|
2 members (NOVAByz, 1 invisible),
566
guests, and
64
robots. |
|
Key:
Admin,
Global Mod,
Mod
|
|
|
Forums26
Topics35,420
Posts416,920
Members6,049
| |
Most Online3,380
Dec 29th, 2019
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 845
Member
|
Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 845 |
Andriju:
If by "fair elections" you mean that the common miner or factory worker in the Eastern regions will be given access to truthful media reports of which candidate stands for what, I agree.
The problem is that the common-folk in the Eastern regions still function under Soviet-style brain-washing that the West and Western-leaning reformers such as Yushchenko and Tymoshenko are bad and that all we/they want to do is take away their salaries and pensions.
Still, how go the oligarchs, so will go the Eastern Ukrainian sepratist movement. Already Pinchuk (Kuchma's son-in-law) and others have said that separating would be unacceptable.
Personally, I think that they are businessmen and that, as businessmen, they realize that their power would be crushed under Putin's Russia.
However, Yushchenko, as a former Central Banker, is astute enough to know that the Ukrainian economy as a whole could not survive without these oligarchs' cooperation - and the obligarchs know this, too.
Making a deal with the devil, you say? Maybe, so, but the ends just might justify the means.
Разом нас багато, і нас не подолати!
hal
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 542
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 542 |
Originally posted by Halychanyn:
JW:
Actually, I think the Putin government's biggest "problem" is that the Russian people will take a cue from their Ukrainian neighbors and toss out the corrupt government when the next round of elections come around.
Разом нас багато, і нас не подолати.
hal Well put. Thank you. I have nothing orange to wear!!! I need to find something!! This is because orange is one of the colors of the Cleveland Browns of the NFL. I live near Pittsburgh, home of the Steelers. We despise the Browns and their colors, so it is hard to find orange here. However, I will make the effort.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 287
Junior Member
|
|
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 287 |
An objective reading would be appreciated.
JoeS
UKRAINE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 � SECOND ROUND:
PRELIMINARY STATEMENT
24 November 2004
The British Helsinki Human Rights Group (BHHRG) sent observers to the
second round of the presidential election in Ukraine on 21st November 2004.
BHHRG monitored the election in the city and district of Kiev, Chernigov, and
Transcarpathia. Counts were observed in central Kiev and Uzhgorod.
Contrary to the condemnations issued by the team of professional politicians
and diplomats deployed by the OSCE mainly from NATO and EU states, the
BHHRG observers did not see evidence of government-organized fraud nor of
suppression of opposition media. Improbably high votes for Prime Minister,
Viktor Yanukovich, have been reported from south-eastern Ukraine but less
attention has been given to the 90% pro-Yushchenko results declared in
western Ukraine.
Although Western media widely claimed that in Ukraine the opposition was,
in effect, excluded from the broadcast media, particularly in western Ukraine
the opposite was the case. On the eve of the poll � in flagrant violation of the
law banning propaganda for candidates � a series of so-called �social
information� advertisements showing well-known pop stars like Eurovision
winner Ruslana wearing the orange symbols of Mr Yushchenko�s candidacy
and urging people to vote appeared on state television!
Although BHHRG did not encounter blatant violations in either the first or second
rounds, the Group�s observers were alarmed by a palpable change in the
atmosphere inside the polling stations in central Ukraine in particular. In Round 1,
a relaxed and orderly mood prevailed throughout the day. In Round 2 the situation
had become slightly tense and chaotic. In BHHRG�s observation the change in
Round 2 was attributable primarily to an overabundance of local observers, who
exercised undue influence over the process and in some instances were an
intimidating factor. The vast majority of observers in the polling stations visited
were representatives of Viktor Yushchenko.
Transparent ballot boxes meant that these observers could frequently see
how people had voted. This OSCE-approved innovation made intimidation of voters
for the more unpopular candidate in any district easier since few supporters of
the minority would wish it to be seen how they had voted.
