
Mark was a great fan of Donald Trump, considered him a friend ... doubt if Trump could remember his name.

Best for Finland and Sweden to put the agreement in writing ... often Mark has a lapse of memory on crucial topics.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 18th, 2022 at 03:09:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Rutte's memory (none / 0)
Through my experience in NL I start to wonder if skipping lunch is not producing this amazing number of people suffering from ADHD. In the past, the huge breakfast including ham, cheese and eggs certainly replaced lunch perfectly, but keeping this habit throughout (also with a later dinner than what used to be) must imo have some really bad effect for brain functions.
by Tom2 on Thu May 19th, 2022 at 08:34:17 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Rutte Memory Chip: Can't Recall (none / 0)
His old Nokia had little memory too ... so Mark deleted most of his messages.



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Thu May 19th, 2022 at 11:52:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Europe Missed the Possibility of Peace (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 18th, 2022 at 04:23:44 PM EST
Zelensky Saved the Lives of Azov Battalion (none / 0)
Kyiv government speak of evacuation, DPR's Pushilin talks about surrender and detention of POWs.

🇷🇺 🇺🇦⚡A new video of the surrender of Azov's militants from Azovstal

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Wed May 18th, 2022 at 04:25:32 PM EST
Re: Zelensky Saved the Lives of Azov Battalion (none / 0)
Ah, because you believe Putin will respect the Geneva Convention?

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Thu May 19th, 2022 at 01:20:48 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Surrender Azov Battalion - 1730 Soldiers (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Thu May 19th, 2022 at 04:17:24 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Surrender Azov Battalion - 1730 Soldiers (none / 0)
"Militants", not military. Good excuse for not following the Geneva Convention...
by Bernard (bernard) on Sat May 21st, 2022 at 06:15:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Proxy Wars and Mercenaries or Unlawful Combatants (none / 1)
Roughly speaking, only citizens and residents of the nation are protected by the Geneva Convention during hostilities of war.

Combatants and POWs

Practice Relating to Rule 108. Mercenaries | ICRC |

The Risky Status of Ukraine's Foreign Fighters | FP |

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 21st, 2022 at 07:42:14 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Geneva conventions (none / 0)
A combatant is either:

a member of the armed forces stricto sensu of a party to an international armed conflict: [1]
respecting the obligation to distinguish himself/herself from the civilian population
or

a member of another armed group: [2]
belonging to a party to the international armed conflict,
fulfilling, as a group, the following conditions:
operating under responsible command
wearing a fixed distinctive sign
carrying arms openly
respecting IHL

I may be wrong, but I was under the impression that those captured at Mariupol were all members of the Ukrainian armed forces, in which case it does not matter where they are from : they are protected (from nations which respect the Geneva conventions).

Those who are not members of the Ukrainian armed forces will have to demonstrate (which should be easy enough) that they cover the other criteria.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Sun May 22nd, 2022 at 01:45:11 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Mercenaries or Unlawful Combatants (none / 1)
by Cat on Sun May 22nd, 2022 at 03:24:59 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Mercenaries or Unlawful Combatants (none / 0)
How do you determine whether a foreign-born member of a national army is a mercenary?
Forensics?

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Mon May 23rd, 2022 at 01:11:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Mercenaries or Unlawful Combatants (none / 1)
BULLETIN: POLISH TROOPS HAVE ENTERED UKRAINE WAR, 22 May
Staggering reports are coming in claiming two (2) battalions of Polish Army troops have entered Ukraine covertly. Overnight, 2 battalions of Polish infantry moved out from Kyiv the day before and have already reached Pavlograd.
[...]
Whether we are talking about regular troops or mercenaries, it is difficult to say now.   Some reports are claiming the Poles are Mercenaries, who were waiting for the US $40 Billion in Ukrainian "aid" to be approved before moving into action.  That was approved formally late this past week.
by Cat on Sun May 22nd, 2022 at 04:52:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Naturalized Mercenaries or Unlawful Combatants (none / 1)
Presiden Zelensky announces special status to Poles in Ukraine
a draft bill to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine on the status and assistance to Polish citizens in Ukraine, which is similar to the one, which has recently been endorsed by the Sejm of the Republic of Poland in relation to Ukrainians.
by Cat on Sun May 22nd, 2022 at 07:21:40 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Mercenaries, Unlawful -Naturalized Combatants (none / 1)
'Guest in the house, God in the house': Polish president draws warm welcome in Ukraine: Live updates
"This is a Polish proverb with which I greet in Kyiv our guest, friend and brother."
[...]
Ukrainian lawmakers on Sunday extended by 90 days both the general mobilization of forces and a decree of martial law. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy requested the extension until Aug. 23, saying a counteroffensive would take time, according to Ukrainian media startup Hromadske International.

by Cat on Sun May 22nd, 2022 at 08:32:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Mercenaries or Unlawful Combatants (none / 0)
Do you listen to this gun nut's radio show? What are his sources? Do you believe this stuff? Have you nothing better?

