Another Geopolitical Triumph For Vladimir Putin!

[David Morris]

On Sunday, June 29, 2014, Thomas Eckhardt <thomas.eckhardt at uni-bonn.de>
wrote:

> I certainly don't believe ultra right-wingers (aka Nazis or, in this case,
> Banderists) are your heroes. The evidence I provided merely shows that the
> neo-Nazi paramilitary units who brought about regime change on the Maidan
> are now rapidly becoming part of the military/the national guard.
> Obviously, you don't have a problem with that. I certainly do.
>
> You seem to believe that these people will quietly disappear "once the
> country joins the West", or once parliamentary elections have taken place.
> I don't.
>

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.  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.

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


> All you say about Russia and Putin may well be true. I am not pro-Putin, I
> am anti-Nazi. And I try to first look at the beam in my own eye.
>

Your eye-beam is a Nazi history.  I understand that.  But political
repression often seems to ultimately foster an ugly reaction in the
opposite direction.  The hope is that a saner balance will settle out given
time.

David Morris
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