Ukraine�s election law allows only candidates and political parties, not non-
governmental organizations, to deploy observers. However, observers can be
deployed in the guise of journalists. For example, the Western-sponsored
Committee of Voters of Ukraine (KVU) � clearly sympathetic to the opposition �
deployed observers throughout Ukraine as �correspondents� for the
organization�s newspaper, <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Tochka Zora. On 31st October, BHHRG did not
encounter any representatives of this newspaper anywhere, but on
21st November such journalist-observers were highly visible in central Ukraine.
In Chernigov 11/208, for example, all 6 journalist-observers represented
opposition newspapers and one, for <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Tochka Zora, stood very close to the
ballot boxes and closely inspected how votes were cast. Because ballot
papers in Round 2 were much smaller than in Round 1 and were not
placed in envelopes before insertion into the transparent ballot boxes,
secrecy of the ballot was compromised. In this case, the immediate
impression was that a young <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Tochka Zora correspondent exercised more
control over the process than the election commission chairman himself.
In Chernigov (7/208), all 7 journalist-observers represented opposition
newspapers, in some cases simply temporary campaign publications such
as the pro-Yushchenko propaganda paper <I style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal">Tak � his election slogan �Yes.� In
a scene exemplary of the mood of voting on November 21st, BHHRG watched a
nervous looking old woman emerge from a voting booth, approach the three
opposition observers sitting directly behind the ballot boxes, and ask: �Have
I filled out the ballot correctly?� An observer inspected the ballot, saw it was filled
in for Viktor Yushchenko, and replied: �Yes.� The woman�s unfolded ballot was
plainly visible in the transparent ballot box.
Such groups of opposition journalist/observers were not in evidence in the
Transcarpathian region visited by BHHRG�s observers. Exit pollsters in
Mukachevo admitted to being Yushchenko supporters and were carrying out
their poll in a simplistic manner � asking every twentieth voter for their choice
without categorizing by age, class, etc. 40% of voters refused to say how they
had voted, but 80% of the remainder said that they had backed Yushchenko.
The exit polls were clearly not scientific � less so even than the ones predicting
Kerry trouncing George W. Bush in Florida and Ohio!
In a polling station attached to Uzhgorod�s university a group of young, male
Yushchenko observers hung around the entrance to the polling room and next to
the ballot box. OSCE guidelines condemn the presence of such un-authorised
personnel. The commission chairman in this polling station stated that four
members of the election commission had prevented observers for Mr. Yushenko
from fulfilling their tasks leading to the intervention of lawyers. When this
accusation was put to other members of the commission they appeared dumb-
founded and said no such incident had taken place. The chairman appeared
shocked that the BHHRG observers sought to confirm his detailed account
of the misbehaviour of some of his colleagues by asking other witnesses, but
no proper observation should accept allegations unquestioningly.
Conclusion:
Whatever may have been the case in south-eastern Ukraine, it was clear to this
Group�s observers in central Ukraine and western Ukraine that the opposition
exercised near complete control. The broadcast media showed bias towards
Mr. Yushchenko in these areas, particularly in western Ukraine where Viktor
Yanukovich was invisible � not even being shown voting on polling day. It is
na�ve to think only the government had the facilities to exercise improper
influence over the polls. From what BHHRG observed, the opposition exercised
disproportionate control over the electoral process in many places, giving rise
to concerns that the opposition � not only the authorities � may have
committed violations and may have even falsified the vote in opposition-
controlled areas. So-called �administrative resources� in places visited by
BHHRG appeared to be in the hands of the opposition, not the Yanukovich
government, and this may have frightened voters. After all since Sunday,
police and security personnel in some western towns have declared their
loyalty to �president� Yushchenko.
The open bias of Western governments and their nominated observers in the
OSCE delegation, some of whom have appeared on opposition platforms,
makes it unreasonable to rely on its report.
