On the Other Hand

Captured Russian soldiers in Ukraine - via The Mirror (U.K.), 11 March 2022.

Notice the helpless position they have been restrained in:  hands cuffed behind their backs, outer coats peeled back, outer pants pulled down to their ankles.  Any statement made under such a state of duress is, predictably, going to be what the interrogators want to hear.  There are numerous such videotaped confessions posted online by the Ukrainian authorities.

Your Head Trucker has refrained from mentioning his reservations about the war in Ukraine up till now - but today's story of Ukrainian soldiers executing Russian prisoners of war, is sufficient cause for me to speak up.

There can be no doubt whatsoever that Putin launched an unprovoked war on Ukraine, invading large swathes of territory, raining death and destruction all across Ukraine, deliberately and horrifically targeting civilians in homes, schools, hospitals, and all manner of non-military places.  The world has already seen indisputable evidence of Russian brutality and war crimes, deliberately and mercilessly done.  Russia's transparent lies and two-faced denials of these atrocities are so obvious that they are almost laughable.

Nevertheless - there are disturbing reports of Ukrainian brutality and war crimes too.  We don't want to hear those things, of course, because we want the good guys to be totally good, as in the movies.  But has there ever been a war in the long, bloody annals of recorded history in which neither side violated the rules of war, and of common decency?

This story came up in my news feed today - a manifest violation of the Geneva Conventions.  (Have you ever read them?)  I wonder how much continuing coverage it will get in mainstream Western media.

• The Guardian reports:
  

Ukrainian soldiers killing captured Russian prisoner of war

(video not yet available on YouTube)

• NBC published this report on March 29th:

U.N. urges investigation into videos of alleged POW abuse by Russia and Ukraine

• The Journal.ie (Ireland) published this report on March 12th:

How Ukraine is dealing with Russian POWs - and how they are supposed to be treated by law

Not long after the start of the war, I was alarmed by the sight of Russian POW's with their hands obviously tied behind their backs giving video confessions to their Ukrainian captors, which they promptly broadcast to the world - again, most definitely a violation of the Geneva Conventions (forced confessions, and publicizing prisoner's identities for propaganda purposes).  From the American broadcaster Radio Free Europe on February 27, the fourth day of the war:

As my recent posts have shown, I understand and deeply sympathize with the fact that the Ukrainians are fighting for their lives, and using all possible means to prevent the destruction of their nation.  In such a state of desperate warfare, misdeeds are often made by individuals, and by national leaders, in a fit of fury.  War is a bad business, even when fighting for a good cause.

That does NOT justify war crimes, however, no matter who commits them.  Two wrongs do NOT make a right, in peace or in war.  The powers that be will, I hope, be recording and investigating all such crimes by both sides in what is, to some degree, very like a civil war - which because of its fratricidal nature is often the most vicious kind.

Western policymakers should also take the long view into consideration:  what will it mean for Europe and America if Zelensky achieves his goal of making Ukraine a "big Israel" - in a perpetual state of armed alert, if not actual war with its neighbors?  Think about it.  I do not say that would be good or bad - I merely say it is a possible outcome of this present war, which will not likely end with a nice, neat peace treaty anytime soon.

For the Record:  I do not hesitate to admit that we Americans have sometimes been myopic about atrocities committed by our own armed forces, I am very sorry to say.  From My Lai to Abu Ghraib, and at other times and places, American soldiers have shown they are not always the fighting saints we would like them to be.  And that is a very sad thing that the world has rightly condemned.

But I hope my overseas truckbuddies will understand, and my American truckbuddies will agree, that such crimes have never been embraced by the American public or remained immune to prosecution afterwards.  Though I frankly don't know what to say about Guantanamo, which somehow is still operating.  All these things are great black marks on our record, and I, for one, am deeply ashamed of them.  

On the other hand, Americans have sacrificed themselves, expending their time, talents, and treasure, individually and collectively, many times in many places to maintain the peace and stability of the world for the last 80 years; alongside our faults and failings, history will record our nobler deeds in golden letters for the admiration of ages to come.  And no matter what any lame-brain politician or demagogue or fanatic might say now or in the future, crimes against humanity are most definitely not the American way.  

The number of good and decent Americans, people with sound moral values, humility, and a conscience, far outnumber the bad ones.  Our way is the path of liberty and justice for all - when we stray from it, we try to learn from our mistakes, and do better as we continue the upward journey.  Despite our flaws and failings, we are the leaders of the free world, proud to be a force for good in a troubled world, and I hope we will always be.

At least, that is the view of this old, obsolete American with no power or influence beyond this obscure little blog.

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