By Alfred de Zayas
March 04, 2022 – Dezayasalfred.Wordpress.Com
Russia’s aggression against Ukraine entails a grave violation of the jus cogens rule stipulated in article 2, paragraph 4, of the UN Charter – the prohibition of the use of force without approval of the Security Council. Admittedly, Russia has invoked article 51 of the Charter, which recognizes the right of self-defence until the Security Council is seised of the matter. However, this provision only operates when there has been a prior military attack, which a state must repulse, because its very survival is at stake. This is not the case in the current conflict.
Some legal experts have evoked the idea of pre-emptive self-defence, which, however, does not exist in international law, and is as invalid here as it was when George W. Bush invoked it to justify his war of aggression on Iraq 2003. Some observers have suggested a justification based on the concept of vital interests of the state, which Israel invokes from time to time in an attempt to justify its crimes against Palestinians, Lebanese, Syrians and others. Only apologists would buy these arguments that lack any legitimacy in international law – or natural law.
Our priority today must be to work for an immediate cease-fire, followed by urgent humanitarian assistance and an international conference that would attempt to reach a compromise that would be conducive to durable peace in the region. A compromise means that there must be give and take. The Cuban missile crisis of 1962 was resolved through a pragmatic quid pro quo, whereby the Soviets pulled their missiles out of Cuba, and the United States removed its missiles from Turkey.
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Noam Chomsky: US Military Escalation Against Russia Would Have No Victors
By C.J. Polychroniou, Truthout – March 01, 2022
Political considerations, such as those cited by Russian President Vladimir Putin, cannot be used as arguments to justify the launching of an invasion against a sovereign nation. In the face of this horrific invasion, though, the U.S. must choose urgent diplomacy over military escalation, as the latter could constitute a “death warrant for the species, with no victors,” Chomsky says.
Doubling Down On Double Standards – The Ukraine Propaganda Blitz
By Media Lens – March 04, 2022
What a strange feeling it was to know that the cruise missile shown descending towards an airport and erupting in a ball of flame was not fired by US or British forces.
Millions of Westerners raised to admire the ultimate spectacle of high-tech, robotic power, must have quickly suppressed their awe at the shock – this was Russia’s war of aggression, not ‘ours’. This was not an approved orgy of destruction and emphatically not to be celebrated.