I don't agree with John Reimann's claim that this interview is "Putin propaganda".
The interview provides a platform for Human Rights Watch representative Belkis Wille to condemn Russian war crimes, including execution of surrendering Ukrainian soldiers and use of cluster bombs. One of the interviewers notes that HRW has for decades documented Russian war crimes "from Chechnya to Syria and now in Ukraine": https://www.democracynow.org/2024/5/16/ukraine_russia John objects to the fact that the interview participants recognise that Russia is making military gains. This is an unfortunate reality. I would have preferred to see Russian imperialism suffer a decisive defeat. But this now seems unlikely. Russia is militarily much stronger than Ukraine. It has a much bigger population. Its factories produce vastly more weapons. For a time these advantages were outweighed by incompetent leadership of the Russian troops and the higher level of commitment of the Ukrainian troops. But now it seems that Russia's greater military strength is wearing the Ukrainians down. What should be our response? We should support continued arms supplies to Ukraine to prevent further Russian advances. But a purely military victory for Ukraine is unlikely. Only political change in Russia can end the invasion. This could result from popular discontent and/or splits in the ruling class. John also objects to Amy Goodman making reference to Xi Jinping's "peace plan". He is right to be critical of this reference, since it is not clear what this supposed "plan" involves. Given that Russia and China are allies, it is unlikely to be favourable to Ukraine. But I don't think this makes Goodman a "Putin shill". Rather I think she is horrified at the ongoing bloodshed and clutching at straws in the hope of a peaceful solution. Chris Slee -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#30392): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/30392 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/106151353/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: marxmail+ow...@groups.io Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [arch...@mail-archive.com] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
