The Ukrainian Government is massacring civilians and needs to be stopped

Thanks to Russian for this debate! TERMS I will challenge just two of Pro's definitions. I see no reason to do this in the comments, as these definitions are material to the text of the debate, and judges should retain the right to select those definitions they find most apt. "Evil" implies much, much more than simply "causing harm or injury to someone" or being "morally bad." Someone who is misguided or who unintentionally causes harm to someone is not evil, nor is a petty criminal, who is arguable "morally bad," evil. The term "evil" implies the highest level of moral depravity--something on par with Hitler, Stalin, or Mao. It is "the absence or complete opposite of that which is ascribed as being good. Often, evil is used to denote profound immorality." [1] "Fascist" is simply more than "harsh control or authority." Stalin, a communist, exercised very harsh control, yet he was no fascist. Fascism denotes a very specific ideology and brand of authoritarianism seen in leaders like Benito Mussolini. Here is a very brief description of fascism: "Fascist ideology consistently invokes the primacy of the state. Leaders such as Benito Mussolini in Italy and Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany embodied the state and claimed immense power. Fascism borrowed theories and terminology from socialism but replaced socialism's focus on class conflict with a focus on conflict between nations and races. Fascists advocate a mixed economy, with the principal goal of achieving autarky to secure national self-sufficiency and independence through protectionist and interventionist economic policies" [2] For more on the subject, consult the source I gave. Also, I would clarify that "atrocious" means "extremely wicked, brutal, or cruel: barbaric." [3] With that, we can proceed to discuss the arguments. BURDENS Recall that Pro has the sole BOP has he is affirming a positive claim. Also note that Pro asserts that it is his job to show "that the current Ukrainian government is corrupt, evil and fascist." If he fails to prove any single one of these points, he has lost the debate. Since Pro bears the sole BOP, I do not need to offer a constructive case. Merely, I must negate or cast sufficient doubt upon Pro's arguments. This I will now endeavor to do. REBUTTALS Pro makes one argument: "The Ukrainian military is actively bombing villages and cities which are primarily (if not completely) populated by civilians." Pro further claims that these bombings are not accidental. I will make fthree responses to this argument: (1) Ukraine preemptively warned civilians of the coming danger and advised them to evacuate the region. [4] (2) When rebels populate civilians areas and intermingle with civilians, they jeopardize the civilians lives as well, using the civilians as--in effect--human shields. It would, in fact, prolong the conflict to allow the rebels to launch attacks on Ukraine without retaliating and halting their advance, and thus it is necessary to take the fight to them where possible. Due to the proximity of civilians and militia, some collateral damage is to be expected, but this does not meet the definition of an "atrocity." (3) Revolution news is clearly a pro-Russian news agency that is biased against Kiev (or at least the article cited is) and HRW was unable to definitely confirm that the Grad rockets were fired by Kiev's forces or to assess the exact extent of the damage levied by the alleged Grad rocketfire. As for the third source, it offers no concrete evidence to support its claims, and so is not to be trusted. I apologize for the brevity of my comments--I will expand later. I have been very rushed of late. SOURCES 1 - http://en.wikipedia.org... 2 - http://en.wikipedia.org... 3 - http://www.merriam-webster.com... 4 - http://www.voanews.com...