Wanted Man

A professor was interviewed a few days ago about what he thinks we should do about Vladimir Putin and his criminal war against Ukraine. He said we should give Putin a way out, so that he won’t feel humiliated. This is a famous, esteemed professor suggesting that Vladimir Putin, sociopathic killer, brutal mass murderer, poisoner and vicious suppressor of dissent shouldn’t be humbled, lest he use nuclear weapons. If he feels he has nothing to lose, he might be capable of anything. So let’s appease him.

Because appeasement worked so well with Hitler. Give the man what he wants. He might do something really bad. Pardon me, esteemed professor, but he has already done something really bad. He doesn’t deserve a way out. There is a vile subtext to this line of reasoning. Implicit in giving a way out is the view that Ukraine and its people aren’t worth the risk of offending Vladimir Putin, world criminal. The world “community” stands for the highest principles – as long as they don’t carry any risk. War of aggression violates the U.N. charter, but when the aggressor is sufficiently evil, never mind.

There is another way. Declare Vladimir Putin a wanted man, a fugitive from justice, an armed and dangerous criminal, and offer a reward of, say, $50,000,000 for his apprehension, dead or alive. If I remember right, Osama bin Laden was wanted dead or alive, and there was a reward for him. Obama wanted him dead, and got him dead. Vladimir Putin is a far more dangerous and threatening presence on this planet than Osama bin Laden ever was, so where are the wanted posters?

There is a bit of a procedure involved in making Putin a wanted man. First, he has to be declared the illegitimate leader of his country. He has used criminal methods to stay in power, including murder, poisoning, and arrest of opponents, dissidents and journalists. He should be wanted in England for ordering the poisoning to death former allies, and for poisoning innocent bystanders. Since he is the illegitimate leader of his country he has no lawful authority to use nuclear weapons, to say nothing of invading another country, destroying its cities and murdering its people.

Operatives all the way down his chain of command should be told they don’t have to obey his orders, and if they do they will pay dearly. Whoever cooperates in starting a nuclear war should know in no uncertain terms that they will be held fully responsible, and would also become wanted, dead or alive.

Or, we can appease him, treat him nice, offer him, hmm, some territory – eastern Ukraine, the Donbas region, maybe southern Ukraine, a “buffer” zone of a few hundred miles inside the country, some money, a yacht, a hotel in New York City, or maybe in Mar-a-Lago, so he could visit his Kompromatee Donald Trump, a Pacific island or two, a castle, maybe even an entire country. How about giving him Ukraine?

We are in a dilemma, to be sure. The world has never been in such a predicament before. The U.S. was the first and only country to bomb another with nuclear weapons. It was easy to do, because we were the only country to have atomic bombs. We invented them and no one could deter us. Bombs away!

Now nine countries have nuclear weapons: the U.S., of course, Russia, England, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea, and Israel. Any one of these countries could start a nuclear conflagration that could be the end of life on this planet, but they are all deterred by the prospect of retaliation and annihilation. Except, it seems, Vladimir Putin, madman. Let’s appease this madman. That’s a plan for the ages. The last of the ages.

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Here's a song. Cash and Dylan. George Thorogood. In Kyiv too. The Eagles. Linda Ronstadt. Guy Clark. Jerry Jeff Walker. The Grateful Dead. Here's a song for Putin when he is found guilty of mass crimes against humanity. Merle Haggard. Jerry Garcia did this song too.

Something worth mentioning is that there are several other world leaders who should be on wanted posters. Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil, for, among other things, destruction of the Amazon rain forest. Alexander Lukashenko, president of Belarus, for complicity in Putin's invasion, and for imprisoning opponents and suppressing dissent. Rodrigo Duterte, president of the Philippines, for murder and human rights violations. George W. Bush, former president of the United States, for criminal negligence before the 911 attacks, two wars of aggression, for stealing the 2000 presidential election, and for the likely theft of the 2004 election. Donald Trump, for, among other things, colluding with Putin, for blackmailing the president of Ukraine, for stealing the 2016 presidential election, and for attempting to overthrow the 2020 election. Mohammed bin Salman, beheader, dismemberer, assassin, indiscriminate bomber, oppressor of women and dissidents. Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, dictator, jailer of opponents, all-around bad guy. Too many others.