I’m not here to argue America and the west are innocents. We’ve meddled in Ukrainian internal affairs too, most notably in the 2014 Euromaidan revolution, aiding a coup as we’ve done all too many times. I don’t disagree with Waters that America has a lot to answer for in the world. It’s clear he wants to make a point about how the US treats other countries. He’s criticized Donald Trump before, in similarly strong terms. Rather than laying the blame squarely at the feed of Vladimir Putin - the man who actually ordered the Russian invasion of a sovereign state - Waters wants to posture against perceived western imperialism. His use of the article “the” in front of Ukraine also suggests that he doesn’t believe it is a legitimate country (the Soviets used to call it “the Ukraine” rather than “Ukraine” to diminish any claims to sovereignty the Ukrainian people may have made). Yet Waters seems to think that it is Joe Biden’s or Volodymyr Zelensky’s fault. I agree that the war in Ukraine is horrific and horrendous. In an interview with CNN’s Michael Smerconish, the presenter pushed back on the inclusion while the rock star stuck to his guns, accusing Biden of “fueling the fire in the Ukraine” and insisting that it was a “huge crime.” The US, Waters insisted, should encourage Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky “to negotiate, obviating the need for this horrific, horrendous war.” Waters recently included a picture of Joe Biden in a list of war criminals featured in his “This Is Not A Drill” live show. This should go without saying, but apparently Roger Waters - co-founder of the legendary rock band Pink Floyd but most known to younger audiences as the man who wanted Madonna to boycott Eurovision when it was held in Israel and who thinks he is more important than Drake and the Weeknd - needs to have it repeated. Not everyone you dislike is a war criminal.
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