“Trump and his minions have made a mockery of the laws of the sea and warfare. The blockade was deemed by UN human rights experts to have no legitimacy. It was considered equal to “an armed attack” because no credible justification was given and no Security Council vote took place.
Trump claimed the Venezuelans had stolen American oil – a ridiculous claim.
Similar ridiculous claims were made for the boats being hunted on the high seas.
These strikes represented murder on the high seas.”
“Trump has contempt for traditional allies in Europe and the Americas. What has emerged in place of the traditional alliances is a dangerous new alignment – a triumvirate of gangster leaders determined to undermine international law – Putin, Netanyahu, Trump.”
“In the book Autocracy Inc., Anne Applebaum [notes]…
“From the first days of the war, Putin and the Russian security elite ostentatiously demonstrated their disdain for the language of human rights, their disregard for the laws, their scorn for international law, and for treaties they themselves had signed. They arrested public officials and civic leaders. . . They built torture chambers for civilians. . . They kidnapped thousands of children. . . they deliberately targeted emergency workers.””
“From the earliest days of the incursion into Gaza, Netanyahu’s agenda seemed less about freeing the hostages and more about eradicating the people of Gaza. A clear pattern of provocations against civilians and aid agencies emerged. The world watched increasingly bold and vicious assaults on hospitals and aid convoys, aid workers, and journalists. Food was used as a weapon of war, including deliberate starvation or gunning down hungry children at supposed aid stations.”
“And then came Trump.
He has issued sanctions against a Canadian jurist working to investigate the war crimes. He has aligned the United States with the crimes of both Putin and Netanyahu. And he has deliberately targeted the Western alliances with threats of invasion in Greenland or arbitrarily moving the Canadian border.
With the attack on Venezuela, he has upped the ante through invasion and kidnapping. Venezuela puts the world on notice, and #Canada must be ready.”
“We played a key role in establishing the International Criminal Court…
Canada has a long history of defending the international rule of law. We are now dealing with a regime that will kill people in the water, seize ships on the high seas, invade other countries, and kidnap their leaders. All bets are off.
This is the age of gangsters. #Canada must be ready to rise to the threat. …
We must be ready for whatever comes next from the gangsters on our border.”