In spite of these specific concerns, BHHRG finds no reason to believe that
the final result of the 2004 presidential election in Ukraine was not generally
representative of genuine popular will. The election featured a genuine choice
of candidates, active pre-election campaigns, and high voter participation. It is
clear that Ukrainian opinion was highly polarized. That meant many people
backing a losing candidate would find it difficult to accept a defeat. Foreigners
should not encourage civil conflict because the candidate on whom they have
lavished expensive support turned out to be a loser.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 845
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 845 |
Joe: Consider the following: British Helsinki Human Rights Group From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The British Helsinki Human Rights Group, often abbreviated to the British Helsinki Group, is an Oxford-based non-governmental organization which monitors human rights in the 57 member states of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. The BHHRG was founded in 1992. It became a registered charity in the United Kingdom (number 1041472) in 1994 and its trustees are listed as being Mark Almond (its chairman), Anthony Daniels, John Laughland and Mary Walsh. Christine Stone, a lawyer-turned-journalist, was a co-founder. Despite its name, it is not an official Helsinki Committee; the United Kingdom's official Helsinki Committee is the British Helsinki Subcommittee of the Parliamentary Human Rights Group, which was established in 1976. The "About us" page on the BHHRG web site (as of 28 September 2004) neither states anything about the historical background of the Helsinki Committee nor does it make any attempt to clarify the relationship between itself and the Helsinki Committee. This apparently deliberate confusion has prompted the International Helsinki Federation to publicly disclaim any connection with the BHHRG and has led others to accuse the BHHRG of "nam[ing] itself so as to usurp the prestige of its elder". [1] ( http://www.ukar.org/barcla/barcla01.html) The BHHRG has a policy of only publishing reports from first-hand observers, concentrating particularly on election monitoring in the OSCE countries. It has been criticised by other human rights activists and genuine Helsinki Committees for publishing views which are markedly at odds with the generally accepted picture of affairs in Europe. For instance: it condemned the November 2003 revolution in Georgia as a coup d'etat; it has strongly criticised Western support for the Serbian opposition to Slobodan Milosevic; it has claimed that elections in Belarus have met democratic standards; it has published an unsigned essay supporting Russian President Vladimir Putin and the Russian authorities' actions in the Beslan hostage crisis; and it has recently spoken in support of the Ukrainian government in the disputed Ukrainian presidential election, 2004, claiming that "it finds no reason to believe that the final result of the 2004 presidential election in Ukraine was not generally representative of genuine popular will" � a view markedly at odds with independent observers of the election. The BHHRG has been subjected to particularly strong criticism in the Czech Republic for claiming that the country's Roma population do not suffer discrimination, a proposition which very few observers accept. A Roma member of the Czech parliament, Monika Horakova, published an open letter in 1999 condemning the BHHRG's claims: I had thought that the Helsinki Group was a non-partisan body interested in exposing and helping to solve human rights abuses in the world. This report caused me to question my previously held beliefs. However, I have since learned that the BHHRG has no connection to the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights in Vienna. It is a disgrace that the BHHRG is using the good Helsinki name to mislead the public into thinking that their racist propaganda is somehow affiliated with the well-respected Helsinki Group. [2] ( http://www.pili.org/lists/piln/archives/msg00344.html) On the other hand, the BHHRG has also identified a number of genuine human rights problems in many of the former communist countries, on occasion identifying issues that Western governments have found it politically expedient to overlook. The membership and political orientation of the BHHRG is somewhat obscure. Its trustees include a number of prominent right-wing British Eurosceptics (notably the Oxford academic Mark Almond and political commentator John Laughland), which perhaps explains the slant of some of the BHHRG's views. A common theme in many of its reports has been a critical view of perceived Western "meddling in the internal affairs" of central and east European countries, notably Yugoslavia (now Serbia and Montenegro) and Belarus. Many of its reports refer to the "New World Order" [3] (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=%22New+World+Order%22+site%3Abhhrg.org&btnG=Google+Search), which suggests that the BHHRG is ideologically allied with far-right groups such as the John Birch Society which oppose the activities of multinational organisations such as the UN and OSCE on the grounds that they are steps towards a "world government". The group has recently begun using the name OSCEwatch, implying that it sees part of its mission as scrutinising the activities of the OSCE. The BHHRG's sources of funding are obscure; according to its published accounts, it received �417,332 in income between 1997-2003 and spent �449,086 in the same timeframe. Although its website ostensibly solicits donations, no information is given on how to donate to the group, nor is any information on its income and expenditure given.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 845
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 845 |
So, let's see...
