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Putin Indicted as War Criminal is a Big Deal

Putin Indicted as War Criminal is a Big Deal

The International Crime Court (ICC) has charged Russian President Vladimir Putin with war crimes and issued an order for his arrest.  The odds that the Madman of Moscow will actually be arrested, convicted, and imprisoned are rather remote.  There is virtually no chance of incarceration if Putin remains in power and stays out of countries that would execute the arrest warrant and turn him over to the ICC to stand trial.

You might think that the targeting and killing of thousands of civilian men, women, and children with his deadly air attacks would be reason enough for the indictment by the ICC.  No so.  It is the kidnapping of more than 6,000 Ukrainian children – bringing them to Russia for indoctrination – that has caused Putin to be accused of war crimes.  An addition to Putin, the ICC has also charged Commissioner of Children’s Rights Maria Lvova-Belova.

In a statement dismissing the charges, the Kremlin said that Russia never signed on as a party to the ICC.  That does not make a lot of difference since Putin would not respond to the arrest warrant under any circumstances.

It is an unusual move by the ICC.  It is almost =unprecedented for a sitting head-of-state to be formally indicted as a war criminal.  That usually happens after the accused has been removed from office.

Though Putin is not likely to stand trial in the absence of a coup, the action by the ICC has very real problems for the Russian leader.

The most obvious problem is damage to his reputation.  Putin is already the subject of severe criticism by most nations.  He is considered an international pariah. This compounds the issue.  It will be harder for heads-of-state to associate with Putting – notwithstanding China President Xi’s recent visit.

It will also limit Putin’s ability to travel to the 123 nations that are party to the ICC – even nations, such as the United States, that have not signed on as an ICC party but could arrest Putin anyway.  This means no appearances at the United Nations in New York City.

While Putin maintains a significant level of public support among the Russian people – especially those in the major urban centers – the indictment as a war criminal will erode that support and give provide more energy for the anti-Putin democratic forces inside Russia.

In a very real sense, it undermines Putin’s authority as the legitimate leader of Russia – instead casting him as a rogue despot.

The ICC’s action clearly declares Putin to be the villain in the Ukraine conflict.  That will bolster support by providing more military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine.  It gives legitimacy to the Ukrainian position that they are an independent nation that has been invaded – and rebuts Putin’s contention that Ukraine is part of Russia and that the people of Ukraine were to be reunited with a motherland.

Whether the mission will be accomplished, but the ICC’s action increases the possibility that  Putin will not survive as the Russian leader in the future. And in that regard, the sooner, the better.

So, there ‘tis.

About The Author

Larry Horist

So,there‘tis… The opinions, perspectives and analyses of Larry Horist Larry Horist is a businessman, conservative writer and political strategist with an extensive background in economics and public policy. Clients of his consulting firm have included such conservative icons as Steve Forbes and Milton Friedman. He has served as a consultant to the Nixon White House and travelled the country as a spokesman for President Reagan’s economic reforms. He has testified as an expert witness before numerous legislative bodies, including the U. S. Congress. Horist has lectured and taught courses at numerous colleges and universities, including Harvard, Northwestern, DePaul universities, Hope College and his alma mater, Knox College. He has been a guest on hundreds of public affairs talk shows, and hosted his own program, “Chicago In Sight,” on WIND radio. Horist was a one-time candidate for mayor of Chicago and served as Executive Director of the City Club of Chicago, where he led a successful two-year campaign to save the historic Chicago Theatre from the wrecking ball. An award-winning debater, his insightful and sometimes controversial commentaries appear frequently on the editorial pages of newspapers across the nation. He is praised by readers for his style, substance and sense of humor. According to one reader, Horist is the “new Charles Krauthammer.” He is actively semi-retired in Boca Raton, Florida where he devotes his time to writing. So, there ‘tis is Horist’s signature sign off.

3 Comments

  1. Tom

    The ICC indictment certainly puts a cloud over Putin’s head from a world perspective. Putin just seems so proud and sure of himself that I do not think it matters to him. Putin over the last few years has become an isolationist. He does not travel to any of those 123 countries anyway. His only international travels seem to have been to China, and the Russian held part of Ukraine for a photo op with the peeps to show off his magnificence. Most of the time he sends someone else. So I am not sure how much the indictment matters to him. Putin’s likely international playgrounds are China, Iran, DPRK, Syria, Belarus, Moldova, possibly Vietnam, India, and a handful of small island countries, so he still has friends. And everybody, even criminals, need a friend. Of course he will still travel around Mother Russia but he does that in secrecy as well, and only by Putin train. I think Xi Jinping probably thinks more about this than Putin. Xi needs a strong partner, not a criminal partner, in much bigger world issues than Ukraine. Now Xi will be seen as a gangsta buddy. This will strain the partnership without limits proclamation. What this will do is increase the diligence and speed with which Xi, Putin, Un, al-Assad, and the Mullahs and any secret friends work at carving out their new alternate world order and financial system. This is the birth of a second world order. Gentlemen start your engines!!! We’re off to the races!!! Welcome Cold War II. I would like to leave you all with a cheap techno-song called “A Man Like Putin” that is played in Mother Russia, listen at “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtZUeHmpV6A” and enjoy a man like Putin!!! For the rewritten version of this song by John Oliver, enjoy his version at “https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9B4Fg8EwUA” and enjoy Putin again!

