Opposition Leader Yatsenyuk Slams U.S. Fed ‘Pyramid’

Are you guys sophisticated enough to hear this?

Opposition leader/former foreign minister Yatsenyuk: Same story with the United States, by the way. Although I enjoy talking with them very much, with all of them — they’re very sophisticated people, quite incredibly so, knowledgeable — to build such a financial pyramid, starting with Bretton Woods — only geniuses can do such a thing. Only geniuses. I mean, to get the whole world hooked on one shot, which is the U.S. dollar, and to print this dollar and to stock up on everything for nothing but paper — that's awesome. I have to admit, I don’t know how things will go from here, now that they’ve printed some 14 trillion.

Hope our guy doesn’t get his U.S. visa revoked. Because it looks like he and Lukashenka (who likes Obama, by the way) are on the same page on this dollar pyramid thing. (24:31-48:37)


 
No wonder some democracy folks already prefer the quid to the greenback. Will the Yanukovych folks “liaising” with Western reporters follow suit?
 
Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/user/YatsenyukLeaks

Obama Gives Yanukovych Thumbs Up

How about some IMF loans too?


I'll think about it. And keep up the good work, man!

Ukraine's uranium for US blindeyenium. Yes he can. He's proved his worth at the Nuclear Servility Summit in Seoul.

And he's not the only one.



Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/03/27/6961508/
http://president.gov.ua
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2012/03/27/6961502/

Putin: ‘I Would Eat Both Yanukovych And…Aaaand…’

Last year, a Russian news anchor called President Medvedev “Prime Minister of Russia.” Even more hilariously, he then called PM Putin by his previous job title: “President.”

As if in revenge, during his recent inspection of Kyiv, Putin degraded Yanukovych and even entertained the idea of cannibalizing him.

Putin: The price that...uh...that they rolled out at us — to me it was completely off the charts. For this amount of money, I would eat both Yanukovych and...aaaaaand your president combined. But...I really...but the money is just...no military base in the world is worth that much money. There’s no price like that.

Mr. Putin, do you have a name for that “president” of ours? Does he know you'd eat him along with Yanukovych?

Let me guess. You meant that bad guy Yushchenko, right? He’s not our president anymore! Besides, he still may have some dioxin left in him.

But if you want both Yushchenko and Yanukovych, be my guest.

Need an appetizer? Try Chicken Kiev Chicken Obama and his audaciously hopeful uranium-over-democracy sauce.

Hell, you can even digest this retro book of recipes:

Recently, I returned from a trip to Ukraine, where I had the opportunity to meet the nation's third president, Viktor Yushchenko. Since the country first broke away from the Soviet Union more than a decade earlier, Ukraine has been trying to forge its own identity and assert its own independence from Russia. This culminated earlier this year in the Orange Revolution, a mass demonstration from thousands of protestors who stood by Yushchenko and his promise to move his country further from the sphere of Russian influence.

President Yushchenko finally won. But today, Ukraine remains almost entirely dependent on - guess who -- Russia - for all it's oil and gas supplies. And it is widely expected that in anticipation of next year's parliamentary elections, Russia will triple the prices of both. Despite all the soaring rhetoric, the demonstrations and the courage, Ukraine still finds itself at the mercy of its former patron - a nation that can now influence every political and economic decision they make - all because of oil.

This will not be America's future - but this is the stranglehold that fossil fuels can have on a nation's freedom. Ukraine may have little choice in the matter. The most powerful and wealthy nation on earth, teeming with brilliant minds and cutting-edge technology, surely does. The genius of the American people has already shown us the path towards energy independence, now they're just waiting for their government to take them there. Let's finally get it done. Thank you.

Video uploaded from: http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/157424.html
Original source: http://tsn.ua

Citizen Diplomacy: A Ukrainian Citizen’s Look at U.S.-Ukrainian Relations

Dear Uncle Sam,

You care about your country. You care about denuclearizing everyone but yourself and your allies. You made it happen in Ukraine.

When my country gave up its nukes — the world’s third-largest arsenal — it didn’t happen in a referendum. It didn’t happen in a classroom. It happened in Kuchma’s bedroom.