Their name is a deliberate attempt to mislead,
The REAL Helsinki Committe has disavowed any connection to them,
Other recognized human rights groups have been highly critical of what they say,
(My personal favorite) They said that the Belarus elections were free and fair,
and, finally... no one knows where their money comes from.
In short, Joe, if you want to post a contrary view, please cite a credible source.
Oh, and lest I forget:
Разом нас багато -- нас не подолати!
hal
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 287
Junior Member
|
|
Junior Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 287 |
WOW, I GUESS I LEARNED MY LESSON.
JoeS Heh
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 2,941
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 2,941 |
And presumably you've seen this expose, JoeS: PR man to Europe's nastiest regimes
David Aaronovitch
Tuesday November 30, 2004
The Guardian
Whenever, as this past week, eastern Europe is on the news, so too is a man called John Laughland. Last Sunday he was playing Ukrainian expert on the BBC's The World This Weekend, the day before he was here in the Guardian defending the Ukrainian election "result", and at the beginning of the month he was writing for the Spectator - also on Ukraine.... http://www.guardian.co.uk/ukraine/story/0,15569,1362616,00.html
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,461 Likes: 1
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 7,461 Likes: 1 |
Разом нас багато Разом нас багато Разом нас багато I heard the hip-hop version of that tonight on BBC World Service (they played it for at least a minute straight) tonight and it's stuck in my head. My kids have been singing it all evening.  The BBC also reported that the referendum in Donetsk will be delayed, possibly even a year.
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,177
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,177 |
Originally posted by Diak: I heard the hip-hop version of that tonight on BBC World Service (they played it for at least a minute straight) tonight and it's stuck in my head. My kids have been singing it all evening. This song can be downloaded from the site I posted ealier.  Разом нас багато - нас не подолати
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,177
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: Jul 2002
Posts: 1,177 |
Originally posted by JoeS:
An objective reading would be appreciated.
JoeS
UKRAINE PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION 2004 � SECOND ROUND:
The British Helsinki Human Rights Group (BHHRG) sent observers to the ... I was going to do a point by point response to this, but I think I've found a simpler way... In spite of these specific concerns, BHHRG finds no reason to believe that the final result of the 2004 presidential election in Ukraine was not generally representative of genuine popular will. The election featured a genuine choice of candidates, active pre-election campaigns, and high voter participation. It is clear that Ukrainian opinion was highly polarized. That meant many people backing a losing candidate would find it difficult to accept a defeat. Foreigners should not encourage civil conflict because the candidate on whom they have lavished expensive support turned out to be a loser. This could almost be a translation of the report of the CIS observers from both rounds of the election (the majority coming from Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus). They had an agenda. Joe, do you? BTW, did Bob Tallick ask you to copy this from OC.net and post it here? Ні - брехні!
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 10,090 Likes: 15
Global Moderator Member
|
|
Global Moderator Member
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 10,090 Likes: 15 |
Exhortation of the Ecumenical Patriarch to the Ukrainian People The Great Church of Christ, The Ecumenical Patriarchate, since the reception of the Orthodox Faith from Constantinople under the Saintly Prince Volodymyr, has been always solicitous about her Ukrainian Children. The Mother Church has never abandoned her Ukrainians, but always through prayer stood ready to facilitate their unshakable faith and bond to the true Orthodoxy. We are aware of the turmoil that the independent nation is experiencing today and we are praying to the Almighty that, peace, justice and truth prevail among the Ukrainian people, and that they will continue to develop their newly gained independence among other free nations in peace, prosperity, justice and well being for all its citizens. The Patriarchal Exhortation to the Ukrainian People [ worldlingo.com]
"One day all our ethnic traits ... will have disappeared. Time itself is seeing to this. And so we can not think of our communities as ethnic parishes, ... unless we wish to assure the death of our community."
