Viet Nam Human Rights
Ukraine crisis shows the West hypocrisy
As the Russian invasion of
Ukraine continues into a fourth day, an outpouring of support for Ukrainians has been
witnessed across much of Europe, Australia, and the West in general.
The war has triggered swift
condemnation by several countries, immediate sanctions by the United States and other countries
targeting Russian banks, oil refineries, and military exports, and marathon
emergency talks at the UN Security Council (UNSC).
On social media, the speed of such an international response –
which includes the exclusion of Russia from some cultural events and treatment
of it as a pariah in sports –
has raised eyebrows at the lack of such a reaction to other conflicts across
the world.
Media pundits, journalists, and political figures have been
accused of double standards for using their outlets to not only commend
Ukraine’s armed resistance to Russian troops, but also to underlying their
horror at how such a conflict could happen to a “civilised” nation.
CBS News senior correspondent in Kyiv Charlie D’Agata said on
Friday: “This isn’t a place, with all due respect, like Iraq or Afghanistan
that has seen conflict raging for decades. This is a relatively civilised,
relatively European – I have to choose those words carefully, too
– city where you wouldn’t expect that, or hope that it’s going to happen.”
His comments were met with derision and anger on social media, with
many pointing out how his statements contributed to the further dehumanisation
of non-white, non-European people suffering under a conflict within mainstream
media.
European politicians have also expressed support for open borders
towards Ukrainian refugees, using terminology such as “intellectuals” and
“European” – a far cry from the fear-mongering used by governments against
migrants and refugees from Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia.
“Skin is a passport … epidermal citizenship,” one social media
user said.
As hope dies, hypocrisy lives.
That equation, of sorts, came to mind as I watched with a
depressing mixture of grief, sadness and dread Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
occur in real time on TV.
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All comments [ 20 ]
Critics pointed out the hypocrisy of crowdsourcing and setting up online donations to fund Kyiv’s military without facing any government backlash or suspension of their monetary accounts.
So you agree...that boycotts, divestments, and sanctions are legitimate actions against an occupying force?
And now even sports also involve with politics! So hypocrisy!
They have even boycotted disabled athletes. So awful! So ashamed!
It has been astounding to watch an American president and a British prime minister and their surrogates at the UN and alike condemn Russia for violating supposedly sacrosanct and binding charters and international law when American and British foreign policy has, for generations, been a ruinous reflection of haughty contempt for those same charters and laws.
History is replete with countries and peoples who have paid and continue to pay dearly and collectively for the decisions made by American presidents and British prime ministers – in particular – to dismiss diplomacy in favour of force and “regime change”.
It is astounding to hear an American president and a British prime minister and their surrogates proclaim their fulsome defence of Ukraine’s “territorial integrity” when American presidents and British prime ministers have – in particular – treated the “territorial integrity” of scores of other sovereign nations as an inconvenience to their imperial designs.
Examples of British and American “exceptionalism” abound – Vietnam, Cambodia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Panama, Chile, Venezuela, Syria, Egypt, Afghanistan and, of course, Iraq and many more.
Yes, It is astounding to listen to an American president and a British prime minister caution Putin to avoid making a “historic mistake” when an American president and a British prime minister rejected the exact (and prescient) advice offered earlier this century by a slew of diplomats at the UN Security Council and millions of anti-war protesters who were then smeared as naïve quislings in the service of a dangerous autocrat.
It is astounding to watch American and British cable news personalities decry the Russian military’s cruise missile-fuelled campaign of “shock and awe” as evidence of Putin’s malignant designs when they watched in silent and sometimes celebratory awe as American and British forces unleashed “shock and awe” in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan.
It is astounding to watch Western politicians and commentators rush with a sprinter’s speed to demand that crushing sanctions immediately be imposed on the Russian “regime” and Putin’s enablers inside and outside the Duma when these Western politicians and commentators cackle like angry donkeys when human rights groups suggest sanctions be imposed against other regimes found to be guilty of apartheid.
The extreme hypocrisy of the U.S. position on NATO and Ukraine cries out for journalistic coverage and open debate in major American media outlets.
It is worth recalling how much the alliance has weakened world security since the end of the Cold War, by inflaming relations with Russia.
They should stop talking and acting for peace than creating them!
President Vladimir Putin "has two decades of experience of trying to persuade Western leaders to take Russia's interests into consideration. During these years, Russia has unsuccessfully opposed the U.S. decision to withdraw from the Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and build a new missile defense system in Romania, expand NATO, invade Iraq and Libya, and support Kyiv's anti-Russian policies — all in vain.
As we face the most dangerous crisis in decades that risks pushing the world into nuclear war, very few are doing anything more than mouth safe platitudes.
Are they bowing to public opinion? Not really. It's much more like they're cowering to avoid being attacked by hawkish media and militaristic political forces.
Stop hypocrisy!
Russia's war in Ukraine even exposes football's hypocrisy. FIFA is a joke!
It is now extremely pertinent to ask FIFA, UEFA and the national football authorities and clubs where they have been hiding when it comes to taking such decisive action against the U.S., or Israel.
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