Columnists break the media code on Ukraine war

FPI / March 14, 2022

Amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said he’s seen “credible reports” that Russia is guilty of war crimes. Adding an exclamation point to this statement by America's top diplomat, Kamala Harris weighed in: “Absolutely,” Russia should be investigated for “war crimes.”

It was perhaps for such inflamed rhetoric in the midst of a hot war, that the International Criminal Court Project stated the following on its “U.S.-ICC Relationship” web page:

“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.”

It is interesting, Washington Times columnist Cheryl K. Chumley noted, "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 — 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."

"War crimes? Or is it just war? America needs to exercise caution with this rhetoric," Chumley wrote in a March 12 op-ed.

The ICC determines whether or not war crimes have been committed. The U.S. is not a member of the ICC.

"Shouldn’t there be formal charges brought that allege war crime against the party, or parties, alleged to have committed the atrocities?" Chumley asked. "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."

The "war crimes" rhetoric, Chumley wrote, is aimed at opening the door for the U.S. to join the ICC.

The woke leftist mob has already declared its intent to purge the U.S. military "of Christians, of patriotic fighters, of constitutionalists, of conservatives, of MAGA-loving Donald Trump supporters," Chumley noted. "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?"

Chumley continued: "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?"

Meanwhile, the UN Security Council on Friday scheduled a meeting at Russia’s request to discuss what the Kremlin claims are "the military biological activities of the U.S. on the territory of Ukraine."

Blogger Don Surber noted: "Hmm. It's almost as if Russia is saying Ukraine has WMD."

Related: Russia convenes UN Security Council; U.S. embassy removes links on 15 Ukraine biolabs, March 11, 2022

Olivia Dalton, spokesperson for the U.S. Mission to the United Nations said: "This is exactly the kind of false flag effort we have warned Russia might initiate to justify a biological or chemical weapons attack. We’re not going to let Russia gaslight the world or use the U.N. Security Council as a venue for promoting their disinformation."

Surber asked: "Who gaslights whom?"

The AP reported: "The Russian request, announced in a tweet Thursday afternoon from its first deputy U.N. ambassador, Dmitry Polyansky, follows the U.S. rejection of Russian accusations that Ukraine is running chemical and biological labs with U.S. support.

"Pentagon press secretary John Kirby on Wednesday called the Russian claim 'a bunch of malarkey.' "

The AP "seems to believe there is only one side to this story," Surber wrote. "After Wuhan, I don't."

Surber added: "We need the Ghost of Wilford Brimley to sit Russia and the Biden administration down and say, "Now we'll talk all day if you want to. But, come sundown, there's gonna be two things true that ain't true now. One is that the United States Department of Justice Nations is goin' to know what in the good Christ -- excuse me, Angie -- is goin' on around here. And the other's I'm gonna have somebody's ass in my briefcase."

Another AP report said that Joe Biden would "announce Friday that, along with the European Union and the Group of Seven countries, the U.S. will move to revoke Most Favored Nation trade status for Russia over its invasion of Ukraine."

Surber wrote: "Good. Now do Red China."

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