Hypocrisy seems to be massively in fashion. This from William Hague renders me speechless: “Be in no doubt, there will be consequences. The world cannot say it is OK to violate the sovereignty of other nations.”
Then today we have the British Establishment at a closed event in Westminster Abbey in memory of Nelson Mandela. Prince Harry, David Cameron, all the toffs. I was never more than a footsoldier in the anti-apartheid movement, but I trudged through the rain and handed out leaflets in Dundee and Edinburgh. I suspect very few indeed of the guests at this posh memorial service did that. David Cameron was actively involved in Conservative groups which promoted precisely the opposite cause.
My first appointment in the Foreign Office was to the South Africa (Political) desk in 1984. The official British government line was that the ANC was a terrorist organization. I faced hostility and disapproval even when I tried to get action on appalling human rights abuses like the case of Oscar Mpetha (thanks here to Tony Gooch and Terry Curran, they know why). I got in big trouble for asking how many black guests had been received in the High Commissioner’s residence in Pretoria.
Every day, on a day to day basis, my job involved dealing with members of the British establishment, its political, business and professional communities. The entire tenor of those meetings was how to prevent economic sanctions, circumvent existing sanctions and prolong the economic advantages to the UK of white rule. Support for PW Botha was axiomatic. I have no doubt many of those people or those who worked alongside them are in Westminster Abbey today.
The final extraordinary outbreak of hypocrisy is on the British left. Russian military invasion of Ukraine is approved by them, because it is an invasion by Russia, and not an invasion by the West. They are precisely as hypocritical as Hague. Both think it is OK to violate the sovereignty of other nations, but only by their chosen side.
Until 1917, Russia was an Empire, avowedly so. Thereafter the Soviet Union was a non-avowed Empire. The Crimea, and the rest of the Caucasus, was not colonized by Russia until the 1820’s onward. The reason Crimea has a majority Russian population is that Stalin deported the Krim Tartars as recently as the 1930’s. That was an old fashioned, wholesale colonial atrocity, precisely similar to the British clearing parts of Kenya for white settlement.
In the mid-nineteenth century, Russian statesmen like Nesselrode appealed to the British in particular, not to oppose their expansion in the Caucasus, because as he said like the British they were white Christian Europeans engaged in a civilizing mission among savages and Muslims. It was precisely the same colonial motivation the British used. There is no moral difference, or even overt difference in justification at the time, between British colonization of India and Russian colonization of Chechnya. Because Britain happens to be an island, we think of Empires as something you get to by ship. Russia’s Empire happened to be a contiguous land mass. But Dagestan, Chechnya, and Tartarstan were none the less colonies, exactly as were Kokhand, Bokhara and Khiva, formed to make Uzbekistan. Yet left wing anti-colonialism does not demand decolonisation by Russia, only the West. Gross hypocrisy.
“Allied in Europe with France’s National Front, the British National Party and Hungary’s Jobbik among others, Svoboda was previously known as the Social-National Party, an echo of the National Socialist, or Nazi Party.”
http://www.thestar.com.my/story.aspx/?file=/2013/5/18/worldupdates/supporters-and-opponents-of-ukraine-president-clash-in-kiev
In fact, it may simply mean Number 14 Self-Defence Battalion (Hundreds), and not have any attachment to neo-Nazism at all. But numbers such as 14 and 88 are sometimes used as not-very-secret code by neo-Nazis.
I have seen no mention yet of the reason Russian troops are in Crimea.
The interim Ukraine government passed a law removing Russian from being an official language. This outraged and scared the people of Crimea who are mostly Russian speaking, there was an uprising.
I don’t see any reason for passing this law at this time other than to create unrest.
The law has now been repealed but the damage is done.
As to cabinet seats we have to ask; Is Congress or Parliament populated with acolytes of the leadership? It seems logical the same rings true in Kiev.
Craig
Still waiting for your views on “Heavens Hundred” ?