You treasured my country’s ability to trade its national interests for nothing but IMF loans and some aid.

As you know, the loans did us no good and the aid fell short of delivering the results it did in Eastern Europe. After all, from your Moscowcentric point of view, Ukraine’s “fledgling democracy” didn’t belong in Europe. The State Department pigeonholed us into “Eurasia” (Non-West/Little Russia), a class from which we never really graduated.

Bottom line, you took advantage of Ukraine at a tender age.


Any idea what this map depicts?

In an ideal world, you should have kept your IMF loans/aid, and we should have kept some of our nukes. We should have developed in a different way politically, economically and militarily.

Hindsight is always 20/20. Now what about foresight?

By continuing to take advantage of Ukraine whenever you can, you’re turning friends of America into a scarce commodity here.

The more Ukraine gets raped at home and abroad, the more we Ukrainians will remember it. The more you support our corrupt leaders, the more we’ll resist it. And once the pendulum swings in our favor — in the Ukraine-first favor — we’ll try to do it right. We’ll try not to repeat the mistakes of the Orange era.

And you guys will try to defuse a stockpile of enriched anti-Western sentiment.

Photos:
http://durdom.in.ua/public/main/photos/photo_14753.jpg
http://durdom.in.ua/public/main/photos/photo_14743.jpg
http://durdom.in.ua/public/main/photos/photo_14746.jpg
http://durdom.in.ua/public/main/photos/photo_14786.jpg
http://durdom.in.ua/public/main/photos/photo_23589.jpg

Yanukovych Sells Out Ukraine’s Weapons-Grade Uranium

Ukraine (the world’s #1 pisseful nation) made headlines at the Nuclear Servility Summit.

After nuking Ukraine’s Constitution, President Yanukovych swapped a few bombs’ worth of enriched uranium for a sniff of support from Washington, plus change.

Who says free trade doesn’t work?









Some Ukrainian Americans (who obviously identify with Ukrainian culture but American interests) gave Yanukovych a warm welcome.

I don't blame you for praising the man's “чудові ідеї” (great ideas). After all, it’s a zero-sum game: You keep your nukes, we give up ours. You support our government, we suffer from it. You win, we lose.

That’s the way U.S.-Ukrainian relations work.

Videos/photos embedded/uploaded from:
http://images.unian.net/photos/2010_04/1271148989.jpg
http://for-ua.com/files/03-2_2010/pf78rhzt.jpg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3WolR-q08L4
http://tsn.ua/ukrayina/yanukovich-zustrivsya-z-obamoyu-u-vashingtoni.html
http://tsn.ua/svit/yanukovich-v-ssha-ne-znaishov-chasu-dlya-ukrayinskoyi-diaspori.html
http://kanalukraina.tv
http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/155809.html

Govt OKs Stalin Monument, Flirts With USSR 2

As Washington cautiously OKs our new government, that government OKs things that make some in Washington feel all the more cautious.

In Zaporizhia, local communists plan to erect a monument to Stalin.



That’s the same Stalin who killed millions of Ukrainians (and Russians, for that matter).

Vice PM Volodymyr Semynozhenko doesn’t object. After all, he supports a union of Russia, Ukraine and Belarus.




That’s an old idea championed by the Kremlin and shared by millions of elderly and Russified Ukrainians in and outside of our government.

Those who oppose the idea (such as the Belarusian ambassador to Russia, who supports a customs union only) can go where the sun don’t shine. The Kremlin doesn't mince words.



What's in it for Ukraine? No more silly borders issues. No more borders. No more Ukraine.




Meanwhile, Strobe Talbott tells Ukraine that non-alignment (read: alignment with Russia) doesn’t work. WTF? Has the Russia-first desk run out of vodka? Have you guys been playing a sobering version of the domino theory?

Maybe you could use Obama’s “reset button” and Clinton’s “sweet harvest” to keep the dominoes from falling?

Or maybe Bill Clinton could replace Stephen Byers as Yalta European Strategy chairman of the board?

Viktor Pinchuk and Damien Hirst could turn it into some art form that resembles Ukraine’s rule of law, European integration and prosperity.



And, of course, the Prostitutional Court would then adopt it as a mascot, upon issuing a clean bill of health to the Coalition of Carcasses.

