Western aggression (on the Ukraine)

The Spectator ^ | 6 November 2004 | John Laughland

[Destro]

Issue: 6 November 2004

Western aggression

John Laughland on how the US and Britain are intervening in Ukraine’s elections

A few years ago, a friend of mine was sent to Kiev by the British government to teach Ukrainians about the Western democratic system. His pupils were young reformers from western Ukraine, affiliated to the Conservative party. When they produced a manifesto containing 15 pages of impenetrable waffle, he gently suggested boiling their electoral message down to one salient point. What was it, he wondered? A moment of furrowed brows produced the lapidary and nonchalant reply, ‘To expel all Jews from our country.’

It is in the west of Ukraine that support is strongest for the man who is being vigorously promoted by America as the country’s next president: the former prime minister Viktor Yushchenko. On a rainy Monday morning in Kiev, I met some young Yushchenko supporters, druggy skinheads from Lvov. They belonged both to a Western-backed youth organisation, Pora, and also to Ukrainian National Self-Defence (Unso), a semi-paramilitary movement whose members enjoy posing for the cameras carrying rifles and wearing fatigues and balaclava helmets. Were nutters like this to be politically active in any country other than Ukraine or the Baltic states, there would be instant outcry in the US and British media; but in former Soviet republics, such bogus nationalism is considered anti-Russian and therefore democratic.

It is because of this ideological presupposition that Anglo-Saxon reporting on the Ukrainian elections has chimed in with press releases from the State Department, peddling a fairytale about a struggle between a brave and beleaguered democrat, Yushchenko, and an authoritarian Soviet nostalgic, the present Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovych. All facts which contradict this morality tale are suppressed. Thus a story has been widely circulated that Yushchenko was poisoned during the electoral campaign, the fantasy being that the government was trying to bump him off. But no British or American news outlet has reported the interview by the chief physician of the Vienna clinic which treated Yushchenko for his unexplained illness. The clinic released a report declaring there to be no evidence of poisoning, after which, said the chief physician, he was subjected to such intimidation by Yushchenko’s entourage — who wanted him to change the report — that he was forced to seek police protection.

It has also been repeatedly alleged that foreign observers found the elections fraught with violations committed by the government. In fact, this is exclusively the view of highly politicised Western governmental organisations like the OSCE — a body which is notorious for the fraudulent nature of its own reports, and which in any case came to this conclusion before the poll had even taken place — and of bogus NGOs, such as the Committee of Ukrainian Voters, a front organisation exclusively funded by Western (mainly American) government bodies and think-tanks, and clearly allied with Yushchenko. Because they speak English, the political activists in such organisations can easily nobble Anglophone Western reporters.

Contrary allegations — such as those of fraud committed by Yushchenko-supporting local authorities in western Ukraine, carefully detailed by Russian election observers but available only in Russian — go unreported. So too does evidence of crude intimidation made by Yushchenko supporters against election officials. The depiction is so skewed that Yushchenko is presented as a pro-Western free-marketeer, even though his fief in western Ukraine is an economic wasteland; while Yanukovych is presented as pro-Russian and statist, even though his electoral campaign is based on deregulation and the economy has been growing at an impressive clip. The cleanliness and prosperity of Kiev and other cities have improved noticeably.

There is, however, one thing which separates the two main candidates, and which explains the West’s determination to shoo in Yushchenko: Nato. Yanukovych has said he is against Ukraine joining; Yushchenko is in favour. The West wants Ukraine in Nato to weaken Russia geopolitically and to have a new big client state for expensive Western weaponry, whose manufacturers fund so much of the US political process.

Yanukovych has also promised to promote Russian back to the status of second state language. Since most Ukrainian citizens speak Russian, since Kiev is the historic birthplace of Christian Russia, and since the current legislation forces tens of millions of Russians to Ukrainianise their names, this is hardly unreasonable. The continued artificial imposition of Ukrainian as the state language — started under the Soviets and intensified after the fall of communism — will be a further factor in ripping Ukraine’s Russophone citizens away from Russia proper. That is why the West wants it.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Isolationist Chamberlainite appeasement bootlicking.

