U.S. money and the Orange Revolution

The United States has done its share of nasty things in this world. Support Ukrainian democracy isn’t one of them.

It has become fashionable in the media to examine the so-called “American sources” of the money behind the “Orange Revolution.” This trend was initiated by left-wingers of the anti-globalist stripe, for whom any U.S. involvement in anything is “neo-liberalism” or something else demonic. It was picked up by right-wingers like U.S. troglodyte Pat Buchanan, and by some in Ukrainian ruling circles.

Finally it was adopted by the mainstream media. For example, The Associated Press ran a thorough story on Dec. 11 detailing how U.S. government money helped create the conditions for the Orange Revolution. The American government did this by funneling money into Ukraine under the auspices of such organizations as USAID, the Carnegie Foundation and the National Democratic Institute.

A couple things need to be said about this. First of all, aid from the Great Satan is the most obvious choice for enemies of Ukrainian democracy to single out: pro-Yanukovych, pro-authoritarian demagogues will drive no one into the streets of Donetsk by complaining about Danish meddling in Ukraine. Yet many other countries have also supported democracy programs here. Besides Denmark, Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Canada, Norway and the European Union as a body have done so. It’s hardly a U.S. plot.

Here's the Marxist point of view from "People's Weekly World" - "...there is good reason to believe that while most of the participants in the demonstrations thought they were fighting for democracy, the protests were organized to serve U.S. imperialist interests. The Dec. 11 New York Times reported that the Bush administration had spent over $65 million in Ukraine, and had paid to bring Yuschenko to meet with American leaders and to aid political organizations. While some of that money was given to organizations whose stated aim is to promote and teach democracy, millions of dollars went to partisan political organizations and parties supporting Yuschenko."

Sound like anyone we know?

AP: Your political opponents say that your campaign was financed by the United States. Did you receive American help?
Yushchenko: That's nonsense. I am proud that I am a Ukrainian politician. I don't use American help and would not use it even if it were offered. I understand that I have a very important political responsibility before my nation, before the voters. Neither I nor my political partners have received or will receive any money from America, from the government or from non-governmental organizations. - AP
The Prime Minister today specifically accused the United States of intervening in the election, funding the opposition. What's your response to those charges?
MR. McCLELLAN: We addressed this issue last week. As I indicated, and as the President has indicated previously, the United States strongly supports a democratic process that reflects the will of the people of Ukraine. That's what our view is. We do not and have not supported any particular candidate in Ukraine's presidential election. We do support free and fair elections around the world, and we do provide financial assistance to international organizations to help make sure there are free and fair elections. And we have provided assistance to organizations supporting such a process in Ukraine, and that includes NGOs, as well as other international organizations -- but that's to assist in voter education and political party training. And it is also assistance which is made available to all political parties in Ukraine.
Q Are you satisfied that there wasn't any crossover from the NGO money into a specific and outright campaign --
MR. McCLELLAN: Our assistance is to support free and fair elections that reflect the will of the people -- and that's what we do all over the world. - LINK

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