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To see a list of previous articles, enter “Ukraine” in the Search Box on the upper right, and you will see a list in chronological order.

To understand the broad context within which current developments in Ukraine should be considered,see

“Ukraine War, October 26, 2022: The context for analysis of current developments; The “dirty bomb” as a Russian propaganda distraction from current war crimes,” The Trenchant Observer, October 26, 2022.

Dispatches

1) Gilles Paris (Editorialiste),”Vingt ans plus tard, les répliques de l’invasion de l’Irak par les Etats-Unis se font toujours sentir; L’operation militaire décidée par Washington en 2003 apparaît comme l’une des décisions les plus dévastatrices pour les Etats-Unis comme pour le Moyen-Orient et contribue encore à nourrir la defiance du ‘Sud global’ envers les visées occidentales,” Le Monde, le 1er Mars 2023 (mis à jour à 20(18):

2) Gilles Paris (Editorialist), “‘Twenty years later, the aftershocks of the invasion of Iraq by the United States are still being felt’; The military operation decided by Washington in 2003 appears to be one of the most devastating decisions for the United States and the Middle East and still contributes to feeding the distrust of the ‘global South’ now,” Le Monde, March 1, 2023 (updated atb8:18 p.m.);

Analysis

main points

No comparable commission of war crimes in Iraq.

No attempt to annex lands seized by force.

No policy of denying Art. 2(4) and other principles of U.N, Charter. U.S. simply lied about the facts, abused first U.N. Security Council resolution and failed to wait forcresults of IAEA report.

“What aboutism” will notbstrengthen U.N. Charter-based international order.
–U.S. made mistake of failing to offer legal justification for bombing of Serbia to halt ethnic cleansing in Kosovo,
–U.S. acted pursuant to U.N. Security Council Resolution in Libya. Facts must more complicated than Paris suggests. In any event, Libya is not comparable and whole argument based on “whataboutism” simply excuses current and ongoing aggression, without strengthening U.N. Charter-based system to prevent aggression in the future.

The Trenchant Observer

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