In connection with the recent developments of the Ukrainian crisis, for the statement, we have collected some thoughts by Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, linguist, philosopher and well-known political scientist, whose two volumes, The Illegal Poteri, have recently been released in bookstores. Climate, nuclear war: meeting the challenges of our time, (translated by Ponte alle Grazie and edited in the Italian edition by the author).
On Friday, March 17, the International Criminal Court formally charged Vladimir Putin with war crimes in Ukraine and issued an arrest warrant for him and the Commissioner for Children’s Rights, Maria Lvova Belova. What do you think?
The International Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Putin for allegedly being responsible for the illegal deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children. Or, to put it another way, quoting Al Jazeera, the “professional hypocrites of the ICC” have issued a well-deserved arrest warrant for “that hideous personality, who is the Russian President, who gladly commits crimes against humanity and is little more than a criminal” (“ICC Note v. Putin is good – and hypocritical ”, Al Jazeera, March 20, 2023). Western media prefers to stick to a softer version. In any case, it is always worthwhile to seek the truth, however it may conflict with the servitude of dogmatic truths to the powerful.
Assuming that the work of the ICC is legitimate, the question arises whether it should not motivate the application of a standard similar to what happened in Iraq, precisely in these days when the twentieth anniversary of the Anglo-American invasion is being celebrated. .
If the ICC has the courage to rise to this level of honesty and integrity, the punishment will be harsh and brutal. When the court’s chief prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, was emboldened to suggest that the International Criminal Court should investigate serious US and Israeli crimes, President Trump declared a national emergency and imposed sanctions on court officials suspected of this flagrant violation of the law. The “international rules-based order” is governed by the United States. Bensouda’s visa was revoked. Later, sanctions were imposed on Bensouda and another senior official of the International Criminal Court (this is Phakiso Mochochoko, “U.S. Sanctions on the International Criminal Court,” Human Rights Watch, December 14, 2020, ed.). There is already a law in the US Congress that authorizes the US president to use force to “rescue” any American who risks being brought before a court in The Hague (known informally as the Hague Invasion Law, a federal law that went into effect on August 2, 2002, that was intended to “protect military personnel Americans and other elected and appointed officials of the United States government from prosecution by an international criminal court to which the United States is not a party.” The Godfather does not tolerate any gestures of disobedience.
On March 20, Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived in Moscow for a three-day official visit at Putin’s express invitation. Do you think that this visit can represent a concrete step towards some form of negotiations to stop the war in Ukraine?
The US government immediately condemned the visit and the Chinese proposal. The official position of the United States has not changed: the war must continue in order to seriously weaken Russia. As many Western commentators have noted, not without some enthusiasm, this is a big deal for the United States. Using only a fraction of its massive military budget, the United States can seriously degrade the power of its main military adversary, while generating an increase in profits and sales for the military industry. In fact, much greater gains. In general, Chinese diplomacy is a major concern for Washington. His latest move to push for an Iran-Saudi deal throws a wrench into the workings of the regional order that the United States has dominated since World War II, and undermines US efforts to punish Iran for its withdrawal from that order, in the post-World War II era. American planners considered the region the most strategically important in the world. It is not a trivial matter.
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