Opinion by Jennifer Rubin | The images underscore the moral force of Biden’s declaration in Poland last month about Putin: “For God’s sake, this man cannot remain in power.”
Yet even the latter might not be attainable. Putin sits undisturbed in the Kremlin atop a death machine. Russian troops might have pulled back from Kyiv, but they have amassed north and east of the capital city. Unless Russian troops are pushed entirely out of Ukraine , Russia will still occupy its neighbor, and Putin will remain ensconced in his dacha with an arsenal of nuclear weapons under his control.
How, then, are war crimes trials supposed to operate? One supposes that Putin and his military advisers who are accused of carrying out war crimes could be tried and sentenced in absentia. But without rounding them up to exact punishment, the quest for justice will remain unfulfilled. Will world leaders allow Putin and his advisers to travel the globe and interact with other nations? Doing so would defy the essence of a war crimes verdict.
Some will claim outrage toward the idea of rallying the world to punish Russia for the sort of crimes seen in Bucha after failing to do the same to the Syrian government for its atrocities in Aleppo, where the Bashar al-Assad regime killed an and razed much of the city. We can acknowledge that the Syrian dictator, who nominally won the war, has escaped punishment. But when a nationa war that it started, allowing the leader who initiated the conflict to remain in power would be an affront to morality.
The world will face this conundrum. Ukraine will decide on what terms it will accept to settle a devastating war not of its making, but the result will likely be Putin’s continued occupation of some part of Ukraine. We can try Putin in international courts, but there is virtually no chance he will be brought to justice.
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