Has the US government been supporting neo-Nazi Ukrainians who took part in the overthrow of president Yanukovych and then established themselves in power along with other right wing and pro-Western elements? There are a number of articles on this issue as well as video showing neo-Nazis receiving political backing from Western officials, while all along the US and EU are insisting that democracy is at stake in the Ukraine and Russia is the obstacle.
Let us have no illusions that indeed the US played a role in the downfall of the Communist bloc and it celebrated the new regime that immediately embraced the capitalist political economy and elected government based on multi-party system. However, the Ukrainian crisis has proved the problem for the West even under Communism was not confined to ideology, but extended to the matter of nationalism and spheres of influence the US demanded for itself at the expense of its rival Russia. Let us also acknowledge that besides helping to bring the oligarchic political economy that prevails today in Russia and the former Soviet republics, the US and its EU partners have benefited by the cheap energy source Russia and the former republics have been providing the West as well as massive investment flowing outward.
Is the US so desperate to carve out more spheres of influence all around Russia's borders that it would go to the lengths of backing dictatorships in the trans-Caucasus region and neo-Nazis seizing power through a Western-guided and financed rebel movement? There is some evidence already that the US with the help of France, UK and Germany used neo-Nazis in the Ukraine to do the exact same thing they did in Libya and Syria where the rebel movements were openly receiving Western financial, military, political and technical support.
On 5 March 2015, several European television stations played a video and audio that apparently proves beyond any doubt the so-called rebel movement was manufactured and manipulated in such a way as to force Yanukovych from power. This is not to defend the former utterly corrupt president who proved incompetent and ruthless, but the video and audio is now confirmed to be authentic by the foreign minister of Estonia who has asked for an investigation into the sniper shootings that resulted in the death of several demonstrators in Kiev.
Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet had been in the Ukraine to see for himself on behalf of his government what had taken place and to report back to his government and to EU foreign minister Katherine Ashton. In a conversation that was leaked, Paet tells Ashton that the snipers who were killing demonstrators were in fact paid professionals working for the anti-Yanukovych movement. The question of who hired and paid the snipers is unclear. Katherine Ashton explained to Paet on the phone that she was concerned and that there must be an investigation.
The odd thing about this video is that one cannot find anything written about it in the leading Western media. By contrast, there are many articles about how Russia is a militaristic power violating international law, and how both Sen. John McCain and Hillary Clinton believe Putin is like Hitler, a comparison the Bush administration was making when it wanted to topple Saddam Hussein and when Obama wanted to topple Qaddafi by use of military force.
As far as neo-Nazi elements in the Ukraine, I am not privy to US official documents that indicate the degree to which the US is involved. However, we now have a neo-Nazi announcing his intention to run for president in the upcoming elections.I have no US official documents to prove that the US has been helping neo-Nazis directly. However, the National Endowment for Democracy, acting as an NGO but receiving funding from the government and operating under the State Department, has been very active in the country for at least ten years. The key players in the Ukrainian rebel movement and their sources of support have come to question, largely because the US government has lined up behind the entire movement without making any distinction between the genuine pro-democracy elements and the neo-Nazis who appear to be the most influential from behind the scenes.Just as the US has been on the same side of rebel Islamic movements that included al-Qaeda elements in Syria and Libya, similarly, it was on the same side as neo-Nazis fighting to bring down a regime the US wanted overthrown.
While it is understandable that the propaganda war takes over in times of diplomatic crises, the question is the arrogance of Western media that claims to be professional and "objective", when in fact it delivers the political line of the government in power. This is true of Russia and China, but at least in these countries the consumer of news already knows this to be the case, because there is no pretense of objectivity. Meanwhile, the exact same mode of operation that unfolded in the Ukraine is now unfolding in Venezuela. There seems to be a US global covert campaign to destabilize regimes that affirm national sovereignty and/or align themselves with countries the US opposes. Ukraine fits into this mold, but to go as far as supporting neo-Nazis and have snipers working for the anti-regime elements assassinate demonstrators brings back memories of CIA operations in Iran, Indonesia, Chile, etc.
"Spinning" a story to a certain degree for propaganda purposes is to be expected by the media, East or West. Completely ignoring a core news story that goes to the heart of the grand deception about who is behind a rebel movement and who is carrying out assassinations of demonstrators goes beyond "spinning" into the realm of self-censorship at best, and state-influenced media coverage at worst, especially when the intention is to cover up Western ostensibly "democratic" support for a movement that in reality has neo-Nazis as key players.
The danger of US and EU support of the interim government that replaced Yanukovych is that at the very least it has strengthened neo-Nazi and ultra-nationalist elements who believe in ethnic purity and ridding the land of Russians, Jews and other minorities. While Western support for a regime that includes neo-Nazis may present geopolitical advantages to the West and probably offers good business opportunities down the road, there is a lesson here from Western policy of appeasement during the Third Reich, a policy that the US and its Western allies pursued because it was good for business and it was a way to create a buffer zone between the Soviet Union and the West. The result of that reckless policy was World War II.