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,595 Likes: 1
Member
|
|
OP
Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,595 Likes: 1 |
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4057213.stm Ukraine MPs vote down government
There were emotional scenes in parliament after the vote
Ukraine's parliament has passed a no-confidence motion in Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych as a crisis over the disputed presidential poll continues.
MPs narrowly backed an opposition bid to dismiss Mr Yanukovych and his government on grounds of mismanagement. there is still a long way to go before all is settled It is my understanding that there have already been attempts to remove some incriminating papers from the parliament buildings. [ To be honest that would not surprise me under similar circumstances in any other country] Anhelyna
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 3
Junior Member
|
|
Junior Member
Joined: May 2004
Posts: 3 |
Only sleepwalkers believe in fairytale revolutions
December 1, 2004
The Western media has again fallen for the dubious propaganda of US stooges in Ukraine, writes John Laughland.
There was a time when the left was in favour of revolution, while the right stood unambiguously for the authority of the state. Not any more. This week two British newspapers - the anti-Iraq war Independent and the pro-Iraq war Telegraph - excitedly announced a "revolution" in Ukraine, while in the US the right-wing Washington Times welcomed "the people versus the power".
Whether it is Albania in 1997, Serbia in 2000, Georgia last November or Ukraine now, our media regularly peddle the same fairytale about how youthful demonstrators manage to bring down an authoritarian regime simply by attending a rock concert in a central square.
Two million anti-war demonstrators can stream though the streets of London and be politically ignored, but a few tens of thousands in Kiev are proclaimed to be "the people", while the Ukrainian police, courts and governmental institutions are discounted as instruments of oppression.
The Western imagination is so gripped by its mythology of popular revolution that we have become dangerously tolerant of blatant double standards in reporting. Enormous rallies have been held in Kiev in support of the Prime Minister, Viktor Yanukovich, but they are not shown on our TV screens: if their existence is admitted, Yanukovich supporters are denigrated as having been "bussed in".
AdvertisementAdvertisement
The demonstrations in favour of Viktor Yushchenko have laser lights, plasma screens, sophisticated sound systems, rock concerts, tents to camp in and huge quantities of orange clothing; yet we happily dupe ourselves that they are spontaneous.
We are told that a 96 per cent turnout in Donetsk, the home town of Yanukovich, is proof of electoral fraud. But apparently turnouts of over 80 per cent in areas which support Yushchenko are not. Nor are votes for Yushchenko of well over 90 per cent in three regions, which Yanukovich achieved only in two.
And whereas Yanukovich was officially credited with 54 per cent of the vote, the Western-backed President of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, officially polled 96.24 per cent of the vote in January. The observers who now denounce the Ukrainian election welcomed that result in Georgia, saying that it "brought the country closer to meeting international standards".
The blindness extends even to the posters which the "pro-democracy" group Pora has plastered all over Ukraine, depicting a jackboot crushing a beetle, an allegory of what Pora wants to do to its opponents.
Such dehumanisation of enemies has well-known antecedents - not least in Nazi-occupied Ukraine, when pre-emptive war was waged against the Red Plague emanating from Moscow - yet these posters have passed without comment.
Pora continues to be presented as an innocent band of students having fun in spite of the fact that - like its sister organisations in Serbia and Georgia, Otpor and Kmara - Pora is an organisation created and financed by Washington.
It gets worse. Plunging into the crowd of Yushchenko supporters in Independence Square after the first round of the election, I met two members of Una-Unso, a neo-Nazi party whose emblem is a swastika. They were unembarrassed about their allegiance, perhaps because last year Yushchenko and his allies stood up for the Socialist party newspaper, Silski Visti, after it ran an anti-Semitic article claiming Jews had invaded Ukraine alongside the German army in 1941.
On September 19, 2004, Yushchenko's ally, Alexander Moroz, told JTA-Global Jewish News: "I have defended Silski Visti and will continue to do so. I personally think the argument ... citing 400,000 Jews in the SS is incorrect, but I am not in a position to know all the facts."
