Another Geopolitical Triumph For Vladimir Putin!

[Thomas Eckhardt]

There is not much I can add to Stephen F. Cohen's take. 
This is essential reading for everybody who is interested
in what happened and continues to happen in Ukraine:

http://www.thenation.com/article/180466/silence-american-hawks-about-kievs-atrocities

> I know that you are particularly (for obvious reasons) 
>concerned about
> the rise of a neo-Nazi faction in Ukraine, but it seems 
>almost an
> inevitable reaction against previous Communist (and then 
>Putin) rule.

I take your point about anti-Russian sentiments due to 
Communist rule. Especially the Holodomor comes to mind. 
But Putin rule in Ukraine? How so?

The obvious reason for my concern is that I am aware of 
what happened the
last time Nazis took over a government. The likes of 
Swoboda,
Right Sector and Social-National Assembly have not yet
taken over power in Ukraine, but the threat is very real 
and
growing by the day.

The day before yesterday members of the Donbas Battalion,
Azov Battalion etc. who
are nominally under the control of the Ministry of the
Interior called for ending the ceasefire and continuing
the war against their compatriots as well as for the
implementation of
martial law in the eastern regions. They threatened
Poroshenko with
removal if he would not comply with their wishes.
Yesterday Poroshenko let the ceasefire expire against the
wishes of Putin, Hollande and Merkel. Now
civil war is on again and martial law has been declared --
which makes the killing of civilians much easier.

These troops are de facto under
the control of powerful oligarchs like Igor Kolomoisky who
is probably responsible for the Odessa massacre and also 
provided
Hunter Biden with a new job.

Here is a portrait of the man:

http://online.wsj.com/articles/ukraines-secret-weapon-feisty-oligarch-ihor-kolomoisky-1403886665

>   And if they are only a "part" of the mix, it is by no 
>means certain
> they will take total control.  Unless a particular 
>faction is banned by
> law, a democracy has to be a mix, no matter how bad some 
>parts might smell.

They are not "part of the mix." This is not about some 
stray Nazis in Ukraine. This is
about Nazis in government and Nazi death squads *supported 
by the West*. At least as
far as the eastern regions are concerned they are 
demonstrably right now setting
the agenda.

> The alternative of a Putin-like strong arm rule isn't 
>better.

Do you seriously believe that Putin's surely authoritarian
rule would be as bad as a government consisting of
admirers of
Joseph Goebbels, the SS division "Galicia" and Stepan
Bandera? I find this astounding. Can you give any reason
for this?

>To argue
> for Putin would be akin to the US propping up of
> anti-Communist dictators in the past. A brutal 
>alternative, but maybe
> less politically messy.

What does that mean, "argue for Putin"? Is the following
"arguing for Putin", or is it merely stating the obvious:
Putin is no Videla or Pinochet as far as human
rights violations are concerned. What makes you
think he is?

Generally speaking, I think that like everybody else in
the West who only consults the mainstream media on Ukraine
you have been deliberately misinformed about what happened
and continues
to happen in Ukraine.

For a more balanced view I recommend (for starters):

Right Sector involvement in the Maidan protests:

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/jan/22/ukraine-protests-europe-far-right-violence

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/feb/07/ukrainian-protesters-break-with-far-right

After the regime change:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/feb/28/ukraine-genuine-revolution-tackle-corruption

I also like Robert Parry on this topic.

For the historical background:

http://www.thenation.com/blog/179057/seven-decades-nazi-collaboration-americas-dirty-little-ukraine-secret









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Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l