Western Hypocrisy over Ukraine.

'Hero'                'War Criminal'

 

 "Stormin' Norman" was the nick-name given to General Herbert Norman Schwarzkopf Jr. (1934 – 2012) in charge of "Operation Desert Shield, the 1991 American invasion, with British support, ofIraq. It was done at the behest and in consultation with two notorious names, George H W Bush and Dick Cheney, respectively President of the United States of America and his Secretary of Defense. Bush junior and Cheney were of course both central to the events of 9/11 and the second Iraq invasion. (1)

But sticking to Schwarzkopt and 'Desert Storm' for the moment, Wikipedia has the relevant following note:

"An investigation by Beth Osborne Daponte estimated total civilian fatalities at about 3,500 from bombing, and some 100,000 from the war's other effects.^{[247][248][249]} In 2002, Daponte estimated the total number of Iraqi deaths caused directly and indirectly by the Gulf War to be between 142,500 and 206,000, including 100,000–120,000 military deaths, 20,000–35,000 civilian deaths in civil war and 15,000–30,000 refugee deaths. The chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, Les Aspin, estimated that "at least 65,000 Iraqi soldiers were killed".^[254] A figure was supported by Israeli sources who speak of "one to two hundred thousand Iraqi casualties." Most of the killing "took place during the ground war. Fleeing soldiers were bombed with a device known as a 'fuel-air explosive.' [254]  (2)

These, and other later military activities by Western nations have caused untold deaths and suffering to a whole swathe of mainly Middle Eastern countries, without hardly a moral ripple in the political class, now outraged by Putin and Russia's invasion of Ukraine. To a man, British MPs cheered to the rafters the Churchillian stance of Boris Johnson (I almost typed Yeltsin or even Pasternak!) in support of self-determination and against military invasion. How is it possible they could be so short sighted - even blind - to the hypocrisy of their position, let alone to the way in which the Ukrainian issue has been orchestrated over a long period. Clearly the parable of the mote and beam still applies.

In 2014, Nigel Farage (yes him again!) gave a short but very percipient speech to the European Parliament.  It can be viewed here (3)  Not only could the West see what was coming, it actively encouraged it both overtly and covertly. The Victoria Nuland/CIA involvement in the 2013 coup is well established. From sophisticated intercepts and communication surveillance by GCHQ and other agencies, Western nations must have been fully informed of Russian military plans. Are we to believe naively that the very effective Ukrainian resistance is not assisted, even controlled, from the West whilst claiming it is only supplying the hardware? 

The Russian invasion provides the excuse for arming Ukraine and cementing further Western influence and control. It might explain the bizarre diplomatic position taken by the West, almost encouraging Russia to cross the line. This scenario has no doubt been played out in computerised military war games for years yet we are to believe everyone was taken by surprise?  How naïve is that one?

So back to Schwarzkopf and the first Iraq invasion for a moment: It is clear that the West did precisely what Putin is doing now, but with probably less justification and with greater adverse humanitarian consequences.  The incineration of thousands of retreating troops and civilians was a war crime if ever I saw one, although as far as I am aware no one has ever been successfully prosecuted - except for making those crimes public! Boris Johnson and his acolytes now stand on a moral soap box drenched in the blood of the West's victims.  Putin's invasion may be legally and morally wrong but no one should be misled as to the West's moral position, or for the real reason it is taking it.  The real reason for conflict is power and resources although the reasons dished out to the public are invariably moral and religious.

Schwarzkopf was hailed as a national and international hero for doing what he did. Putin has now been labelled by Biden, deeply implicated in Ukrainian corruption, as a 'War Criminal', for doing precisely the same. Could a better case study in international hypocrisy ever be invented?

(1)  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Norman_Schwarzkopf_Jr.#Operation_Desert_Shield 

(2)  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulf_War#Casualties.

(3)

https://www.facebook.com/An0malyMusic/videos/1084968152070293