Showing posts with label Ukraine uprising. Show all posts

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Canada celebrates overthrow of democratically elected government in Ukraine

Canada Welcomes Presidential Transition in Ukraine

February 24, 2014 - Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird today issued the following statement welcoming the confirmation of Oleksander Turchinov as Ukraine’s acting president:
“The Ukrainian parliament acted legitimately in naming Speaker Turchinov as acting president pending the May 25 elections, and Canada welcomes his interim appointment during this important transition period.
“The next critical juncture will be the Ukrainian parliament’s vote to establish a new government under the leadership of a new prime minister, in accordance with the constitution passed on February 22.
“Canada supports the Ukrainian people, the constitutional process and the Ukrainian people’s legitimate leaders as they work to re-establish freedom, democracy, human rights and the rule of law. Together with our allies, we will continue to monitor the situation closely at this pivotal time in the country’s history.”

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Sunday, February 16, 2014

US pulls plug on latest Ukraine "revolution"

The release of the Nuland-Pyatt recordings a week ago took the American wind out of the sails of Ukraine's opposition. Things suddenly went very quiet very fast. Today the protesters peacefully left the government buildings they had occupied for months.

The think tank here at Falling Downs was initially perturbed at the lack of public outrage over the Nuland-Pyatt revelations. After all, here we had the US ambassador to the country and the number two in the State Department discussing who would be the next leader of Ukraine as casually as they might choose a wine for dinner.

And while there was little public reaction, obviously a great deal has happened behind the scenes. After that tape was leaked to the public any opposition government would have been forever tainted by accusations of being stooges for America.

It also caused more observers to look a little more closely at who exactly comprises that Ukraine opposition, and the closer you looked the more uncomfortable even folks in Kerry's State Department must have become. You don't have to dig too deep to find a vast swath of reactionary extremism among that opposition.

While it may be amusing for the beltway crowd to flirt with those folks just for the sake of making trouble for Putin, they wouldn't exactly want to stand accused of bringing a cabal of neo-nazis to power in Ukraine.

Does this mean the US will stop with its campaign of "democracy promotion" and leave Ukraine politics to Ukrainians? After all, they have now lost two revolutions within ten years.

Of course they cannot stop interfering. Ukraine is the biggest prize of the post-Soviet era. Just look at a map. Having the Ukraine in the US fold would be the prize of prizes.

This just means they'll have to double down for next time.

Good things happen in thirds.

Friday, February 7, 2014

Spinning Ukraine

What's truly amazing about the fallout from the expose of the Nuland-Pyatt conversation is that there hasn't been any. One might think that to catch the conspirators red-handed, to find the smoking gun even as it is spewing smoke, would lead to some modicum of umbrage.

One would be mistaken.

Instead, western media spin the story as an expose of naughty Russian spying. Or naughty language by US diplomats. No one seems the slightest bit kerfluffled over the fact that we have witnessed two senior US diplomats plotting regime change in a sovereign nation.

It's like Karl Rove put it a few years back; America is an Empire and creates its own reality. Fuck international law, fuck the norms of civilized discourse between nations, fuck the EU, and fuck the Ukraine.

We're an Empire. We do as we please.

Sunday, December 8, 2013

Wall Street Journal plots course for Ukraine's future

Here's the first two paragraphs verbatim of today's WSJ plea for the triumph of neoliberalism in Ukraine.

For the second consecutive Sunday, more than half a million people filled the streets of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. The anti-government demonstrations are an important moment for the future of Europe, though you wouldn't know it from America's indifference.

Ukraine straddles a faultline between autocratic Russia and free Europe. The country of 46 million is divided between Russian-speakers in the east and nationalists in the west, but most Ukrainians want their country to get closer to Europe. The protests show that Ukrainians are fed up with their rapacious political system and aspire to live under the rule of law.

Yes, Ukrainians are clamouring for the rule of law and only an indifferent America, led by that Kenyan communist Obama, is barring the door.

While the choice may well be between autocratic Russia and free Europe, one could just as well make the choice between solvent Russia and bankrupt Europe.

The cadres of youthful freedom lovers would do well to inquire of their Greek counterparts how the EU dream is working out for them.

The misguided protesters in Kiev do not see it that way of course. They imagine that they will displace the Germans at the top of the heap.

They have displaced the Germans before. Nowhere did the Nazi juggernaut find more willing recruits for its Einsatz Gruppen than in Ukraine.

But that was then. Just because this is now doesn't mean the masses of Ukrainian youth have learned anything from their history.

Let them keep ripping down statues.