Yushchenko, Moroz and their oligarch ally, Yulia Tymoshenko, cited a court order closing the paper as evidence of the Government's desire to muzzle the media. In any other country, support for anti-Semites would be shocking; in this case, our media do not even mention it.
Voters in Britain and the US have witnessed their governments lying brazenly about Iraq for over a year in the run-up to war, and with impunity. This is an enormous dysfunction in our so-called democratic system.
Our tendency to paint political fantasies on to countries such as Ukraine, and to present the West as a fairy godmother swooping in to save the day, is not only a way to salve a guilty conscience about our political shortcomings. It also blinds us to the reality of continued brazen Western intervention in the democratic politics of other countries.
The Guardian
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 2,941
Member
|
|
Member
Joined: May 2002
Posts: 2,941 |
Since our man who claims to be from Lvov Russia gives a Guardian article by the aptly named Laughland, I post in full the Guardian article aabout Laughland that I only linked to above. PR man to Europe's nastiest regimes
David Aaronovitch
Tuesday November 30, 2004
The Guardian
Whenever, as this past week, eastern Europe is on the news, so too is a man called John Laughland. Last Sunday he was playing Ukrainian expert on the BBC's The World This Weekend, the day before he was here in the Guardian defending the Ukrainian election "result", and at the beginning of the month he was writing for the Spectator - also on Ukraine.
Laughland's great strength is that he sees what no one else in the west seems to. Where reporters in Kiev, including the Guardian's own Nick Paton-Walsh, encounter a genuine democracy movement, Laughland comes across "neo-Nazis" (Guardian), or "druggy skinheads from Lvov" (Spectator). And where most observers report serious and specific instances of electoral fraud and malpractice on the part of the supporters of the current prime minister, Laughland complains only of a systematic bias against (the presumably innocent) Mr Yanukovich.
A quick trawl establishes this to be the Laughland pattern over the past few years and concerning several countries. Laughland has variously queried the idea that human rights are a problem in Belarus, or that the Serbs behaved so very savagely in Kosovo. He has defended Slobodan Milosevic, criticised the International Tribunal in the Hague and generally argued that the problem in countries normally associated with human rights abuses is, in fact, the intervention of western agencies.
It was the British Helsinki Human Rights Group hat that he was wearing last Sunday. On its website the BHHRG - of which Laughland is a trustee - describes itself as a non-governmental organisation which monitors human rights in the 57 member states of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe. Laughland is listed as a trustee, the historian Mark Almond (to be found writing about the Ukraine in last week's New Statesman) is its chairman.
Advertiser links
Bell+Howell 6.0 Megapixel Digital Camera
Super advanced Bell+Howell 6.0 mega pixel camera features 4X...
thpsales.com
HP Digital Cameras for Every Occasion
Find digital cameras for every use and occasion from HP. Get...
hp.com
All Digital Cameras at Shopping.com
Find, compare and access links to buy products in categories...
shopping.com
Founded in 1992, the BHHRG sends observers to elections and writes reports which - along Laughlandish lines - almost invariably dispute the accounts given by better known human rights organisations. This stance has led to the BHHRG being criticised by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights (established in 1976) as preferring "the role [is to take] PR flak for a new breed of authoritarian rulers in Europe" to the business of actually monitoring abuses.
So what on earth is going on here? I know nothing about BHHRG's finances, but the ideological trail is fascinating. Take the co-founder of the group, Christine Stone. She was a lawyer before she helped set up BHHRG. Since then she has "written for a number of publications including the Spectator and Wall Street Journal on eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union".
This information comes from a US website called Antiwar.com where, for a while, Stone had a regular Thursday column. But Antiwar.com was not a leftwing site opposing the Iraq war. It was a rightwing site set up to oppose the Kosovo intervention in 1999. Its "editorial director" was a man called Justin Raimondo who was active in the small US Libertarian party before joining the Republican party. In the 1992, 1996 and 2000 elections he supported the campaigns of Pat Buchanan, the far-right isolationist candidate.
