Smerconish began the interview by asking Waters why he called President Joe Biden a “war criminal.” “Well, it’s fueling the war in Ukraine,” the former Pink Floyd member replied. “This is a huge crime. Why not encourage the United States of America [Volodymyr] Zelensky to negotiate, bypassing the need for this horrible, horrible war?’ When Smerkonis pointed out that Waters was “blaming the party that invaded,” Waters shot back by criticizing NATO for forcing Russia’s hand. “Well, no war, when did it start? What you have to do is look at history and you can say, “Well, it started on this day.” You could say it started in 2008… This war is basically about the action and reaction of NATO pushing up to the Russian border, which they promised they would not do when [Mikhail] Gorbachev negotiated the withdrawal of the USSR from all of Eastern Europe.” Waters also rejected Smerconish’s argument that the US has a “liberator” role. “You got into World War 2 because of Pearl Harbor. You were total isolationists [beforehand],” Waters argued. “Thank God the Russians had already won the bloody war by then. 23 million Russians died protecting you and me from the Nazi threat.” “I would suggest that you … go and do some more reading and try to understand what the US would do if the Chinese put nuclear missiles in Mexico and Canada,” Waters added. When Smerconish remarked that the Chinese are “too busy encircling Taiwan as we speak,” Waters retorted by stating, “Taiwan is part of China. This has been absolutely accepted by the entire international community since 1948. If you don’t know you are not reading enough…. You believe your side’s propaganda. You can’t have a conversation about human rights and Taiwan without doing the reading.” “The Chinese didn’t invade Iraq and kill a million people in 2013,” Waters added. “Who did the Chinese invade and massacre?” “Theirs,” Smerkonis replied, referring to the Uyghurs and other predominantly Muslim groups China has placed in “re-education camps” and subjected to forced sterilization and forced labeling. “Orchies! This is absolute nonsense! Absolute nonsense!” Waters replied. You can watch the entire interview below. Waters’ “This Is Not a Drill Tour” runs through mid-October — tickets available for purchase here.
