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In Ukraine, fascists, oligarchs and western expansion are at the heart of the crisis
The Guardian ^ | 29 January 2014 | Seumas Milne

Posted on 01/31/2014 6:05:10 PM PST by 1rudeboy

We've been here before. For the past couple of months street protests in Ukraine have been played out through the western media according to a well-rehearsed script. Pro-democracy campaigners are battling an authoritarian government. The demonstrators are demanding the right to be part of the European Union. But Russia's president Vladimir Putin has vetoed their chance of freedom and prosperity.

It's a story we've heard in one form or another again and again – not least in Ukraine's western-backed Orange revolution a decade ago. But it bears only the sketchiest relationship to reality. EU membership has never been – and very likely never will be – on offer to Ukraine. As in Egypt last year, the president that the protesters want to force out was elected in a poll judged fair by international observers. And many of those on the streets aren't very keen on democracy at all.

You'd never know from most of the reporting that far-right nationalists and fascists have been at the heart of the protests and attacks on government buildings. One of the three main opposition parties heading the campaign is the hard-right antisemitic Svoboda, whose leader Oleh Tyahnybok claims that a "Moscow-Jewish mafia" controls Ukraine. But US senator John McCain was happy to share a platform with him in Kiev last month. The party, now running the city of Lviv, led a 15,000-strong torchlit march earlier this month in memory of the Ukrainian fascist leader Stepan Bandera, whose forces fought with the Nazis in the second world war and took part in massacres of Jews.

(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...


TOPICS: Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events; Russia
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Nice to see the leftys at the Guardian wringing their hands.
1 posted on 01/31/2014 6:05:10 PM PST by 1rudeboy
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To: 1rudeboy
In Ukraine the United States, fascists, oligarchs and western southern expansion are at the heart of the crisis
2 posted on 01/31/2014 6:11:17 PM PST by RC one
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To: 1rudeboy
We can count on the Guardian to side with the Soviets in this matter.Ukraine,a small country in a pretty dangerous neighborhood,would certainly be wise to align herself with a larger power.Given her location the two most logical powers to align with are the USSR and the EU.Of the two,the EU is far more prosperous,far more democratic and "free".If I was forced to choose between those two nations/blocs for a place to live I'd choose the EU in a heartbeat...noticeably imperfect though it is.It looks as if a substantial portion of Ukrainians have made the same choice.

Of course the Guardian takes a different position.

3 posted on 01/31/2014 6:17:35 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Osama Obama Care: A Religion That Will Have You On Your Knees!)
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To: Gay State Conservative

“Soviets”

Riiiight.

Be vigilant against those hippies and Black Panthers!


4 posted on 01/31/2014 6:21:17 PM PST by Forgotten Amendments (I remember when a President having an "enemies list" was a scandal. Now, they have a kill list.)
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To: Forgotten Amendments

LOL—You forgot to mention George Soros . . . the single greatest cause of Russian foreign policy erectile dysfunction since the 1800’s.


5 posted on 01/31/2014 6:24:18 PM PST by 1rudeboy
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To: Gay State Conservative

I love the casual slander of Bandera

“Stepan Bandera was responsible for the proclamation of an Independent Ukrainian State in Lviv on June 30, 1941, eight days after the start of Germany’s aggression.
The OUN intended to take advantage of the retreat of Soviet forces from Ukraine. Some members thought that they had found a new powerful ally in Nazi Germany to aid them in their struggle against the Soviet Union. However, just days after the proclamation and the Nazi invasion of Lviv, the leadership of the newly formed government was arrested and sent to concentration camps in Germany, and on July 6, 1941[1] for his refusal to rescind the declaration, Bandera was arrested and imprisoned by the Nazis and not released until September 1944. Also, within two years of the declaration, the Nazis had imprisoned or killed 80% of OUN-B leadership.[2][3][4] Soviet authorities authorised the KGB to assassinate as it happened in Munich, West Germany, on 15 October 1959.”

Bandera tried to use the Germans in 44 as the only option he had against the Soviets. After the end of the war he lead a Guerilla war against the Soviets. THATS why Lefties like the Guardian slime him.


6 posted on 01/31/2014 6:39:42 PM PST by Kozak ("Send them back your fierce defiance! Stamp upon the cursed alliance! To arms, to arms in Dixie!)
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To: Kozak

Yes, I noticed that too.
It is the Guardian after all.


7 posted on 01/31/2014 6:45:36 PM PST by tet68 ( " We would not die in that man's company, that fears his fellowship to die with us...." Henry V.)
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To: 1rudeboy

for later


8 posted on 01/31/2014 7:24:55 PM PST by Mrs. Don-o (Sanity is the adequate response of the mind to the real thing: adaequatio mentis ad rem.)
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To: Kozak

Interesting, old commies never die, they just go on repeating the same old lies.

FYI Bandera’s grandson is still fighting for Ukraine.

It’s a neverending battle.


9 posted on 01/31/2014 7:25:38 PM PST by KOZ.
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To: KOZ.

Here are the pictures of “facists” standing up to imported soldiers from Russia.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EeDtJ21uIo0

Living 400 years under oppression makes Ukrainians fight for freedom.
Beats sheeple swallowing Kenyan’s conversion to commie paradise.