Raimondo is also an "adjunct scholar" with the Ludwig von Mises Institute. This is a libertarian think-tank in Auburn, Alabama, founded by one Lew Rockwell, who describes himself as "an opponent of the central state, its wars and its socialism". A contributor to Rockwell's own site is Daniel McAdams, who is - in his own words "honoured to be associated" with the British Helsinki Human Rights Group.
Trail 2. Laughland is also European Director of the European Foundation (patron, Mrs M Thatcher), which - judging by its website - seems to spend most of its time and energy sending out pamphlets by arch-Europhobe Bill Cash. A synopsis of one of Laughland's own books, however, notes his argument that, "Post-national structures ... and supranational organisations such as the European Union - are ... corrosive of liberal values (and) the author shows the ideology as a crucial core of Nazi economic and political thinking."
Beginning to get the picture now? Trail 3 leads us to Sanders Research Associates, a "risk consultancy" for which Laughland is, according to their website, "a regular contributor" and to which companies can subscribe for information and advice. The "principal" is a Chris Sanders. The kind of steer Sanders gives his customers can be adduced from this report on the morning of the US presidential election. "We will be very surprised," he wrote, "if on Wednesday John Kerry has not won a clear majority of electoral college votes and that his supporters are not nursing substantial post vote celebration hangovers, if not still drinking the champagne."
Lots of people got that one wrong, and some blamed their own judgment. Not Sanders. "Our bet," he says following the results, "is that we will soon be adding an investigation into the biggest vote fraud in history.'"
Sanders, it seems, is not beyond the odd bit of conspiracising. In a bulletin from June 2002 he also has something to suggest about the Twin Towers atrocity. "It was obvious then, and it is obvious now," he writes, "that something besides the brilliance of a band of terrorists or the incompetence of America's security apparatus was responsible for the disaster of 9/11." But he doesn't tell us what that "something" was.
Sanders on America and Laughland on Ukraine, however, are not the most amazing features of Sanders Research Associates. That distinction belongs to the report on Rwanda written for Sanders by a Canadian lawyer named Chris Black. Black is the only person I have ever seen putting the word genocide in quotation marks when applied to Rwanda. Rwanda, you see, was all the US's fault, and wasn't carried out by Hutus in any case. It was all got up to justify US intervention in the region. He condemns the "demonising (of) the Hutu leadership".
Since 2000 Black has been the lead counsel representing General Augustin Ndindiliyimana, chief of staff of the Rwandan gendarmerie, at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. He is also chair of the legal committee for the international committee for the defence of Slobodan Milosevic. Last year (though not for Sanders) Black went on a delegation to North Korea. The report he wrote on his return is full of references to happy peasants, committed soldiers and delightful guides. The North Korean system, he suggested, being "participatory", was in many ways more democratic than parliamentary systems in the west.
This is weird company. And what we seem to have in Laughland and his associates is a group of right-wing anti-state libertarians and isolationists, suspicious of any foreign entanglements, who have somehow morphed into apologists for the worst regimes and most appalling dictators on the planet.
And where does it all end up? A couple of weeks ago Sanders commended to his clients "John Laughland's series of articles [showing that] the attack on Iraq is just the southern offensive of a larger campaign to tighten the noose on Russia." And he continued, "What is less well understood are the risks that the unravelling political compact in Israel poses for the United States and Great Britain, whose political processes, intelligence services, military, media and financial establishments are so thoroughly enmeshed with Israel's."
Read that last sentence again and then ask yourself: in what way are Britain's media and financial interests "thoroughly enmeshed" with Israel's?
|
|
|
|
|
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,595 Likes: 1
Member
|
|
OP
Member
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 6,595 Likes: 1 |
DJM Taken from http://www.cvk.gov.ua/wp300ept001f01=501 the results of the poll on 21 November were
Victor Yanukovych 49.46% 15093691 votes in total
Victor Yuschenko 46.61% 14222289 votes in totalIn the article which you quoted was And whereas Yanukovich was officially credited with 54 per cent of the vote, Now if they cannot quote accurate figures from the government source are we really supposed to believe the rest of the article ? Anhelyna - whose address on this Site is accurate
|
|
|
|
|
