It's an outrageous war crime when ISIS uses water as a weapon. But when Kiev does it? Nothing to get worked up about
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
The human right to water "has been recognized in international law through a wide range of international documents, including international human rights treaties, declarations and other standards".
This is why Poroshenko was put on Interpol's Most Wanted List after it was announced that "Kiev had stopped water supplies to the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic."
We are of course teasing you. Poroshenko is a free man; as we type these words he's probably stuffing his face with Roshen bars as he watches re-runs of "Let's Make a Deal".
Which leads us to the obvious question: When is using water as a weapon not okay?
When you can accuse Assad of depriving people of water (even when the "moderate" rebels are clearly to blame), water as a weapon becomes not okay:
From the article: "The United Nations has warned that sabotaging water supplies is a war crime after the main source for Syria's capital was cut, leaving millions of people facing shortages."
You know who also uses water as a weapon? ISIS. And when ISIS uses water as a weapon, it's really not okay.
[ISIS] has intentionally cut off water supplies to neighborhoods near the front line, according to Zuhair Hazem al-Jabouri, a Mosul City Council official responsible for supervising the city's water and energy services.
"They (ISIS) cut the electricity to the water stations that feed several neighborhoods where Iraqi troops are advancing," Jabouri said. "They are depriving people of drinking water in eastern Mosul."
Of course, Washington also has its own long, proud history of ruining water supplies.
Just the other day we were reading Imperial Crusaders, by Alexander Cockburn and Jeffrey St. Clair.
From page 194 of our paperback copy:
[American] cruise missiles targeted Iraqi oil refineries, pipelines, chemical plants and water treatment systems. Ten years later, many of these facilities remained destroyed, unremediated and hazardous.
The essay then descends into a very long list of crimes committed against the Iraqi people.
Looking at U.S. military campaigns from the last twenty years, we can find similar examples of water "sabotage" during the bombings of Yugoslavia and Libya. Or just look at Michigan today. No bombs needed!
So it appears Poroshenko has just taken a page from Washington's Art of War Crimes.
Oddly enough, it seems ISIS has read this book, too.
This post first appeared on Russia Insider
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