[Destro]

Chamberlain was not an isolationist - he was an interventionist - his interventionist tactic was to first appease and when that didn't work to declare war. Of course appeasement did not save Czechoslovakia and declaring war on Germany did not save Poland. Ironic that, wot?

[Leo Carpathian]

The Ukrainian people show the world how it can be done! A must read story which is real and happening right now. We not only should support their effort for freedom and democracy, we should join them the same way all over the world right now. Standing up against lies, corruption and manipulation. We can do it together in peace and unity!

Copy of the letter of a young Ukrainian.

Nice, timely report from someone on the spot....

As you likely know from the news, we are in the middle of the Orange Revolution here in Kyiv. I can tell you that this is one of the most incredible experiences of my entire life to be here during this time.

We have been spending a lot of time on the streets and on the main square - Maidan Nezalezhnosti (Independence Square).

It is difficult to describe what is going on here. No news footage on your TV screens can express the feeling you get being surrounded by a million people. The most amazing thing -- which I believe will have worldwide sociological implications for a long time to come -- is how incredible this crowd is. When you think of a crowd unhappy about something, being cheated by politicians, betrayed by the system - you expect a bunch of angry, agitated people. Well, think again. This is the happiest, friendliest, most incredibly loving and supportive group of people I have ever encountered.

People are smiling, singing, laughing and offering help and support to each other. You don't see any police anywhere, not a single policeman in sight - imagine that. According to the mayor's office in the city of Kyiv - there are no reports of any crime in this huge metropolitan area. Crime has stopped! Everyone is a friend, everyone is a neighbor, everyone is a brother. I do not know how long t his can last, but we are in the middle of some kind of miracle.

It is cold out there. Most nights the temperature gets well below zero Centigrade (which is in the teens for those of you that only know Fahrenheit). But the tent city that was built in the middle of Kyiv and now has hundreds if not thousands of tents is very warm indeed. There are mountains of warm clothes everywhere on Khreshchatyk (the main street of the city), which were donated by Kyivites. Food, hot coffee, hot tea are abundant and free everywhere. But you do not see any alcohol - this is the most sober one million Ukrainians you will ever meet. The crowd is completely self-organizing and improving its collective behavior continuously. Every new day brings new elements of better organization, improved conditions, improved communications and general functionality...

It has become clear to any observer that this crowd is bound to win. There is absolutely no way to stop this crowd without a massive blood bath, which is almost impossible to imagine to take place in the center of Europe, with all the world's TV cameras [present]. Over the last 5 days, the opposition has been winning continuous victories every single day.

The score for the first five rounds is clearly 5-0. The crowds are growing and demonstrations are now taking place all over the country. More and more famous athletes, actors, artists, high-ranking military and police officers are joining the opposition. When Ruslana, the most famous Ukrainian singer, and heavyweight champion Vladimir Klitchko joined Victor Yushchenko on the podium, the crowd went wild. The following day brought Leh Valensa, senior officers of SBU (former KGB) and Police, several formerly neutral "oligarchs" and finally a major breakthrough at the end of the day - the rebirth of free media in Ukraine.

Prior to that, only Channel 5 was broadcasting 24 hours a day directly from
Maidan and giving complete coverage to all the events. And of course, our Volia Cable was proudly delivering its signal to some 1.5 million viewers in Kyiv despite all the pressure on them, including several horrible days in
July when some of our key managers had to spend 10 days in jail. One other channel (Era) was doing the same, but only a few hours a day.

All major channels had previously been completely ignoring the millions of people on the streets, never reporting it and instead showing cartoons, classical music concerts and exotic travel destinations.

