the U.S. is untouchable. Russian crimes at least receive some attention.

Noam Chomsky: A No-Fly Zone Over Ukraine Could Unleash Untold Violence

The great powers constantly violate international law, as do smaller ones when they can get away with it, commonly under the umbrella of a great power protector, as when Israel illegally annexes the Syrian Golan Heights and Greater Jerusalem — tolerated by Washington, authorized by Donald Trump, who also authorized Morocco’s illegal annexation of Western Sahara.

Under international law, it is the responsibility of the UN Security Council to keep the peace and, if deemed necessary, to authorize force. Superpower aggression doesn’t reach the Security Council: U.S. wars in Indochina, the U.S.-U.K. invasion of Iraq, or Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, to take three textbook examples of the “supreme international crime” for which Nazis were hanged at Nuremberg. More precisely, the U.S. is untouchable. Russian crimes at least receive some attention.

The Security Council may consider other atrocities, such as the French-British-Israeli invasion of Egypt and the Russian invasion of Hungary in 1956. But the veto blocks further action. The former was reversed by orders of a superpower (the U.S.), which opposed the timing and manner of the aggression. The latter crime, by a superpower, could only be protested.

Superpower contempt for the international legal framework is so common as to pass almost unnoticed. In 1986, the International Court of Justice condemned Washington for its terrorist war (in legalistic jargon, “unlawful use of force”) against Nicaragua, ordering it to desist and pay substantial reparations. The U.S. dismissed the judgment with contempt (with the support of the liberal press) and escalated the attack.

Even if international law (and the U.S. Constitution) were to be obeyed, its reach would be limited. It would not reach as far as Russia’s horrendous Chechnya wars, levelling the capital city of Grozny, perhaps a hideous forecast for Kyiv unless a peace settlement is reached; or in the same years, Turkey’s war against Kurds, killing tens of thousands, destroying thousands of towns and villages, driving hundreds of thousands to miserable slums in Istanbul, all strongly supported by the Clinton administration which escalated its huge flow of arms as the crimes increased.

ここらへん左派のチョムスキーとリアリストの共通に認識なんでしょうね。超大国・・軍事超大国はやりたい放題。その違法を罰する権力が世界には存在しない。

Instead of pursuing diplomatic options, Putin reached for the revolver, an all-too-common reflex of power. The result is devastating for Ukraine, with the worst probably still to come. The outcome is also a very welcome gift to Washington, as Putin has succeeded in establishing the Atlanticist system even more solidly than before. The gift is so welcome that some sober and well-informed analysts have speculated that it was Washington’s goal all along

 

Atlanticism, also known as Transatlanticism,[1] is the belief in or support for a close relationship between peoples and governments in Northern America (United States, Canada) and those in Europe (European Union, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway), regarding political, economic, and defence issues.

プーチンは外交的解決の道もあったけど、暴力に訴えてしまった。それで、図らずも、北アメリカと欧州が協調する大西洋主義が強化されてしまった。それがアメリカの目的だったんだ、という識者もいる、と。

チョムスキのこの記事を読んでて、引用されていたのが、さっきの記事なんだよねええ。

それはともかく、それから、飛行禁止区域つくったら、アメリカとロシアのドンパチになるからやめておけ、と。