Videos/pictures embedded/uploaded from:
http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/154540.html
http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/154731.html
http://censor.net.ua/go/offer/ResourceID/154685.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x6cR-LKd6Xg
http://www.artukraine.com.ua/pic/events/2009-04-27,_25_kvitnya_v_pinchukartcentre_vidkriietsya_naybilsha_personalna_vistavka_demiena_horsta_rekviiem7.jpg/0/500/
Original sources:
http://tsn.ua

Obama Turns Missile Defense Into Stimulus Program for Kremlin

The U.S. Appeaser-in-Chief has produced yet another anticipointment. Apparently, stimulating Putin's reset button has become another sport in the Oval Office.

Yes, he can! He can talk. He can talk some more. And then he can toy with countries, including his own.



Mr. Obama, the more I watch you, the more I appreciate Zhirinovsky's vision — of you and of Ukraine.

So “watch Ukraine,” as John McCain put it.

Sources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fj6vpMzuBIs
http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/americas/09/17/united.states.missile.shield/index.html?eref=rss_world

Tymoshenko Sizes Up Obama Strategists (Updated)

Senator Obama's visit to Ukraine in October 2005

If everybody does it, why can't Tymoshenko?

In late 2004, Yanukovych's Party of Regions set the trend when it cast its lot with Paul Manafort and Rick Davis of the GOP camp. By that time, as it recently turned out, Yanukovych had also done business with the folks who now run the American Institute in Ukraine.

In 2007, Yushchenko's NUNS, according to some sources, drew expertise from the Democratic talent pool, headed by James Carville, Bill Clinton's chief strategist.

In 2008, Tymoshenko became involved with Kenneth Murphy, an American lobbyist who reportedly followed her to high-level bilateral talks — without having a security clearance.

She now has expanded her horizons. Please welcome her new would-be partner, AKPD Message and Media, the company whose A stands for Axelrod, that is, David Axelrod, Obama's right-hand man!

So alleges King Makers for Tymoshenko, an Ukrayinska Pravda article by Mustafa Nayem. The author claims having obtained a PowerPoint presentation from a source whose identity he does not want to compromise.

A task force of 9 professionals will be dispatched to Kyiv to handle Tymoshenko’s campaign strategy. Nayem names a few names: Larry Grisolano, Jeff Link, Joe Goldberg, David Humphreville.

Learn more in a follow-up article.

Hmmm...will they, too, be peddling tiger-braid-themed paraphernalia to school kids?

UPDATE
In the follow-up article, published today, Nayem names a few more names:

John Anzalone, “the best pollster you’ve never heard of” (Washington Post)
Peter Giangreco, local staffing (a top consultant to Blagojevich’s campaigns)
Paul Neville, campaign scheduling
Andrew Bleeker, online campaigning
Michael Organ, online campaigning

If Tymoshenko says yes, we'll have a “Yes, She Can” campaign, run by a foreign government.

This should make even Yanukovych blush, hopefully.

Sources:
http://pravda.com.ua/news/2009/9/2/100805.htm
http://pravda.com.ua/ru/news/2009/4/3/90954.htm
http://pravda.com.ua/news/2009/9/3/100874.htm
http://gallery.korrespondent.net/ukraine/1012

An Italian Look at the Reset Button

With Obama and Merkel playing incubus and succubus to Medvedev and Putin, what does the future hold for Ukraine?

Kligg Magazine weighs in.



Sources:
http://www.kliggmagazine.com/?p=488

Obamas, McCain, Lewinsky, Blagojevich, Schwarzenegger in Another Ukrainian-Made Cartoon

CFC Consulting and Future Media present... Obama's Mother-in-Law Saves White House from Disaster. HT: Anonymous.



According to the description on YouTube, this cartoon is dedicated to America's First Grandmother, who celebrated her birthday on July 11.

Video embedded from: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCfVuZXRgQ4

A Quiz for President Obama: What Did Ukraine Contribute to U.S. Security?

That last aspect of Paul's character — a sense of empathy — is one that I find myself appreciating more and more as I get older. It is at the heart of my moral code, and it is how I understand the Golden Rule — not simply as a call to sympathy or charity, but as something more demanding, a call to stand in somebody else’s shoes and see through their eyes.