In the meantime have a look at one of the revolutionaries intimidating a government official.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fT35J5C3EWs#t=30
Craig: “On Kossovo, I believe it was wrong too, but I was unfortunately so tied up over Sierra Leone I can’t pretend I paid much attention at the time.”
That’s a staggering statement ! The most serious conflict in Europe since WW2, and you didn’t “paid much attention” !! I sincerely hope that there is no connection with your nonchalant indifference to NATO’s bombing of Eastern Orthodox Serbians, to your peculiarly focused hostility to the mostly Eastern Orthodox Russians, which would actually also tie-in with your past negative & disparaging remarks about Eastern Orthodox Greeks ?!
“Concerns about Svoboda aren’t confined to words and historical associations, however. As reported by the Jewish Telegraph Agency (JTA) in April, Svoboda thugs took part in an opposition demonstration against the government of President Viktor Yanukovych, and provoked a small riot in Cherkassy, a city some 125 miles southeast of Kyiv. Outfitted with T-shirts emblazoned with the words “Beat the zhids!,” the Svoboda goons’ provocation has, according to JTA, “raised anxieties among Ukrainian Jews fearful of rising xenophobia and racially motivated violence.” Joel Rubinfeld, co-chair of the European Jewish Parliament, is quoted saying: “Svoboda lifted the lid from the sewer of anti-Semitism in Ukraine and it’s spilling out.””
http://www.algemeiner.com/2013/05/24/svoboda-fuels-ukraines-growing-anti-semitism/
“The West must therefore urge restraint—not only from Moscow, but from Kiev as well. Any aid to the government in Kiev should be made strictly conditional on measures to reassure the Russian-speaking populations of the east and south of the country: respect for elected local authorities; restoration of the official status of minority languages; and above all, no use of force in those regions. In the longer run, the only way to keep Ukraine together may be the introduction of a new federal constitution with much greater powers for the different regions”
http://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2014/03/02/why-obama-shouldnt-fall-for-putins-ukrainian-folly/ideas/nexus/
The caveat to this Craig is that although Putin is definitely at least bending international law and existing agreements, the reality is that those areas where Russian forces have entered are largely Pro-Russian anyway, historical ethnic cleansing aside of course. And as far as I can tell, so far the Russians haven’t fired a shot. If this were a Western Intervention, we’d be talking Shock and Awe in no time. I don’t think Vlad has any intention whatsoever in starting a war, but rather encouraging what is likely to happen anyway, which is a breakup of what is currently designated as the Ukraine into smaller states with Russia pulling into it’s sphere of influence the bits it wants, such as the Industrial East and Crimea.
Any country would act to protect its interests against subversion by a powerful foreign state and this has been true throughout history, so if Putin hadn’t done this, he would probably be the first Autocrat in history not to follow the rules of what Global and Regional Empires do. Can we imagine for instance what the US would do if Russia and China engineered political unrest and a coup d’etat in Canada and installed their own puppet government there?
I think what many on the so called ‘left’ are pointing out is that Russia has only chosen to take this action due to the ongoing machinations of Western Powers to dominate the world and Isolate Russia. No Western interference in Ukraine would have resulted in no Regime Change in Ukraine and therefore no reaction by Russia to protect it’s ‘backyard’.
The difference here is that although we see Western backed NGO’s doing their dirty business all over the world attempting to subvert the sovereignty of nations, you won’t see Russia or China attempting this like my above example any time soon. It’s nearly always the West who starts it. When the US Empire has faded into history though, perhaps roles will be reversed.
Deputy prime minister
http://en.svoboda.org.ua/news/comments/00010224/
“the High Commissioner’s residence in Pretoria”
Is that a mistake, or did the Brits continue to use the term “High Commissioner” behind the scenes, even when South Africa was outside the Commonwealth?
“In the mid-nineteenth century, Russian statesmen like Nesselrode appealed to the British in particular, not to oppose their expansion in the Caucasus, because as he said like the British they were white Christian Europeans engaged in a civilizing mission among savages and Muslims”
Yes, but in the Crimean War the Brits didn’t bat an eyelid when they backed the Muslim Turks against their fellow Christian Russians.