We knew that most journalists from the major channels had either been fired by then or had gone on strike because they refused to continue broadcasting lies. As a result, all news programs on National channels 1 and 2, Inter, 1+1, Noviy, and others simply ceased any and all operations. For 3 days in a row, most of Ukraine, which only has access to the major channels, had no TV news.

Imagine that - the very day after a major election - no news for three days, no morning news, no evening news, no news at all! All these channels simply had no creative staff left to produce bogus news. All fired or on strike.

Thursday night it all changed. The management and owners of all of the major channels gave in to the demands of their striking journalists and allowed honest news reporting for the first time in the history of independent Ukraine. Some of the channels like National Channel 1 and 1+1 began their evening news broadcast on Thursday with a group shot of all journalists standing together and one of them reading a statement from the creative staff in which they swore to report honest news and honest news only!

This was one of the most unbelievable sights I have ever seen. And then the miracle happened - they showed a direct feed of a million proud Ukrainians on Maidan in Kyiv to the whole country. If there are defining moments in the birth of a Nation, that was certainly one! I am so proud to be able to witness it with my own eyes, in spite of all the tears that covered them at that moment.

Today was another exciting day with the extraordinary session of the Ukrainian Rada currently ongoing. It started over four hours ago and is being shown live on a number of TV channels all over the country and also to people on the streets. We are all glued to the television screens. The Rada already voted to consider the runoff elections invalid, express non-confidence in the Central Election Committee and several other major items. They are still debating, but are making good progress. Things are looking up! The Orange Revolution continues!

Michael Bleyzer
Kyiv, Ukraine
November 27, 2004



"What we do in life my friends...echoes in eternity."

[Destro]

Eastern Ukraine says it may go its own way

[Tailgunner Joe]

Appeasement is not intervention.

[Destro]

Of course it is - its intervention in the affairs of another country - they intervened and made the Czechoslovaks not fight.

[Tailgunner Joe]

Oh, how did he do that?

[Tailgunner Joe]

Appeasement is inaction. It is the lack of intervention.

[Destro]

That is a good question - I don't know why the Czechoslovaks went along with giving up the Sudetenland.

[Destro]

appeasement is not inaction - appeasement is a form of action.

[Tailgunner Joe]

In this case, signaling that we will accept the results of the Ukrainian election would be appeasement of Russian aggression. That is why we have stated that the election results are unacceptable to us.

At Munich, Chamberlain indicated that he would do nothing if Hitler annexed the Sudeten. We have indicated that we will not sit idly by as Russia imposes an "interventionist" Anschluss on the Ukraine.

[Destro]

Powell said there would be consequences for US-Ukraine relations if the government there did not act “immediately and responsibly” to find a solution that respected the will of its people.

There will be consequences for US-Ukraine relations but nothing said about Russia? Economic sanctions would do what to the Ukraine drive it closer to Russia (its biggest trade partner) or the EU? There is nothing worse than empty threats.

[dr_who_2]

The West wants Ukraine in Nato to weaken Russia geopolitically and to have a new big client state for expensive Western weaponry, whose manufacturers fund so much of the US political process.

This is better than the short, paranoid anti-Yushchenko bloviations on these threads. But around this point in the article, I'm waiting for them to blame the Israelis. The US has nothing to gain with the Ukraine in Russia's orbit. For that matter, neither does Russia.

[Destro]

The Ukraine will of course not come into America's orbit but that of the EU. The US is no longer able to "Marshall Plan" any nation into health - if it could it would have done so to the Ukraine already.

[dr_who_2]

The "Marshall Plan" was more likely a drop in the bucket or just international pork than a way of stopping the spread of communism and all that. The point is that the Ukraine shouldn't just continue to be a colony of Russia. It will always border Russia and will never be in America's "orbit". But the US and the rest of the world stands to gain from an independent multiparty democracy than another parcel of land run by Putin.

[Tailgunner Joe]

being pro war for war's sake is of course a Trotskyite notion.

