Remember when you first learned about the Holocaust? You probably wondered how so many Germans could turn a blind eye to the misery to the suffering inflicted by their government. Now, however, Democrats and Republicans are both happy to ignore the Palestinians killed by U.S.-supplied Israeli bombs.
Better Than Me
Ted Rall
Ted Rall is a syndicated political cartoonist for Andrews McMeel Syndication and WhoWhatWhy.org and Counterpoint. He is a contributor to Centerclip and co-host of "The Final Countdown" talk show on Radio Sputnik. He is a graphic novelist and author of many books of art and prose, and an occasional war correspondent. He is, recently, the author of the graphic novel "2024: Revisited."
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The arena where Ted is been steadfastly correct has been his calling out of Israel’s war crimes in the last year……….only to completely undermine his moral platform by his absolute silence on Russian atrocities in Ukraine.
You should also call out my failure to discuss Myanmar’s crimes against the Rohingya people. I’ve also failed to analyze atrocities in the Sudanese civil conflict. And, for that matter, I have also neglected to discuss Ukraine’s war crimes against Russia. I am an abject failure for having not talking about any number of things that other people might possibly expect me to weigh in upon.
I’m shocked to read that crimes are committed during wars.
Where there is war, there are war crimes. That said, there are significant differences between crimes committed sporadically by troops on the ground (unavoidable) and crimes ordered and carried out systematically by high command (lots more variativity there).
I get down reading Ted’s work with a bit of nihilism. There isn’t anything remaining to support. You can’t have a choice that is good or moral or correct anymore. Even supporting something you think is positive is tied to something terrible you should have known about and researched before you thought something was good. Even the throwaway third party will have some sort of historical evil that has been committed by someone or some ideal. It really doesn’t matter anymore.
Jperiodic, we are in a crash-and-burn situation, and a certain amount of gallows humor is entirely appropriate.
Speaking of crashing and burning, the real atrocity in Ukraine is that the US has blackmailed the Zelensky regime into refusing multiple Russian offers to negotiate, resulting in the death of about five hundred thousand Ukrainians who only died because the US has insisted on fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian. Kinda like the half-million Iraqi children (and who knows how many adults) Madeline Albright thought was a reasonable price to pay for weakening Saddam. Only….Putin’s just getting stronger.
and PS….a great many “Russian atrocities in Ukraine” were either fabricated by the Ukrainians, or perpetrated by them and blamed on the Russians. Bucha, for example.
Is there definitive proof one way or another as to Bucha?
Depends on your definition of ‘definitive truth.” Scott Ritter points out that, when the Ukrainian army re-entered Bucha after the Russians withdrew, nobody was saying anything about the Russians doing a mass execution on their way out. That night, the Mayor told citizens to stay in their homes, as the Ukrainian army (in this case, a detachment from the Azov Battalion) was gong to “cleanse” the city. Next morning, the “Russian massacre victims” were discovered. Many had their hands tied behind their bcks with white scarves, the wearing of which had been a signal to the occupying Russians that the scarf-wearer was not hostile to them. Why would the Russians slaughter their supporters on their way out of town?
brother martin, thanks. It’s a good starting point for me anyway. I’d certainly like to be sure that we didn’t do it.