If today’s topic du jour is the Russian empire, as well as the Caucasus see also the indigenous peoples of Siberia whose cultures were crushed in way that is comparable in some ways to the experience of the ‘Indians’ in North America.
Those Siberian peoples include the Evenks, who gave the world the word “shaman”. Last I heard, their life expectancy was 29.
…and also of course Sochi, which is basically occupied territory.
Occupied, that is, after the expulsions and genocide of the Circassians.
Some of these Ukrainian fascist members of parliament are threatening Russia with nukes:
“We’ll regain our status as a nuclear power and that’ll change the conversation. Ukraine has all the technological means needed to create a nuclear arsenal – which would take us about three to six months,” Svoboda party MP Mikhail Golovko said.
The rhetoric, which contradicts the international nuclear non-proliferation treaty Ukraine signed in 1994, is not new for the Svoboda party, one of the driving forces behind the Maidan uprising. Its leader, Oleg Tyagnibok, already promised that the country would go nuclear while he was running for the presidency in 2009.”
https://rickrozoff.wordpress.com/2014/03/01/ukrainian-fascist-mp-threatens-russia-with-nuclear-weapons/
It seems that they could only manage a “dirty bomb” at the moment, but that would be ideal in terms of the kind of proxy war that the West wishes upon Russia.
I wonder would that be reason enough for Russia to “invade”.
Remember that some of these lunatics are now in government positions:
You’ve got a fascist who’s now Secretary of the Ukrainian National Security Council, and another one his deputy. You’ve got another fascist who’s the Ukrainian Prosecutor General. Another one is running the anti-corruption committee and yet another who is minister for youth and sports, with all that that implies.
“members of Svoboda and the Right Sector occupy key positions in the areas of Defense, Law Enforcement, Education and Economic Affairs.”
“Andriy Parubiy [right] co-founder of the Neo-Nazi Social-National Party of Ukraine (subsequently renamed Svoboda) was appointed Secretary of the National Security and National Defense Committee (RNBOU).”
“Dmytro Yarosh, leader of the Right Sector delegation in the parliament, has been appointed Parubiy’s deputy Secretary of the RNBOU.”
“The Neo Nazi party also controls the judicial process with the appointment of Oleh Makhnitsky of the Svoboda party to the position of prosecutor-general of Ukraine”
“Tetyana Chernovol, portrayed in the Western press as a crusading investigative journalist without reference to her past involvement in the anti-Semitic UNA-UNSO, was named chair of the government’s anti-corruption committee”
“Dmytro Bulatov, known for his alleged kidnapping by police, but also with UNA-UNSO connections, was appointed minister of youth and sports.”
http://www.globalresearch.ca/the-u-s-has-installed-a-neo-nazi-government-in-ukraine/5371554
Here’s why Chechnya is different from Crimea Craig.
http://vineyardsaker.blogspot.com/2011/02/will-muslim-world-ever-show-enough.html
[quote] This is my big beef with the Chechens. Not their desire for independence. Actually, as claims for a historical right for independence go, the Chechen one was, in comparison to many others made in the former USSR, one of the most historically credible ones: unlike other peoples in the Caucasus, the Chechens have always resisted the Russian Empire, and while all the big cities in the Chechen plains were built by Russian Cossacks (including Grozny), the mountainous regions of Chechnia have always belonged to the Chechen nation. Simply put – the Russian presence in Chechnia has no other explanation then Russian imperialism and the Chechen desire for independence can only be considered as natural and just.