—Barack Obama The Audacity of Hope

After watching President Obama’s “Chicken Kiev 2” speech, I wonder how much he knows about my country and its contribution to U.S. security. Does he remember his visit to Ukraine in 2005?

So I decided to put together a short quiz.

1. How many warheads and delivery vehicles did Ukraine give up when disarmed by Washington in the mid ‘90s?
A. Ukraine? Oh, you mean the Ukraine?
B. The Ukraine, uh, sorry, Ukraine, had nukes? Are you serious?
C. Come on! Ukraine had simply inherited those nukes from the Soviet Union!
D. Ukraine sacrificed the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal (176+24 MIRVed ICBMs+600 ALCMs+≈3,000 tactical nukes≈5,000 warheads), much of it produced by Ukraine’s industry, labor and environment.

2. What did Ukraine get in return?
A. Ukraine is as prosperous and secure as its neighbors Poland, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia (NATO and EU members).
B. The Kuchma family made an overnight billion-dollar fortune and donated $5M to the Clinton Foundation.
C. Ukraine is one of the poorest countries in Europe, with a GDP per capita of $6K (PPP).
D. “Sweet harvest”+“change we can believe in.”
E. Both B, C and D are correct.

3. What did Ukraine get in exchange for walking out on a $50M deal for the supply of nuclear power plant turbines to the Iranian reactor in Bushehr in 1998?
A. In Bush what?
B. Don’t push it!
C. How can you be so ungrateful after all the aid we’ve provided you with? We hired our best consultants and paid them our best rates!
D. Nothing. Losers like you deserve nothing.

4. How much aid did Ukraine receive from the U.S. to process 5,000 tons of highly toxic rocket fuel from its scrapped nuclear arsenal?
A. Some personnel training+$30M+some “open burning” and “detonation” advice from Thiokol Corporation.
B. Once you scrapped those missiles and stopped being a threat to us, it’s your problem.
C. Don’t ever mention it again!
D. OK, we’ll probably give you some more money, but only if you beg.
E. Both A, B, and C are correct.

5. How many troops did Ukraine contribute to the coalition forces in Iraq and how many of them died?
A. Let’s change the subject.
B. 1,650 at peak (deployed 08/03, withdrawn 12/08), 28 dead.
C. Russia contributed more.
D. The war in Iraq was the wrong thing to do in the first place, so STFU!

6. How many times did the U.S. Air Force use Ukrainian airspace during 10/9/01-03/24/03 alone?
A. 4,358
B. 0
C. Russia will allow us 4,000 overflights per year (savings of $133M) and will have the right to inspect them.
D. You’re a neocon puppet!
E. Both A and C are correct.

7. Mr. President, can you reciprocate Ukraine by treating our security on its own merits, not on the merits of your relations with Russia?
A. Yes, I can.
B. No, I can’t.
C. I don’t know.
D. Putin knows best.

Thank you!

Putin to Obama: At Least 17 Million Russians Live in Ukraine

That’s what Putin told Obama as the two enjoyed Russian cuisine at a lunch in Moscow. Putin had quoted that number before, when demanding that NATO stay away from Ukraine.

The only problem is, it’s 17% percent of Ukraine’s population — not 17 million people — who are ethnic Russians.

Of course, the percentage of Ukrainian citizens who speak Russian only or surzhyk is higher, due to the Soviet policy of Russification and its lingering legacy. But these people are not ethnic Russians. Likewise, just because I speak idiomatic English, it doesn’t mean I'm British, Canadian, Australian or American.

I wonder if Obama swallowed Putin’s quote. Getting a sense of Putin’s soul can be fraught with fraud.

Sources:
http://lenta.ru/news/2009/07/07/obama/
http://www.dawn.com/2008/04/05/int4.htm

Obama, Clinton, Chavez, Putin et al. in a Ukrainian-Made Cartoon

Political humor gets even more political and even more (or less) humorous when it crosses cultures.

Channel 1+1 presents...Barack Obama Superstar: The Untold Story.