Let us have no illusions that indeed the US played a role in the downfall of the Communist bloc and it celebrated the new regime that immediately embraced the capitalist political economy and elected government based on multi-party system. However, the Ukrainian crisis has proved the problem for the West even under Communism was not confined to ideology, but extended to the matter of nationalism and spheres of influence the US demanded for itself at the expense of its rival Russia. Let us also acknowledge that besides helping to bring the oligarchic political economy that prevails today in Russia and the former Soviet republics, the US and its EU partners have benefited by the cheap energy source Russia and the former republics have been providing the West as well as massive investment flowing outward.
Is the US so desperate to carve out more spheres of influence all around Russia's borders that it would go to the lengths of backing dictatorships in the trans-Caucasus region and neo-Nazis seizing power through a Western-guided and financed rebel movement? There is some evidence already that the US with the help of France, UK and Germany used neo-Nazis in the Ukraine to do the exact same thing they did in Libya and Syria where the rebel movements were openly receiving Western financial, military, political and technical support.
On 5 March 2015, several European television stations played a video and audio that apparently proves beyond any doubt the so-called rebel movement was manufactured and manipulated in such a way as to force Yanukovych from power. This is not to defend the former utterly corrupt president who proved incompetent and ruthless, but the video and audio is now confirmed to be authentic by the foreign minister of Estonia who has asked for an investigation into the sniper shootings that resulted in the death of several demonstrators in Kiev.
Estonian foreign minister Urmas Paet had been in the Ukraine to see for himself on behalf of his government what had taken place and to report back to his government and to EU foreign minister Katherine Ashton. In a conversation that was leaked, Paet tells Ashton that the snipers who were killing demonstrators were in fact paid professionals working for the anti-Yanukovych movement. The question of who hired and paid the snipers is unclear. Katherine Ashton explained to Paet on the phone that she was concerned and that there must be an investigation.
The odd thing about this video is that one cannot find anything written about it in the leading Western media. By contrast, there are many articles about how Russia is a militaristic power violating international law, and how both Sen. John McCain and Hillary Clinton believe Putin is like Hitler, a comparison the Bush administration was making when it wanted to topple Saddam Hussein and when Obama wanted to topple Qaddafi by use of military force.
As far as neo-Nazi elements in the Ukraine, I am not privy to US official documents that indicate the degree to which the US is involved. However, we now have a neo-Nazi announcing his intention to run for president in the upcoming elections.I have no US official documents to prove that the US has been helping neo-Nazis directly. However, the National Endowment for Democracy, acting as an NGO but receiving funding from the government and operating under the State Department, has been very active in the country for at least ten years. The key players in the Ukrainian rebel movement and their sources of support have come to question, largely because the US government has lined up behind the entire movement without making any distinction between the genuine pro-democracy elements and the neo-Nazis who appear to be the most influential from behind the scenes.Just as the US has been on the same side of rebel Islamic movements that included al-Qaeda elements in Syria and Libya, similarly, it was on the same side as neo-Nazis fighting to bring down a regime the US wanted overthrown.
While it is understandable that the propaganda war takes over in times of diplomatic crises, the question is the arrogance of Western media that claims to be professional and "objective", when in fact it delivers the political line of the government in power. This is true of Russia and China, but at least in these countries the consumer of news already knows this to be the case, because there is no pretense of objectivity. Meanwhile, the exact same mode of operation that unfolded in the Ukraine is now unfolding in Venezuela. There seems to be a US global covert campaign to destabilize regimes that affirm national sovereignty and/or align themselves with countries the US opposes. Ukraine fits into this mold, but to go as far as supporting neo-Nazis and have snipers working for the anti-regime elements assassinate demonstrators brings back memories of CIA operations in Iran, Indonesia, Chile, etc.
"Spinning" a story to a certain degree for propaganda purposes is to be expected by the media, East or West. Completely ignoring a core news story that goes to the heart of the grand deception about who is behind a rebel movement and who is carrying out assassinations of demonstrators goes beyond "spinning" into the realm of self-censorship at best, and state-influenced media coverage at worst, especially when the intention is to cover up Western ostensibly "democratic" support for a movement that in reality has neo-Nazis as key players.
The danger of US and EU support of the interim government that replaced Yanukovych is that at the very least it has strengthened neo-Nazi and ultra-nationalist elements who believe in ethnic purity and ridding the land of Russians, Jews and other minorities. While Western support for a regime that includes neo-Nazis may present geopolitical advantages to the West and probably offers good business opportunities down the road, there is a lesson here from Western policy of appeasement during the Third Reich, a policy that the US and its Western allies pursued because it was good for business and it was a way to create a buffer zone between the Soviet Union and the West. The result of that reckless policy was World War II.
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