The Unforgotten Ukrainian Lesson, Part 2 / 3
Adel Bashqawi
February 25, 2023
Russia’s war against Ukraine made the democratic countries of the world provide various assistance to help Ukraine and its people stand firm against the barbaric invasion of their country. These countries helped Ukrainians who were subjected to indiscriminate air strikes, artillery and missile shelling, cold-blooded murders and extermination, to seek safe refuge in neighboring countries until the end of the war. The economic and military aid also enabled the Ukrainian forces to stand firm to defend their homeland and defeat the brutal forces of the second largest army in the world, and to force its military divisions to return from whence they came, to the internationally recognized borders.
Russia claimed to represent an alternative world order. Today, the whole world is watching the result. War and destabilization of the international order and of food and energy markets. Further, Russia’s war of aggression trampled on the most elementary principles of the United Nations’ Charter and the International Law. Knowing that Russia is one of the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council. Due to that, Russia better be the first country that should abide by and observe the relevant laws. It is not common though to watch mercenary forces such as Wagner dominating the military scene. In fact Russian military efforts are relying on Wagner units more than the regular army ones. They perform bloodshed operations and functions perfectly.
The General Assembly of the UN issued a resolution on the commemoration of one year of Russian declared war against Ukraine. “The 141-7 vote with 32 abstentions was slightly below the highest vote for the five previous resolutions approved by the 193-member world body since Russia sent troops and tanks across the border into its smaller neighbor on Feb. 24, 2022.”[1]
Principles 1 to 3 of Article 2 of the United Nations Charter, Chapter I,
are in the following order:
1. The Organization is based on the principle of the sovereign equality of all its Members.
2. To develop friendly relations among nations based on respect for the principle of equal rights and self-determination of peoples, and to take other appropriate measures to strengthen universal peace;
3. All Members shall settle their international disputes by peaceful means in such a manner that international peace and security, and justice, are not endangered.[2]
Cryptographic and absurd ideas and positions mean only that those who launch them have neither declared principles nor clear goals. They tend to move from the far left to the far right and vice versa every now and then. The contradiction sometimes comes in a coded form; but apparently the lack of clarity of vision and the lack of knowledge of the documented facts of the topic at hand proves that this is not important for such individuals. Thus, they resort to sticking their head in the sand like an ostrich, resorting to assume: “I can’t see them, they can’t see me”.
There are certain individuals playing expansionist colonial tunes. Trolls appear in troubled waters, seeking for empty glories based on colonial theories, as if they are implementing the goals of the occupiers and colonizers without respect to the law. It is inconceivable and impossible to comprehend that legislators would take a risk and jump recklessly into the unknown with all the immediate and future dangers that this step conceals. So this is closing doors and outlets in the face of rational and logical dialogue, understanding and referring to the documented facts that prove who is the original victim and who is the aggressor.
It is worth noting that there are some politicians and perhaps parliamentarians who violate diplomatic norms as well as international laws and norms. Some of them, for example, on the one hand, criticize and denounce Russia’s policies and its military forces’ attack on Ukraine and the crossing of the internationally recognized borders. They fill social media pages and video channels such as YouTube with sermons, speeches, comments, promises and articles calling for stopping the advance of the aggressor forces and pushing them back beyond the borders, while on the other hand they applause previous Russian adventures somewhere else.
[2] https://www.un.org/en/about-us/un-charter/chapter-1