As President Obama visits Russia, it’s important that the olive branch he brings to the table does not hit the dove on the head.

Naturally, the Obama-Forrest Gump-Che Guevara-Larry King-Chavez sequence may entertain U.S. conservatives and irritate U.S. liberals. Anyway, to a Ukrainian like me, the Putin part looks very close to home.

The cartoon was produced by CFC Consulting, “a Ukrainian company with a global sense of humor,” in partnership with Future Media Arts.

Video embedded from:
http://video.oboz.ua/movie.php?aWQ9MjcyNzYmdnQ9MCZ2YT0xMQ
Original sources:
http://tsn.ua
http://www.cfc.com.ua
http://www.mupotoon.com/eng/obama/

The American Institute in Ukraine: A Yanukovych-Friendly Appeasement Think Tank

You’d think that the only Washington spin doctor to promote Yanukovych and his anti-NATO/pro-Kremlin platform would be Paul Manafort. You shouldn’t. Meet the American Institute in Ukraine!

In his recent article, Ukrayinska Pravda’s Serhiy Leshchenko exposes this pseudo-independent organization, whose talent did business with Yanukovych as early as in 2003.

What’s in a name?
James George Jatras. The American (read: Appeasement) Institute in Ukraine (AIU) lists him as one of his associates, and so does Squire Sanders Public Advocacy, LLC. (Public advocacy...hmmm...sounds so much sweeter than lobbying, doesn’t it?)

Jatras’ profile at Squire Sanders credits him with a wealth of experience:

• Serving on the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee and as an American Foreign Service Officer in the Office of Soviet Union Affairs;
• Engaging in versatile legislative advocacy and international projects;
• Participating in panel discussions at the Cato Institute, the Heritage Foundation and the International Strategic Studies Association.

Specifically, Jatras assisted in the defense of Slobodan Milosevic at the Hague Tribunal. His organization, the American Council for Kosovo (ACK), opposes Kosovo’s independence. All of which makes the American Institute in Ukraine look like a clone.

That’s not an accident. Darren Spinck, another key AIU figure, happens to be an officer of ACK.

On March 6 and March 24, 2003, Jatras and his partner Patrick O’Donell at Venable, LLP inked two public relations deals with Alex Kiselev, a Yanukovych representative. Under the deals, Yanukovych was supposed get a dose of favorable publicity and networking in Washington, including, possibly, a meeting with then-President Bush. Price tag: $20K+$60K (for the meeting with Bush, if arranged).

Ukrayinska Pravda offers copies of the agreements:




For some reason, Yanukovych rescheduled his visit. A third agreement with Jatras and McDonnell was signed on November 24, 2003.

Cooperation between the Jatras and Yanukovych camps continued well into the fateful year of 2004. In December 2004, amid the Orange Revolution, Spinck put his signature on the addendum to a $23K+$15K Yanukovych-related consulting agreement with db communications, LLC.



What does AIU do?
“AIU is a privately funded U.S. nonprofit organization and neither receives, solicits, nor accepts funds from any government,” so they say, without disclosing their donors

“The activities of AIU are strictly informational and educational. AIU does not engage in lobbying, either in the United States or abroad.” But AIU talent has engaged in lobbying in the United States on behalf of Ukrainian clients, and the website fails to mention that, right?

Besides, if their current activities encompass “producing and distributing monographs, commentaries, analyses, news, bulletins, press releases and other informational and educational materials,” then why do they tilt to one side only? Does AIU offer a single monograph, commentary or analysis that explores the benefits of Ukraine’s membership in NATO, both for NATO and Ukraine?

If you click “About Us,” you will find this:

AIU takes no position on NATO per se. But whatever NATO's future may be, AIU questions the wisdom of further expansion without clear and convincing evidence that it would directly enhance U.S. security interests, defined as defense of American territory and the American people; protect the territorial defense of its member states, consistent with the sole mission of the alliance as specified in the North Atlantic Treaty; contribute to the security of countries considered for expansion, beginning with Ukraine; and not injure relations with Russia, which must be an ongoing priority of American foreign and security policy. There is reason to question whether any of these criteria exists now or will exist in the foreseeable future.

