The Netherlands and Australia will take legal measures to hold Russia responsible in the downing of flight MH17, following the JIT's declaration yesterday that the missile that shot it down was deployed by a Russian Army brigade. Some thoughts /1 rijksoverheid.nl/regering/nieuw…
This step addresses the inability of western publics, including the Dutch, to cope with Russia's deny/divert/distract "firehose of disinformation" tactics in MH17 and similar situations. rand.org/content/dam/ra… /2
Those tactics have been surprisingly successful even in NL. For example on yesterday's main TV talk show, host Jeroen Pauw took at face value Putin's statement that Russia had been excluded from JIT but was happy to cooperate. /3
It is surprising that some well-informed Dutch may have not yet internalized Putin's "we don't know the facts, would be happy to help" as typical mafia discourse. /4
The question was then raised of whether the shoot-down had been a mistake. Of course this has been the assumption from the start; raising it misses the point about what is wrong with Russia's behavior in Ukraine and elsewhere. /5
The point is that Russia's "little green men", covert invasions/assassinations, disinformation and denial of responsibility unravel the system of states and laws that keeps European citizens safe. /6
This is best described as deliberate negligence in exercising power, covered by lies. Russia is like a "malafide" (Dutch term) refinery company that spews chemical waste through buried pipes and denies it. /7
Nobody thinks the Russian Army wanted to shoot down an airliner. Rather, the accusation is that Russia was covertly fomenting a rebellion in Ukraine and deployed AA units to support it. If they accidentally killed unrelated civilians, RU had to deny it. /8
The JIT is an effort to re-establish safety for European citizens by creating accountability. The Russian government is trying to vaporize accountability, to gain freedom of action to exercise power in its region. /9
The Dutch government describes its move as legally "holding Russia accountable" for its role in downing MH17. This may involve various concrete actions, including claims in international courts. /10
Will the threat of a long court battle that may eventually deliver an unenforceable verdict force Russia to confess? No. But we should see this as part of a global struggle between fact and fake news, law and lawlessness. /11
Officially, diplomatically and legally holding Russia accountable for its involvement is a step in upholding that order. It is this order that keeps the citizens of European countries safe. Especially the small ones. /end
