Earlier today, as I tiredly wondered why kids only wake up early on holidays, not for school; I had a debate with a legal colleague, while busy downing my eighth coffee.
My laptop was stolen so I’m typing this on my phone. The iPad has been taken somewhere by a child I can't be bothered to chase. But my week is still better than that of mothers in Ukraine and Russia. It makes me appreciate peace more.
My legal colleague was horrified at the Russian attacks in Ukraine, “It's against international law, just because US broke and twisted international rules doesn't mean everyone else gets to!”
But this is just the problem. The West has repeatedly twisted, bypassed and broken international norms for their own ends. So what international law applies anymore?
The law says those who seek justice must come with ‘clean hands'. The West is covered with civilian blood from recent conflicts. What is their standing in any credible international court as a complainant, that others are doing what they did over the last 30 years?
It is no longer the case that self-defence of a nation is justified only if you are attacked physically, killed, injured or invaded by another state.
A “threat” based on “intelligence” is enough to bomb a country to rubble. Even just a leader being “bad” and “attacking their own citizens”, how about “promoting democracy”? That all worked out well didn't it.
Truth is, no one has killed more civilians, destroyed more countries than America and their ragtag “coalition of the willing” since WWII.
So based on this standard. What are Russia's arguments for invading Ukraine? Note, I'm not justifying civilian killings. That is always wrong. But I am looking at what precedent the US has set and how it would apply to Russia.
Russia has argued:-
Ukraine is killing its own people eg in separatist Donbas. This is true. There has been an eight-year war in East Ukraine and Amnesty condemned Ukraine for using illegal cluster bombs in Donbas on civilians, accusing Ukraine of a war crime. Wonder who supplied those illegal cluster bombs to Ukraine?
That NATO membership for Ukraine is a threat to Russia. It is self-evident NATO is no longer a defensive force. It has been widely used to back up US wars throughout the world. And even US officials and military officials have warned the US that Ukrainian membership is a red line not to cross. Yet the Biden crazies, lead by Nuland and his weird Secretary of State, entered in November 2021, an agreement with Ukraine to deepen relations and back their entry into NATO.
There is a biological weapon risk to Russia from Ukraine. True. The US military funds and helps manage Ukranian biolabs. American Richard Pope who was leading the effort to neutralise Soviet bioweapons in these labs recently confirmed the US failed to destroy all of them.
Ukraine has an issue with neo-Nazis and neo-Nazis such as the Azov group have been made part of the official Ukrainian Army and government. True. Ukraine is a hotbed of neo-Nazis, with one of the highest numbers in the world and it's acceptable there to be a Nazi. Ask any coloured person who has lived there.
What is scary is these are their most effective fighters, best at producing slick propaganda and armed by the West. The US Congress's own records show it knew it was funding and supplying weapons to neo-Nazis in Ukraine over the last eight years. Amendments to stop supplying neo-Nazis in Ukraine were pulled from legislation.
Ukraine cut off Crimea's water supply, drying its rivers. True. One of the first things Russia did was remove the blockade.
So where does that leave us? By America's standards for invasion, Russia is just following their playbook.
So what does America and the West do? They produce loads of propaganda, ban TV channels and media with alternative views – we know the West no longer has free speech – and ensure only their own propaganda is heard.
Do not believe everything you see on what may be fake news. Wait until there is a proper investigation by respected objective human rights groups before you become an over emotional victim of propaganda.
No one in our country knows what is really happening on the ground in Ukraine. While the Russians apparently bomb a hospital, Ukrainians do the same in the Donbas region of Ukraine. Russians say no one was in the hospital and it had been used by troops to fire on them. Who knows?
The West says Putin is mad, he is not; the West says Russia is targeting civilians and wants to kill all Ukrainians in a genocide. This is a complete lie. Russia has the weapons to take Ukraine out in one day. The slow approach they have taken gives them high casualties but lower civilian casualties.
It is critically important that Africa is neutral here. Selective justice is injustice. If Russia is held to a legal standard and America is not, then we don't have a global order, we have a global dictatorship. That is not in Africa's interests.
South Africa is right. Africa's role should be to try to mediate and stop war, it is a huge act of self-harm to take sides. Let's remember, Ukraine is just a pawn in the games of big countries. Let us not become one too.
“WATCH: The latest videos from the Star”
