Leave Ukraine Alone!
Last week Ukraine saw its worst
violence since the break-up of the Soviet Union over 20 years ago. Protesters
occupying the main square in the capitol city, Kiev, clashed with police
leaving many protesters and police dead and many more wounded. It is an ongoing
tragedy and it looks like there is no end in sight.
The current conflict stems from a
divide between western Ukraine, which seeks a closer association with the
European Union, and the eastern part of the country, which has closer historic
ties to Russia.
The usual interventionists in the US
have long meddled in the internal affairs of Ukraine. In 2003 it was US
government money that helped finance the Orange Revolution, as US-funded NGOs
favoring one political group over the other were able to change the regime.
These same people have not given up on Ukraine. They keep pushing their own
agenda for Ukraine behind the scenes, even as they ridicule anyone who claims
US involvement.
A
recent leaked telephone conversation between two senior government officials
made it clear that not only was the US involved in the Ukrainian unrest, the US
was actually seeking to determine who should make up the next Ukrainian
government!
Senator
John McCain, who has made several trips to Ukraine recently to meet with the
opposition, wrote
last week that the US must stand up to support the territorial integrity of
Ukraine, including Crimea.
Why
are US government officials so eager to tell the Ukrainians what they should
do? Has anyone bothered to ask the Ukrainians? Perhaps the ongoing violence
could be alleviated if Ukrainians decided to re-make the country as a looser
confederation of regions. Perhaps Ukraine engaged in peaceful trade with
countries both to the west and east would benefit all sides. But outside powers
seem to be fighting a proxy war, with Ukraine suffering the most because of it.
If
you asked most Americans how they feel, my bet is that you would discover they
are sick and tired of the US government getting involved in every crisis that
arises. Certainly the American people want none of of this intervention in
Ukraine. They understand, as recent polls have shown, that our interventionist
foreign policy is only creating more enemies overseas. And they also understand
that we are out of money. We could not afford to be the policemen of world even
if we wanted to be.
And
I bet if we asked the Ukrainians, a vast majority of them would prefer that the
US — and Russia and the European Union — stay out their affairs and respect
their sovereignty. Is it so difficult to understand why people resent being
lectured and bribed by foreign governments? All we need to do is put ourselves
in the place of the Ukrainians and ask ourselves how we would feel if we were
in the middle of a tug-of-war between a very strong Canada on one side and a
very strong Mexico on the other. We would resent it as well. So let’s keep our
hands off of Ukraine and let them solve their own problems!
Permission to reprint in whole or in part is gladly
granted, provided full credit is given.
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