Ukrainian Crossroads By Mike Whitney

Ukrainian Crossroads

By Mike Whitney

Al-Jazeerah, November 27, 2004

“There will be consequences for those who beat up journalists and who threw
people down the stairs and who attempted to manipulate the election
outcome.” Senator Richard G. Lugar Ukraine election’s monitor

George Bush has suddenly become a great believer in exit polling…..in
Ukraine, that is. The surprise triumph of Russian favorite Viktor Yanukovych
has transformed the skeptical Bush into a veritable John Zogby. Now, the
chagrined President is threatening “concrete measures” will be taken if
election results aren’t revisited.

Needless to say Bush’s newfound passion for exit polls hasn’t carried over
to our own “homegrown” polls; most of them have been dismissed by the
administration as wildly inaccurate. Conservative friends in the American
media have gone so far as to remove the original polling data from their web
sites so that the “statistical anomalies” can’t be examined by curious
people who think the unthinkable; that Crawford Georgie got waxed in a
landslide. (like the figures show) The media has acted with as much
accountability as a Florida poll-watcher; shredding the evidence it can’t
use and dumping the results in the circular receptacle in the corner.
Now that the attention has shifted to Ukraine, where Bush and Co. need an
American stooge to carry water for the empire, Bush is crying, “Foul”.
Sorry, George; sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander. Surprisingly,
the Russian’s turned out to be better cheaters than the Bush team. Maybe,
its time to give it up and move on?

After all, the exit polls were funded by the United States. Doesn’t that
suggest tampering? Would we trust Jeb Bush to conduct impartial polls in
Florida? The administration’s involvement is a clear sign that it had a “dog
in the fight” and would do whatever was necessary to win. Bush has no
interest in lending a helping hand to a fledgling democracy. US involvement
was just a way of working the back-channels to install another American
puppet.

Now, the administration will be forced to invoke the more traditional
methods of intervention. The media has already been fired up to discredit
the “savaging of democracy” in the former Soviet republic, and we can be
reasonably certain that the CIA is on the ground fomenting violence against
the new regime. (as they did in neighboring Georgia to remove the unreliable
Shevardnadze)

Will it work?

That’s left to be seen, but we know that Ukraine is a central part of the
administration’s Asia strategy. Both the Project for the New American
Century and Brzezinki’s The Grand Chessboard emphasize the importance of
surrounding Russia and establishing a military presence in the region. This
is crucial to cutting off access to the resource-rich Caspian Basin,
securing critical pipeline routes, and insuring American dominance
throughout central Asia.

So far, the White House has limited its reaction to a harshly worded
statement expressing their deep disappointment by “extensive and credible
indications of fraud.” Spokeswoman Claire Buchan added, “We strongly support
efforts to review the conduct of the election and urge Ukrainian authorities
not to certify results until investigations of organized fraud are
resolved.”

Does anyone remember similar concern when massive voter fraud was taking
place in the Afghanistan elections? Or when Republican thugs were chasing
poll workers from their work in Dade County in 2000? Or is this another case
of Bush’s “selective indignation”?

By now, the wary Putin understands Bush’s game. He’s already seen American
powerbrokers try to seize Russia’s oil giant Yukos. And he’s taken note of
the many bases and missile systems going in throughout the region. The
Ukraine elections are another way of projecting empire into the heart of the
world’s resources and delivering another stinging blow to a struggling
Russia. Hardliners have convinced Putin that America can’t be trusted and
Bush has done nothing to prove otherwise. Beyond the cheerful demeanor and
soul searching (“I looked into his eyes and came away with a reassuring
sense of his soul”) a confrontation is beginning to emerge that will pit the
East against the West in a struggle for the continent.

Forget about democracy, Ukraine is a crossroads for global domination and
the Bush crowd will do whatever it takes to add it to their side of the
ledger.

Earth, a planet hungry for peace

Apartheid Wall


The Israeli Land-Grab Apartheid Wall built inside the Palestinian territories, here separating Abu Dis from occupied East Jerusalem. (IPC, 7/4/04).

The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python. (Alquds,10/25/03).

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editor@aljazeerah.info