Rush Limbaugh himself is often singled out as a neocon chickenhawk. His slogan is "making the world safe for democracy." Is Rush a Trostkyite?

[se99tp]

John Laughland is clearly anti-American, if he were to be shown to be a Torie I would be quite surprised. What is thouroughly disgusting is that such an example of yellow journalism is being posted as a serious article. Laughland is a member of that hallowed pantheon of journalists who write for the Guardian. Some examples of his writing will help you get a sense of where he is coming from (and where the Putin groupies are coming from as well):

Exactly. I know him very well. He is wolf in sheep's skeen.

Mr Laughland defended Saddam and is completely anti-democratic. He supports leftist movements in Germany and Switzerland united the umbralla organization falsely named "Mut zur Ethik". There are people who are really anti-NATO and strongly anti-American.
Mr Laughland supports Lukashenka

http://www.bhhrg.org/CountryReport.asp?ChapterID=297&CountryID=4&ReportID=105&keyword=

and denies obvious fact that Ukrainian opposition was kept away from public media during electoral campaign. I was there several times during and after both election's round. I saw personally how people were destroying ballots with acid. I saw militia inside electoral posts. I saw special forces "Berkut" hiding themselves in forests around Kiev. I saw how Yushchenko supporters mostly young people were taken to police stations and threatened to resign from their electoral activities. Mr Laughland fits to the profile of agence of influence. He travels extensively to Kaliningrad, Russia and other places of conflict and regularly disinform people. It is sad but true that he defends Milosevic as a patriot and denies his war crimes. Unfortunately he managed to lecture Polish MPs and some of them are totally seduced.

http://www.bhhrg.org/CountryReport.asp?CountryID=22&ReportID=230

So he mixes beef and arsenic! And that is even more dangerous.

[jb6]

Here are some of those jack booted Yanukovich supporters. These are all Ukrainians whose vote doesn't matter. They voted for the wrong candidate you see, and they will be reeducated after it is clear that their voice just doesn't matter, even if they voted in the majority. This is the new face of "democracy" aka Ted Turner's CNN version of it.

Monday November 29, 10:13 AM Supporters of Ukrainian Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich shout slogans as they wait for his arrival in the town of Severodonetsk, north of the mining centre Donetsk. Ukraine's top court sits today to try to solve an election crisis that threatens to break the country apart and is straining relations between Russia and the West. REUTERS

Supporters of Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich argue with a Viktor Yushchenko backer, right, in Kiev. (Anatoly Maltsev / EPA)

Supporters of Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych waves blue and white flags in downtown Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2004. Their tent camp is less than 400 meters (yards) away from the Kiev's Independence Square where tens of thoursands are rallying in favor of Ukraine's top opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.

Supporters of Ukraine's Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych stand in line in downtown Kiev, Ukraine, Wednesday, Nov. 24, 2004. Their tent camp is less than 400 meters (yards) away from the Kiev's Independence Square where tens of thousands are rallying in favor of Ukraine's top opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko.

Supporters of presidential candidate Yanukovich rally in Donetsk, photo from Newsru.com

A girl peeping through a rank of Cossacks, supporters of opposition candidate Viktor Yushchenko, at a rally of several hundred thousand people in central Kiev on Sunday. Photo: Oded Balilty / AP

[eluminate]

ur kidding right? "Accepting Ukrainian election results?"
its their results you know they voted you didn't. There is a slight double standard there remember when the Europeans told us whom they wanted for president we didn't listen to them did we... Why should another country elect someone WE want?

There is no middle ground either Ukraine will join Eu or Russia thats basicly as simple as it gets. The reality is that it could possible split in two and chances of that happening are increasing with every day. Dec 5th and 12th are the deciding factors IF the supreme court has a decision that goes against the constitution say hello to South-Eastern Republic of Ukraine.

[ApesForEvolution]

Communist Totalitarian Vlad Putin Is A POS BTTT