So if you “question whether any of these criteria exists” and have some foreign policy credentials to support your skepticism, here’s your chance! According to Ukrayinska Pravda sources, you can make $3K in speaking fees, travel and hotel expenses covered. In other words, Western scholars and policy makers who strongly oppose the idea of Ukraine’s membership in NATO and want make a few bucks would be more than welcome!

Ironically, had AIU been around in 2003-2004, then-PM Yanukovych would have probably sent trainloads of his supporters to rally outside its office. At that time, he firmly stood for NATO membership and his party rubber-stamped pro-NATO legislation. In fact, he even authored a white paper that called for NATO membership by 2008.

Serhiy Leshchenko says his interest in AIU began with an invitation to participate in one of the events held at that organization — front organization, as it turned out. Guess who called him? Dmytro Dzhangirov, a blatant Kuchma-Yanukovych propagandist whose two-minute-hate-style programs had blasted Yushchenko during the dystopian 2004 presidential campaign. Today, Dzhangirov mainly works for Kyiv mayor Leonid “Kosmos” Chernovetsky. But...you never know.

Apparently, AIU has found Dzhangirov to be an asset to their ill-concealed “disarm and disown,” “putting Putin first,” “quid pro-Kremlin” campaign.

Among AIU’s recent guest speakers was Doug Bandow of the Cato Institute and...of the American Council for Kosovo.

Bandow’s association with the Cato Institute was supposed to lend credentials to the one and only view promoted by AIU: that Ukraine is bad for NATO and that NATO is bad for Ukraine. The fact that in the mid ‘90s Ukraine had sacrificed the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal on the altar of U.S. security gets the silent treatment.

Back to Bandow: Leshchenko called the Cato Institute and asked whether Bandow represented their official policy views. Chris Kennedy, Director of Media Relations, said Bandow represented his views only.

Last, but definitely not least, Leshchenko notes, the Russian version of the AIU web site spells the organization’s name as Американский Институт на Украине rather than Американский Институт в Украине. What’s the difference? It’s the Russian way of saying the Ukraine (province, territory) as opposed to the Ukraine (independent country).

In this regard, I hope U.S. Vice President Joe Biden gets some polit-savvy toponymical tips before he visits Ukraine at the end of July. But my hope already lacks audacity. The siren calls of appeasement artists are getting stronger day by day. Some of them, such as Anthony T. Salvia of AIU, even couch their propaganda in romantic Reagan-era terms. Apparently, the Appeasement...uh...sorry, the American Institute in Ukraine has a busy work schedule.

President Obama will visit Russia on July 6-8, and all Ukraine will get is Vice President Biden two weeks later. As a Ukrainian, I think my country is being marginalized by this Eurasian pecking order.

It’s almost as if the current U.S. administration gets advice from AIU, forgets about Ukraine’s contribution to U.S. security, and ignores Ukraine’s missile technology.

As for Bill Clinton, a huge friend of the Kuchma family, he’ll probably stay out of AIU — unless they seriously rethink their budget.

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2009/6/25/97288.htm
http://www.aminuk.org

An Appeasement Article With a Reagan-Themed Pitch

He says: “Mr. Obama, for Ukraine's sake, tear down this wall!”

I say: “Mr. Obama, for America's sake, tear him a new one!”

Sources:
http://www.kyivpost.com/opinion/op_ed/44039

Appeasement Galore: ‘Don’t Admit the Ukraine into NATO’

First, they stripped us of our nuclear arsenal, the world’s third-largest. Then, they promised us that “sweet harvest.”

Now that we have neither the nukes nor the harvest, some of them don’t mind us being harvested by a nuclear Russia.

Check out this brilliant appeasement article, written by Ivan Eland of the Independent Institute.

Eland states my country’s name as “the Ukraine.” Most English-speaking Ukrainians consider such usage insulting or ignorant. To us, “the Ukraine” means a territory, not a country, and underscores centuries of Russian domination. Since independence, Ukraine has persuaded the U.N. and the U.S. to drop the article and switch from Kiev (the Russian name) to Kyiv (the Ukrainian name).

So either Mr. Eland knows little about Ukraine, or “the Ukraine” carries a coded message from the Independent Institute.

