OPINION:
Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he’s seen “credible reports” that show Russia’s guilty of war crimes in Ukraine. Britain accused Russia of a “war crime” for an attack that destroyed a hospital and left several civilians, including a young girl, dead. U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris has “absolutely” said Russia should be investigated for “war crimes.”
War crimes? Or is it just war? America needs to exercise caution with this rhetoric.
The Nazis’ euthanasia program against the disabled was a war crime. The Japanese Army’s human experimentation, also known as the Unit 731 horror, was a war crime. Mistakenly bombing a facility where civilians were housed? Not necessarily a war crime. Tragic — yes. Tragic and senseless and horrific and ugly and despicable — yes. But such is war. And America must be careful not to travel a path that leads to confusion about the necessity of the military, the nobility of America’s military forces, and the right of America to defend itself. That’s a line of thinking from the delusional left.
All war in and of itself can ultimately, in the minds and fabrications of, say, leftists who use words as political weapons, be deemed a “crime.” Certainly, the targets of war would consider the consequences they suffer as criminal. Yet sovereign nations have the right to wage wars when deemed necessary.
Not to say Russia’s not an evil player by attacking Ukraine.
But it is curious that so many on the left, on the side of globalism, in the service, if not pockets, of elitists in the political class are so quick to call out Russia for war crimes.
That’s a matter for the International Criminal Court to decide.
In other words: the phrase “war crimes” carries a distinctive meaning.
“The International Criminal Court [is] the only permanent international criminal tribunal with a mandate to investigate and prosecute the international atrocity crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and aggression, [and] is the cornerstone of the system of international criminal justice,” The International Criminal Court Project wrote on its “US-ICC Relationship” web page.
So: isn’t it interesting that the very people who would sell America’s sovereignty down the river to the Chinese, to the World Economic Forum, to the United Nations — isn’t it interesting that these very people are campaigning for the label “war crime” to be affixed to Vladimir Putin oh so very badly, oh so very quickly? Prematurely, even.
After all, if it’s the ICC that determines whether or not war crimes have been committed, shouldn’t there be formal charges brought that allege war crime against the party, or parties, alleged to have committed the atrocities?
Shouldn’t there be evidence presented — not just a public relations campaign? Yes, Putin’s a really evil guy. Yes, Putin no doubt cares little for the people in Ukraine his army’s killed; even less for the homes and businesses — and hospitals — he’s broken and destroyed. But calling someone an evil S.O.B. isn’t the same as alleging war crimes, and it certainly isn’t the same as bringing up charges of war crimes in a court of law.
So here’s the point of suspicion: Democrats love a good crisis; they never let it go to waste. Democrats also love a good word game; they use language and words and rhetoric more as means of manipulating the masses than of educating or communicating.
Talking up “war crimes” against a backdrop of 24-7 media coverage of the horrible sufferings of the Ukrainians a) normalizes the idea of calling out someone as a “war criminal” who’s not yet been charged or prosecuted as a war criminal; b) opens the door for globalists in America’s politics to chatter about the need for the United States to join the ICC; and c) blurs the lines between war and true war crimes.
America’s military is already under attack by woke leftists who want to purge the ranks of Christians, of patriotic fighters, of constitutionalists, of conservatives, of MAGA-loving Donald Trump supporters. Imagine what America’s military would be if these woke leftists were then beholden to foreign powers who decided, ultimately, what constituted war versus war crime?
The left is very sneaky in its ways and it’s as important to pay attention to what’s not said, as well as what’s said. Narrative, after all, matters. Why are Democrats so quick to state out loud that Putin’s a war criminal? It’s the unsaid that’s more unsettling. It’s the unsaid that points to a probable deeper strategy — darker intent — of pro-globalism, anti-Americanism, and that drags up the question: What are they up to now?
Never let a crisis go to waste. It’s not just a blithe saying. It’s the left’s entire political playbook. And they never attack on just one front.
— Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley. Listen to her podcast “Bold and Blunt” by clicking HERE. And never miss her column; subscribe to her newsletter by clicking HERE. Her latest book, “Socialists Don’t Sleep: Christians Must Rise Or America Will Fall,” is available by clicking HERE.
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