No, the reason why I feel no sympathy at all for the Chechens is that from day one of their independence movement, they managed to be lead by truly evil thugs, cynical and bloodthirsty gang leaders with no sense of even basic human decency, truly the most vile and abject kind of human garbage ever produced by the Soviet society. All the Chechen leaders, and I do mean *all* of them, were truly monsters and yet the Chechen society naively thought that it could be lead by such people and not reap the consequences. Not only that, but for several years a very large part of the Chechen population actually enjoyed the orgy of lawlessness and violence that overtook Chechnia. Initially the victims were mostly ethnic Russians (and especially the Cossacks which the Chechens always feared and hated). But soon enough the lawlessness turned all of Chechnia into what can only be called a “black hole”. Eventually, of course, the Chechens reaped what they had themselves sown.
I know for a fact that times when Russian military commanders, when confronted by Chechen crowds complaining about the destruction of their villages by the Russian military, replied: “Look, I am from Siberia and I miss my home. I hate this place and I would leave as soon as possible if I did not have to clean up the mess that you created. Where were you when many thousands people were kidnapped, murdered, tortured on video and in public squares, raped, when slaves were sold on open markets in central Grozny, when hundreds of innocents were held in zindans and when bandits were running your republic? It is because of you – the so-called ‘innocent Chechens’ – that I am here and that my men will have to eliminate all the thugs and murderers which you allowed to prosper and flourish in your society. If you could not clean your own mess, then shut up and don’t complain if we do it now!”
And you know what? I fully agree with that.
Yes, a lot of innocent Chechens died, and a lot of innocent Chechens lost their dwellings. But at the core – it’s their own fault. Call it karma if you want, or call it historical justice, but a society is responsible for the consequences of letting crazed murderers rule it. This is fundamentally true of the Germans before and during WWII, and it is true for the Chechens today.[/quote]
Details are sketchy here, but if the report is true, the Russian side has just dangerously upped the stakes-
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26424738#
If the Ukrainian forces are outnumbered and outgunned, why set a deadline for surrender ? The Russian forces who seized Pristina airport in the Kosovo conflict in 1999 were simply cut off from any sources of re-supply, and soon had no alternative but to hand the airport over to NATO forces.
Meanwhile if Tsar Vladimir the Terrible wants to come up with a legal justifiction for invading/liberating Crimea and possibly East and South mainland Ukraine what argument might he come up with?
If I were him I might try this:
“The sole remaining legal representative in the Ukraine is President Yanukovich according to the Ukranian constitution. Yanukovitch has neither resigned nor been impeached. What’s happened is a coup with neo Nazi armed insurgents doing the heavy lifting. Thus, if President Yanokovich requests Russian military assistance to protect Ukranian nationals under existential threat from a cadre of anti-russian and anti-semitic Ukrainian nationalists who have gained significant influence in this coup d’etat, then this is not a Russian invasion, but an invitation of Russian forces into the Ukraine.
Kiev either has the means to control the fascists but chooses not to or it does not have control of them, either way they are failing by their own measure to uphold the security of Ukranian citizens in the East and South of Ukraine. Russian intervention is therefore not being used to overthrow the regime in Kiev, but to protect. This is R2P – Responsibility to Protect as requested by the President of the Ukraine”
Yanukovitch is safely in Russian custody just as King James II was in French custody after 1688. No doubt Tsar Vladimir could persuade Yanukovitch to issue such a “request” in return for safe asylum in Russia and maybe a financial payoff for him and his “family”
Alternatively Vlad the Hammer could simply quote the Kosovo precedent. Yes the 1999 war can be justified as humanitarian intevention but the independence of Kosovo in 2007 was blatantly illegal. It should have remained an autonomous province within Serbia. When the West recognised Kosovan independence it was setting a very dangerous precedent that has come back to bite us as I predicted it would at the time.
Vlad the Hammer can say “Shocking isn’t it my invading a sovereign state. Only the West is allowed to do that! I am shocked, shocked to discover that there is gambling in this establishment!”
ESLO 3 Mar, 2014 – 3:57 pm
Yes thanks for that. I didn’t even know about propiska. They issued us with propooski in 1982 (which can apparently pluralise as propooska). What is most interesting is that one of these near synonyms is feminine (propiska) and the other masculine (propoosk). Ah well, the joys of language.
