image copyright GettyImages
A German Leopard 2 tank fires during a maneuver in eastern Europe
An article in the Guardian newspaper advised the German government to supply tanks to Ukraine to counter Russia, and writer Timothy Garton Ash said: “If Germany had really learned from its history, it would send tanks to defend Ukraine.”
The writer added that Germany bears a historic responsibility to help defend a free and sovereign Ukraine.
And he considered that Berlin represents the central power in Europe and that it is uniquely qualified to shape a larger European response to end Vladimir Putin’s “terrorist” war, in a way that prevents future aggression over places like Taiwan.
As evidence of the strategic intent to fulfill this commitment, as the writer sees it, the Berlin government must commit at the meeting of the Ukrainian Defense Contact Group in Ramstein, Germany, on Friday, to send its tanks to Kyiv, and not just allow countries such as Poland and Finland to send German “Leopard 2” tanks to it. This will be done according to a coordinated European action.
The writer called this undertaking the “European Leopard” plan.
Germany’s historical responsibility comes in three unequal stages. Eighty years ago, Nazi Germany itself was waging a war of terror on this same Ukrainian soil: the same cities, towns and villages were victims of it as now in Russia, and perhaps the same people were victims of both wars.
Boris Romanchenko, for example, a survivor of four Nazi concentration camps, was killed by a Russian missile in Kharkiv. What Putin is doing by destroying the independent existence of a neighboring country, with war crimes, acts of genocide and targeting civilians, is the closest we have come now since 1945 to what Adolf Hitler did in World War II.
The writer explained that the lesson we learn from this history is not that German tanks should never be used against Russia, whatever the Kremlin does, but that they should be used to protect the Ukrainians, who were among the biggest victims of both Hitler and Stalin.
The second stage of historical responsibility comes from what German President Frank Steinmeier described as a “bitter failure” of German policy towards Russia after the annexation of Crimea and the start of Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine in 2014. Instead of Germany reducing its dependence on Russian energy, it increased its use after 2014. More than 50 percent of its total gas imports came from Moscow, as well as the construction of the previously unused Nord Stream 2 pipeline.
This historical error led to the third and final stage. A month after Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine on February 24 last year, a group of prominent German figures drafted a call for an immediate boycott of fuel from Russia. Chancellor Olaf Scholz decided not to follow this path, arguing that it would jeopardize “hundreds of thousands of jobs” and plunge Germany and Europe into recession.
There are concerns in Berlin about the Russian escalation in response to the supply of advanced Western weapons, which may amount to the use of a Russian nuclear weapon, which also raises Washington’s concern.
But the writer indicates that Putin is already escalating the situation, and is now mobilizing the Russian Federation’s massive reserves of manpower, and may intend to launch a new offensive sometime this year.
victims officer British police
image copyright HERTFORDSHIRE POLICE
Officer David Carrick admitted to committing 24 rapes against British women
The Independent newspaper dealt with the crisis of confidence in Britain against the British police after a police officer was arrested on charges of assaulting dozens of women over the years, and said in its editorial that the entire British police had failed all victims of sexual assault.
The newspaper called for the dismissal of corrupt officers such as Officer David Carrick, of the Metropolitan Police Service, who admitted to committing 24 rapes of women over a period of 18 years and was convicted of 49 serious charges.
The newspaper said that Carrick has been able to destroy his victims with impunity for a long time and it becomes even more terrible when this is a police officer and on duty.
The details of the trial revealed that he took advantage of his victims’ trust in the policemen, in order to insult and assault them, then enslaved them, imprisoned and starved them, and considered them his neighbors.
In the end, 12 brave women came forward to reveal the truth about what he did to them.
The newspaper asked the question, how did such a corrupt person end up in the police, and how could he assault women for two decades freely? And she said that the Metropolitan Police has not yet answered these questions.
The Independent revealed that this policeman was known among his colleagues for misconduct and cruelty, and there are cases of assault of other police officers such as PC Wayne and Cousins, who was convicted of killing Sarah Everard after assaulting her.
Exposés of blatant racism and misogyny at Charing Cross police station, and officers found guilty of photographing the dead bodies of two sisters after they were murdered, paint a harrowing picture for the police.
In a review of the performance of the London Metropolitan Police, a report prepared last year by Baroness Louise Casey found that hundreds of Metropolitan Police officers managed to get away with misconduct after breaking the law.
In the end, the newspaper pointed out that most police officers are brave and conscientious, and they are not appreciated. It’s hard work, and sometimes daunting. But for them to have the reputation they deserve, trust must be restored – especially on the part of women and ethnic minorities.
Putin “Worry” about targeting Moscow
image copyright GettyImages
Putin is afraid of targeting the capital, Moscow, with drones and deploying the S-400 system to defend it
The Daily Mail newspaper published a report on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s concern about targeting the capital, Moscow, with missiles from Ukraine, and the deployment of advanced air defense systems to defend it.
According to the report, the Russian army deployed the fearsome S-400 air defense systems in two locations in the capital, amid fears that Kyiv would launch attacks on the city.
The S-400 Triumf air defense system is designed to destroy aircraft and ballistic missiles, including medium-range ones. It can also be used against ground targets.
The decision came after two suspected Ukrainian drone strikes hit two air bases deep in Russia last December, damaging two nuclear bombers believed to be preparing to launch an attack on Ukraine.
The military has begun deploying the S-400 system, with a range of 248 miles, in the fields of the Russian State Agricultural University in northwest Moscow. Another system has been deployed in the Losiny Ostrov National Park near the Sokolniki district in the north-east of the city.
One system can shoot down about 80 targets at one time, and the missile’s speed exceeds 10,000 miles per hour.
Residents say the deployments are new to Moscow, highlighting Putin’s fears of hitting his largest city, especially after an explosion last month hit the Engels-2 airbase near Saratov that destroyed two Tu-95s. The base is located 450 km away. miles from the nearest point in Ukraine.
Another explosion hit Russia’s Diaghilev military base near the city of Ryazan, about 470 miles from the Ukrainian border, killing three people after a fuel truck exploded.
Despite the many strikes launched by Russia on the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, Moscow has not been hit yet.