And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
While John Kerry worries about non existent climate change....
The Ukraine ignites and burns. Is this not an important issue for our foreign policy people at State? I have an "aunt" in Kiev right now, so this is personal with me.
Ukraine is sharply divided between those who speak Ukranian and those who speak Russian. Western Ukraine wants to join with Western Europe. Northern Ukraine wants to join with the Russian Federation. It's a very complicated problem for a country that is rife with corruption (pay to play) and so many interests. I'm not giving the US a pass on their lack of interest in this. However, I suspect that it's difficult to know which faction to back because in Ukraine, there are different definitions of "freedom" depending on where you stand.
The most disturbing part of this is that the Ukrainian demonstrators are de facto anti-democracy. Their leader encourages lawless behavior. He and his supporters want a government change that was not voted by the majority of Ukrainians. Thus, they seek to nullify the election that brought Yanukovych to power and which international observers declared to be free and fair. It's complicated.
Ukraine is sharply divided between those who speak Ukranian and those who speak Russian. Western Ukraine wants to join with Western Europe. Northern Ukraine wants to join with the Russian Federation. It's a very complicated problem for a country that is rife with corruption (pay to play) and so many interests. I'm not giving the US a pass on their lack of interest in this. However, I suspect that it's difficult to know which faction to back because in Ukraine, there are different definitions of "freedom" depending on where you stand.
ReplyDeleteThe most disturbing part of this is that the Ukrainian demonstrators are de facto anti-democracy. Their leader encourages lawless behavior. He and his supporters want a government change that was not voted by the majority of Ukrainians. Thus, they seek to nullify the election that brought Yanukovych to power and which international observers declared to be free and fair. It's complicated.