Craig
Thank you for another good theme, but please do be careful – you are really living dangerously and worse – sorry, I really mean better – endangering the lives of many who usually support you: as you know, people can and do die of apoplexy.
Having said that, I encourage you to stand your ground the FCO couldn’t break you and the tiny rages of many of these smelly little orthodox leftists will not do so either.
The ‘ultimatum’ reported by the Beeb in the link I gave at 5.10 has elicited a Russian denial-
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-03-03/russia-denies-it-has-given-ukraine-ultimatum-calls-it-utter-nonsense
If THIS report is true, the Beeb were shamefully acting as FCO stenographers in the previous report.
Curiouser and curiouser.
The BBC are still saying it Old Mark. Top headline on front page.
3 March 2014 Last updated at 16:52
Russia demands surrender of Ukraine’s Crimea forces
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-26424738
~~~
Of course there is a direct line through from No 10.
Off topic.
Monday 3rd March ~ BBC4 10:30pm till midnight
5 Broken Cameras is an intimate documentary filmed by a Palestinian father at the start of his youngest son’s life; the filming continues as his cameras are progressively broken as he and fellow villagers struggle against the brutal encroachment of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. It is compelling viewing. See it and know what is really happening in our lifetimes.
BBC News Channel has carried the Russian denial of surrender ultimatum. However some journalists claim they heard the surrender demand over loudspeakers at the navy base. Another claim says it wasn’t over the loudspeakers it was a surrender demand over the radio. Elsewhere on another forum someone claims that it was a radio transmission from Cyprus pretending to be from Russian forces. Lots of contradictory versions of the story.
“Russia’s speaker of parliament has said it is currently “not necessary” to launch military action in Ukraine. His comment came as Russia’s Black Sea Fleet denied it had given Ukrainian forces an ultimatum to surrender.”
http://www.dw.de/russia-no-need-currently-for-military-action-in-ukraine/a-17470118
Not quite Iraq or Libya.
“it had issued a deadline with the threat of an assault, according to Interfax, who had originally been quoting an unnamed Ukrainian official.”
That old trick.
http://www.dw.de/russia-no-need-currently-for-military-action-in-ukraine/a-17470118
OrwellianUK
Personally I have no problem with the Ukraine breaking up, if regions genuinely want to secede (and are not under Russian military occupation when they make the decision).
But I am not sure Putin wants that. The remaining Ukraine, most of it, would then be solidly anti-Russian and probably a NATO member in a decade. Personally I think internationally supervised referenda on their status in the several provinces ought to be the way forward – but I don’t think that is Putin’s idea at all.
Robert
You acknowledge the justice of Chechnya’s right to independence, but then deny it because they are led by bloodthirsty thugs.
Err – we were led by Tony Blair. Vastly more blood on his hands than on those of any Chechens. So do you hate us too? It is a mistake to blame people for their leaders. Political leaders are almost always bastards. Ordinary people are always almost nice. That sums up what I have learnt in my lifetime rather neatly.
Why Yanukovitch is still the lawful President of Ukraine
http://blog.fluenthistorian.com/2014/02/22/yanukovych-legally-still-is-president-of-ukraine/
Obviously law and morality are two different things but take a look at some of the Orange neo Nazis behind this coup.
More fascist appointments to the Kiev govt:
“Svoboda Party members have temporarily been appointed to the posts of Vice Prime Minister, Minister of Education, Minister of Agrarian Policy and Food Supplies, and Minister of Ecology and Natural Resources.”
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/03/03/the-dark-side-of-the-ukraine-revolt/
http://un.ua/eng/article/494729.html
Nobody in my (100% anti-imperialist) left wing circles supports the Russian aggression, Craig. Don’t be misled by the increasingly embarrassing STW leadership and a few people on the internet. They don’t speak for all of us.
Herbie,
Thanks, I am convinced. Very unpleasant people – rather similar to those who have been in power in Hungary.
Robert, as I have said before, revolutions are illegal, that’s rather the point. But what it does not give is outside powers the right to invade.