Discussion on War Crimes and Accountability

Professor Sachs, but what happens to a country like Russia,

which, you know, by common consent has committed myriad war

crimes in the last three years? You know, it's targeted and killed

civilians. I think that's inarguable.

It's kidnapped a reported 20,000 Ukrainian

children. You know, there was the massacre at places like Bucha.

I've been there.

Absolutely horrific what went on down there.

There have been the sexual assaults and rapes of Ukrainian

women and so on. Um, so it seems inarguable there's been a

number of, uh, war crimes committed.

I- is it fair and just that at the end of this,

assuming you're right, and this

is the beginning of the end of this, that Russia emerges

unpunished for any of this?

Well,

if the United States were punished for all its war crimes, uh,

the

world would be a better place, and if all countries

were punished for their war

crimes, if Israel was punished for its genocide before

our eyes, if the United States was punished for

overthrowing, uh, so many regimes and causing so many

wars, if the United States were punished for the Iraq War,

if the United States were punished for the coup in,

uh, uh, Maidan in February 2014, I'd agree with you.

It would be great if governments were accountable.

But what we like to do is say the other side

is the wrong one and not to

acknowledge, uh, our own sins. For this, uh, Jesus

had it right. Uh, why do you always point to the mote in the

other

eye when you have the plank, uh, or the beam in your own eye?

To my mind, this is the basic point.

I would love to follow your line, uh, Piers.

I agree with it. We should have accountability for all the

crimes,

uh, that are committed, and the United States' list is so long.

I've been tracking it for more than, uh, 40 years professionally.

It's just one war crime after another, including complicity in a

genocide in Gaza, uh, during the last two years.