  2. jboo7

    ICC issued an arrest warrant against Putin: FOR WHICH CRIME?
    FOR EVACUATING THE CHILDREN OF RUSSIAN FAMILIES FROM A WAR ZONE!

    All this is based on the LIE OF “THE UKRAINIAN PEOPLE” – which does not exist in all Ukraine:
    “U KRAYA” the “OUTBACK” (conquered and occupied by Poland and Lithuania) were only the West-Russian lands from near Dnepr to the Polish border.
    Therefore, only the people from there are “Ukrainians”, until they stole the Polish regions of Galicia and Volhynia – – and “ukrainized” them through Genocide and Holocaust – and those people there speak “Polish-Ukrainian” a Creole mix of the two.

    DonBass was never Ukraine but always Russia –
    until the GERMAN ARMY MADE A DONATION OF IT in WWI!
    So, WHEN POPULATIONS ARE DIFFERENT IN A COUNTRY,
    ONE SHOULD LOOK WHO IS THERE – in all “Ukraine”:
    Namely: 30+% Russians (Donbass and coast), Hungarians, Rumanians, Bulgarians, Tartars, Roma: UKRAINE IS A MULTINATIONAL COUNTRY –
    THAT ONE GROUP TRIES FORCING INTO ONLY ONE!
    And that is why this war started, first as Civil War – then, by more foreign interest, towards WWIII.

    As for the ITT, in such a situation, they should first,
    BEFORE THEY MAKE PARTISAN “JUDGMENTS”, INVESTIGATE THE FACTS:
    I. WHO LIVES IN DONBASS – in large majority? – ETHNIC RUSSIANS!
    II. WHO ARE THOSE CHILDREN? – CHILDREN OF ETHNIC RUSSIANS!
    III. WHO IS THREATENED IN DONBASS? – ETHNIC RUSSIANS!
    IV. WHO DOES ONE EVACUATE WHEN HOSTILE FORCES THREATEN?
    – WOMEN, CHILDREN, OLD PEOPLE!

    That the Ukrainian Militias and troops are HOSTILE AGAINST RUSSIANS, WE HAVE SEEN IN BUCHA (the dead there wore White Armbands: Signal of “We’re Russian, NOT combatants!”)
    Other clear declarations of such HOSTILITY are shown as the targets in ASOV’s Foundation Document: “UNTERMENSCHEN, MOSKUVITES, KIKES” – Moskuvites are RUSSIANS, Kikes JEWS!

    THE ITT HAS, UNFORTUNATELY,
    BECOME A ONE-SIDED and NATO-PARTISAN POLITICAL HATE GROUP:
    (I give exception here to the ITT Court in Arusha which acted as a Court of Justice)
    Regimes that don’t recognize it (see USA) can Direct it
    (there are even US Judges. – How that, if they don’t recognize the Court?
    As a result, “Evidence” is only sought and accepted from Western side.

    To this ITT, ALL PRINCIPLES OF
    NON-ARBITRARINESS, FAIR TRIAL, NULLA POENA SINE LEGE, IN DUBIO PRO REO,
    ARE NOTHING BUT EMPTY SHELLS!
    AND ITS “JUSTICE” MEANS POLITICAL INTEREST!

    Logical Conclusion: REQUESTING ARREST WARRANT FOR PRES. ZELENSKY:
    Many “Ukrainian children” who are really ‘ETHNIC RUSSIAN CHILDREN’ were evacuated to Ukraine for BEING RE-EDUCATED and “UKRAINIZED”, like pretty Polish children were “aryanized” in the times of the “Bandera-Melnyk-Ukraine”.
    THAT IS A REAL CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY!

  3. jboo7

    Someone has tried to excuse the ICC by turning it into ITT.
    Now, we know that ITT paid, in 1973, 1 billion USD for the 9/11 putsch in Chile
    – and there were also ITT interestst in Katangan copper (Congo) before
    – when the UN General Secretary Hammarskoeld was shot down by CIA and MI6.
    BUT HERE, I CLEARLY MEANT ICC -International Criminal Court- in all paragraphs
    – RIGHT, the one the USA does not recognize!