Putin Must Be Treated As A War Criminal

  By Timothy D. Naegele[1]

Russia’s Vladimir Putin is a brutal killer, whose life consists of an unbroken thread of deaths and other atrocities.[2]  He has killed and killed again.  As I wrote in December of 2015:

After World War II, he came to prominence as a KGB operative in East Germany—or the DDR, as it was known before the collapse of Erich Honecker’s government—which was one of the most repressive regimes in the Soviet Union’s orbit, or the Evil Empire.  Following the USSR’s implosion, Putin and his thugs and cronies hijacked Russia’s incipient democracy, and have been exploiting it ever since.

Despite being a “public servant” all of his life, Putin has amassed a fortune estimated to be $70 billion; “Versailles” has been built for him already; and his cronies have amassed billions of dollars too, and are living like kings outside of Russia.  The Russian people need to recover what Putin and his cronies have stolen from them, and then terminate all of them—like the last Czar and his family, and Italy’s Benito Mussolini. Nothing less will suffice.

The world must never forget that Putin left the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing to launch his aggression against Georgia.  Then, he left the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi and launched his aggression against Crimea and the rest of Ukraine.  Also, the world must never forget that in addition to downing Malaysia Airlines Flight 17—and killing all 283 passengers and 15 crew on board—Putin killed Alexander Litvinenko and countless others.[3]

Today, his personal fortune is estimated to be $200 billion.

Assuming that he does not commit suicide like Adolf Hitler did, or he is not assassinated, he must be tried as a war criminal like the Nazis were in the Nuremberg trials.[4]  However, between now and then, the world may experience brutality not seen since the dark days of World War II, with even more dangerous weapons and attacks being employed, such as cyberattacks and EMP attacks—in addition to nuclear weapons.[5]

If Putin is tried as a war criminal, he would join an illustrious list that includes Japanese Prime Ministers and Generals Hideki Tōjō and Kuniaki Koiso in the aftermath of World War II; Hermann Göring, Commander in Chief of Nazi Germany’s Luftwaffe; and Adolf Eichmann of Hitler’s SS.[6]

It must be repeated that our grudge is not with the Russian people.  They are victims of Putin’s monstrous crimes; and many are standing tall—at the risk of being imprisoned or killed—and opposing Russia’s Hitler.[7]

Lastly, such actions on the part of the United States and our allies may inure to the benefit of our friends on Taiwan.  They may cause China’s Xi Jinping to pause and think twice before embarking on ruinous actions against the island nation, or other global atrocities—and becoming more of a global pariah than China is already, having launched the deadly Coronavirus pandemic.[8]

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© 2022, Timothy D. Naegele

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[1]  Timothy D. Naegele was counsel to the United States Senate’s Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs, and chief of staff to Presidential Medal of Freedom and Congressional Gold Medal recipient and former U.S. Senator Edward W. Brooke (R-Mass).  See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele Resume-21-8-6  and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/accomplishments/  He has an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), as well as two law degrees from the School of Law (Boalt Hall), University of California, Berkeley, and from Georgetown University.  He served as a Captain in the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War, assigned to the Defense Intelligence Agency at the Pentagon, where he received the Joint Service Commendation Medal (see, e.g., https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commendation_Medal#Joint_Service). Mr. Naegele is an Independent politically; and he is listed in Who’s Who in America, Who’s Who in American Law, and Who’s Who in Finance and Business. He has written extensively over the years (see, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/articles/ and https://naegeleknol.wordpress.com/articles/), and studied photography with Ansel Adams.  He can be contacted directly at tdnaegele.associates@gmail.com

[2]  Putin is as sinister as any other figure in our lifetimes.

See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/the-death-of-putin-and-russia-the-final-chapter-of-the-cold-war/ (“The Death Of Putin And Russia: The Final Chapter Of The Cold War”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2022/02/24/russias-kgb-trained-killer-putin-may-be-more-dangerous-than-hitler-or-stalin/ (“Russia’s KGB-Trained Killer Putin May Be More Dangerous Than Hitler Or Stalin”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2022/01/27/ (“Will Putin Seize Ukraine, And If So When?”)

[3]  See https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2015/11/29/the-death-of-putin-and-russia-the-final-chapter-of-the-cold-war/ (“The Death Of Putin And Russia: The Final Chapter Of The Cold War”)

[4]  Having attacked Ukraine presumably at Putin’s behest, Belarus’ dictator Alexander Lukashenko should be tried as a war criminal too.

See, e.g., https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10557221/Ukraine-war-Belarus-poised-declare-war-special-forces-loaded-planes-in.html (“Ukraine confirms rocket that struck its airport was fired from Belarus – as its leader Lukashenko warns war will become a ‘meat grinder’ with his special forces poised to join Russian assault on Kyiv”)

[5]  See, e.g., https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/emp-attack-only-30-million-americans-survive/ (“EMP Attack: Only 30 Million Americans Survive”) and https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/article-698718 (“Six Russian government websites including Kremlin website down”) and https://www.cnn.com/europe/live-news/ukraine-russia-news-02-26-22/h_0050ad4a0b55a2fdd9753d00b44efc40 (“Russian thermobaric ‘vacuum bombs’ launcher seen by CNN team in Ukraine”)

[6]  See, e.g., https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_crime

[7]  See, e.g., https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10557215/Ukraine-war-Russians-turn-Putin-Kremlin-threatens-jail-traitors-try-help-Ukraine.html (“Russians turn on Putin: Massive anti-war protests break out in Moscow and St Petersburg for fourth day in a row – as Kremlin threatens to jail ‘traitors’ who offer to help Ukraine”)

[8]  See, e.g., Timothy D. Naegele, “The Coronavirus and Similar Global Issues: How to Address Them,” 137 BANKING L. J. 285 (June 2020) (see https://naegeleblog.files.wordpress.com/2020/05/timothy-d.-naegele.pdf) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/06/20/can-we-coexist-with-asias-communists/ (“Can We Coexist with Asia’s Communists?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/05/12/coexistence-with-china-or-war/ (“Coexistence With China Or War?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/16/the-coronavirus-must-become-chinas-chernobyl-hastening-the-collapse-of-its-evil-regime/ (“The Coronavirus Must Become China’s Chernobyl, Hastening The Collapse Of Its Evil Regime”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/04/07/why-should-the-world-trust-china-ever-again/ (“Why Should The World Trust China Ever Again?”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/03/25/china-infects-the-world-then-lies-and-blames-america/ (“China Infects The World, Then Lies And Blames America”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2020/02/20/expert-warns-quarantine-process-failed-as-china-stands-ready-to-crash-world-economy/ (“Expert Warns Quarantine Process Failed, As China Stands Ready To Crash World Economy”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2019/08/13/china-is-americas-enemy-and-the-enemy-of-free-people-everywhere/ (“China Is America’s Enemy, And The Enemy Of Free People Everywhere”) and https://naegeleblog.wordpress.com/2011/01/13/china-is-americas-enemy-make-no-mistake-about-that/ (“China Is America’s Enemy: Make No Mistake About That”) and https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8957019/China-used-secret-microwave-pulse-weapon-Indian-soldiers.html (“China ‘used secret microwave pulse weapon to cook Indian soldiers alive’ and force them into retreat in Himalayan border battle”)