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Mon May 23rd, 2022 at 11:09:41 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Mercenaries or Unlawful Combatants (none / 1)
"boots on the ground"
by Cat on Sun May 22nd, 2022 at 05:55:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Lawful Combatants (none / 1)
neo-tatooed Holocaust survivor enlisted in Ukraine Armed Forces
by Cat on Sun May 22nd, 2022 at 06:01:30 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Ah very clever... (none / 0)
Azovstal's defenders to be tried

May 23 (Reuters) - The leader of Ukraine's breakaway Donetsk People's Republic on Monday said the fighters who surrendered at the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol will a face trial in the separatist region, Interfax news agency reported.

"The prisoners from Azovstal are being held on the territory of the Donetsk People's Republic," Interfax quoted Denis Pushilin as saying. "Organising an international tribunal on the republic's territory is also planned."

The report did not specify what charges the fighters would face.

It doesn't matter. As far as I know, the widely recognised Donuts Peoples Respublik is not a signatory to the Geneva conventions

... so they can all be hanged, drawn and quartered on the public square without violating it.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Mon May 23rd, 2022 at 01:13:42 PM EST
[ Parent ]
UN Charter: Self-determination is a human-right (none / 0)
Just a first step towards annexation and be part of the Russian Federation ...

South Ossetia to 'take legal steps' towards annexation by Russia

"As a son of our motherland and the president of South Ossetia, elected by the people, I entirely support the idea of joining the divided Ossetian people as part of a united Russia," Gagloev told the Russian news agency Tass on May 14. (Neighboring North Ossetia, home to most Ossetians, is already a part of Russia.)

"From my position, I want to assure the people of South Ossetia that my actions connected with the unification referendum will be directed at observing international legal norms and consultations and the implementation of agreements with the Russian Federation."

Self-determination is prominently embodied in Article I of the Charter of the United Nations

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Tue May 24th, 2022 at 08:50:07 AM EST
[ Parent ]
UN Charter: Self-determination is a human-right (none / 0)
Perhaps you should have posted this on the Annexation Of Land - Changing Borders thread?

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Wed May 25th, 2022 at 08:20:39 AM EST
[ Parent ]
UN Charter: Self-determination is a human right (none / 0)
... in case you missed it, the commonality is that the right to self-determination (and to unilaterally modify international borders) is limited to those with the military means to enforce it.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II
by eurogreen on Wed May 25th, 2022 at 10:32:35 AM EST
[ Parent ]
No End In Sight for Hostilities Ukraine-Russia (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 21st, 2022 at 08:33:19 PM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Bullshit story on Dutch television ...



'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 21st, 2022 at 08:34:22 PM EST
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Ah so you believe that Crimean Tatars have not suffered persecution since the Russian annexation?

How VERY unsurprising.

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Sun May 22nd, 2022 at 01:47:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Tatarstan

'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sun May 22nd, 2022 at 08:51:36 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Re: Germany Goes To War (none / 0)
Suggested reading :

Grey Bees, by Andrei Kourkov (Ukraine's leading Russian-language novelist)

It is rightly acknowledged that people of faith have no monopoly of virtue - Queen Elizabeth II

by eurogreen on Mon May 23rd, 2022 at 11:18:36 AM EST
[ Parent ]
Military Victory Before Diplomacy Seals Peace (none / 0)

Translation:
Ukraine can only win the war with Russia on the battlefield, but the final point will still be put on the negotiating table, because that is the only way to understand many difficult issues. The President of Ukraine said this.

'Sapere aude'

by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 21st, 2022 at 08:35:16 PM EST
Re: Military Victory Before Diplomacy Seals Peace (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Sat May 21st, 2022 at 08:35:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]
Embargo Russian Fossil Fuels (none / 0)


'Sapere aude'
by Oui (Oui) on Thu May 26th, 2022 at 11:33:26 AM EST

Germany Goes To War | 150 comments (150 topical, 0 editorial, 0 hidden)
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