10 posted on 01/31/2014 8:04:17 PM PST by Leo Carpathian (FReeeeepeesssssed)
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To: 1rudeboy
World Socialist Website: Pro-Western Ukrainian opposition stokes up civil war - January 27, 2014 - "Having unleashed the most reactionary forces in the Ukraine and driven it to the brink of civil war, sections of the Western ruling elites are now discussing the merits of intervening more aggressively inside the Ukraine in pursuit of their imperialist interests."

Party for Socialism and Liberation: Ukraine Opposition’s fascist leadership poses danger - January 28, 2014 - "Yanukovych offered the position of prime minister to opposition leader Arseniy Yatseniuk, an open anti-socialist, anti-Russian nationalist, proponent of the EU and anti-LGBTQ bigot, although Yatseniuk refused the post. ....A victory for the opposition leadership will mean the triumph of fascist politics, alienation of eastern Ukrainians who have cultural commonalities with Russia, aggression against immigrants, non-whites and LGBTQ communities and violent persecution of progressive and socialist organizations. It will also mean a severing of political ties with Russia and the possibility of increased compliance by Ukraine with U.S. and NATO interests, which would weaken anti-imperialist positions in Eastern Europe."

Socialist Action: Ukraine protests - What’s at stake? - January 19, 2014 - "John McCain, that rejected and forgotten pariah of the Republican Party, was present to deliver his message, “We are here to support your just cause, the sovereign right of Ukraine to determine its own destiny freely and independently.” Never mind that the Yanukovich government was elected in free elections, and determining its economic policy is well within its mandate; such hypocrisies clearly don’t bother the agents of imperialism."

Socialist Network: The Ukrainian Trap - December 26, 2013 - "Apart from Poland, Western Ukraine is the only territory in Eastern Europe where primitive Russo-phobia prevails in the public sphere and is exploited by leading politicians at every opportunity. So it is no surprise that it raises its head during this major social mobilization. In this climate, Ukraine’s far-right nationalists are important beneficiaries."

11 posted on 01/31/2014 9:55:23 PM PST by Tailgunner Joe
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To: 1rudeboy

Wow...you pull yourself out of Soros hind quarters to post that?


12 posted on 02/01/2014 12:42:15 AM PST by SeminoleCounty (Amnesty And Not Ending ObamaCare Will Kill GOP In 2014)
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To: Gay State Conservative

If you are supporting the EU...you do realize you are supporting the Socialists...and Soros...and Hanoi John McCain (wonder if he has a people eating buddy in Ukraine..like Syria)?

USSR split up in 1991...its gone and ain’t coming back.


13 posted on 02/01/2014 12:47:51 AM PST by SeminoleCounty (Amnesty And Not Ending ObamaCare Will Kill GOP In 2014)
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To: SeminoleCounty
If you are supporting the EU...you do realize you are supporting the Socialists...

Read my posts carefully.In them I acknowledge that the EU is *not* heaven on earth...not even close.I said that *if forced to choose* between the *EU* and the *USSR* I'd choose the EU as the lesser of two evils.

14 posted on 02/01/2014 4:46:40 AM PST by Gay State Conservative (Osama Obama Care: A Religion That Will Have You On Your Knees!)
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To: Forgotten Amendments
“Soviets”Riiiight.Be vigilant against those hippies and Black Panthers!

Russia today is a free,open,modern country respecting basic God given rights? Riiiight! You keep believing that in the chest of Vlad Putin...and pals...beats the heart of a benign,tolerant,"kinder and gentler" guy.Just go to the Soviet Union today and openly criticize Vlad Putin and see how long it takes them to make you disappear.

15 posted on 02/01/2014 4:50:56 AM PST by Gay State Conservative (Osama Obama Care: A Religion That Will Have You On Your Knees!)
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To: SeminoleCounty

See what I mean? Mention Soros and your brain shrinks.


16 posted on 02/01/2014 5:26:20 AM PST by 1rudeboy
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To: SeminoleCounty
USSR split up in 1991...its gone and ain’t coming back.

Really? Somehow I think the people of Georgia (the *other* Georgia),Ukraine and the Baltics...all people who know *far* more about the USSR than *you* will *ever* know...might disagree with that.Disagree most vigorously,in fact.

17 posted on 02/01/2014 5:39:50 AM PST by Gay State Conservative (Osama Obama Care: A Religion That Will Have You On Your Knees!)
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To: 1rudeboy

At the heart of the unrest........ change toward freedom


18 posted on 02/01/2014 5:41:36 AM PST by bert ((K.E. N.P. N.C. +12 ..... History is a process, not an event)
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To: Gay State Conservative

Wow. A surviving McCainiac! Call the Smithsonian!

Are you being paid by the Georgian gangsters that tried to suck us into their aggression? Or are you just naïve?


19 posted on 02/01/2014 5:27:20 PM PST by Forgotten Amendments (I remember when a President having an "enemies list" was a scandal. Now, they have a kill list.)
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To: Forgotten Amendments
Are you being paid by the Georgian gangsters...

Hey,thanks for the laugh,mate! I look foreword to hearing your thoughts on the aggression that gnats subject the elephant population to.

20 posted on 02/01/2014 5:35:41 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Osama Obama Care: A Religion That Will Have You On Your Knees!)
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