By the way, Obama said “the Ukraine” during the presidential debates. To me, this came as a shock. How could the chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on European Relations say that? Hadn't he mentioned his visit to Ukraine in The Audacity of Hope?

Two weeks before the election, Obama described the Ukraine as being ready for a NATO Membership Action Plan. He wrote this in a letter to the Ukrainian Congress Committee of America, in an apparent bid to court Ukrainian American voters. Since then, however, despite reassurances old and new, he must have changed his mind.

Indeed, U.S. foreign policy toward Ukraine, in practical terms, is all about chicken Kiev change.

It can be summarized by the following quote from Don’t Admit the Ukraine into NATO:

In any honest assessment of U.S. security goals, the faraway Ukraine is not strategic to the United States. To Russia, given its history of being invaded by foreign powers, the Ukraine, a large neighboring country, is much more strategic than even its small Baltic neighbors.

So “the faraway Ukraine” is no longer as “strategic” as it was in 1993-1995, when Washington was twisting our strategic arms? And Ukraine has never been invaded? Not even by Russia?

In other words, “disarm and disown.” That’s the policy. Wait, how about this one: Wasn’t Czechoslovakia more “strategic” to Germany than it was to France and Britain when they signed the Munich Agreement?

A fool and his nukes are easily parted. When Ukraine — lulled by the “end of history” — gave up its nuclear deterrent, it did one hell of a foolish thing. It gave up power and got poverty in return. The IMF loans we received in exchange for our 5,000 warheads did not help us to the “sweet harvest” that U.S. President Bill Clinton promised us. Instead, they helped our President Kuchma convert his sweet reform rhetoric into an overnight billion dollar fortune for his family.

And guess what? Bill Clinton, who now runs a foundation, has been quite friendly with the Kuchma family, even after his wife became secretary of state. Talk about the peace dividend.

Contrary to Western clichés, Ukraine did not just “inherit” its nuclear arsenal from the USSR. Ukraine invented and ingested a huge part of that arsenal. Ukraine produced some of the deadliest ICBMs in the Soviet nuclear forces and, on orders from Moscow, deployed them on its territory. Ukraine paid the price of collectivization, industrialization, Chernobyl and grabitization.

Now, what benefits did Ukraine get from its denuclearization? Or, in a narrow sense, what did “friends of America” in Ukraine get from “friends of Ukraine” in America? Prosperity? No. A ticket to Western Civilization? No. Constant threats from Moscow? Yes. A bunch of appeasement artists from Washington? Yes!

So what should Ukraine’s story tell Iran and North Korea?

A. Hey, why don’t you drop your weapons like Ukraine did?
B. Hey, why don’t you follow Ukraine into the NPT and the MTCR?
C. Wanna be bossed around?
D. Wanna get your chicken change?

Finally, what effects would Russia's appeasement-induced adventurism have on U.S. security goals?

Sources:
http://independent.org/newsroom/article.asp?id=2502

Obama: ‘I Don't Know What the Term Is in Austrian’

U.S. President Barack Obama continues making statements that raise questions about his foreign policy credentials.

While touring Europe, Obama, a former chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on European Affairs, had the misfortune of saying this:

It was also interesting to see that political interaction in Europe is not that different from the United States Senate. There's a lot of -- I don't know what the term is in Austrian -- wheeling and dealing -- and, you know, people are pursuing their interests, and everybody has their own particular issues and their own particular politics. [1:17-2:16]

Perhaps President Obama should appoint Arnold “The Governator” Schwarzenegger as his advisor on Sports and Austrian Affairs.

In the meantime, how about a “Sprechen Sie Austrian?” bumper sticker?

Sources:
http://globalvoicesonline.org/2009/04/07/europe-obamas-visit/
http://motls.blogspot.com/2009/04/barack-obama-in-prague.html
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/news/2009/04/news_conference_by_president_obama.php

Obama Reaffirms NATO's Open Door Policy

On the eve of NATO’s 60th anniversary, U.S. President Barack Obama made an overture to countries squeezed hard by the reset button.

A quote from REMARKS BY PRESIDENT OBAMA AND NATO SECRETARY GENERAL JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER AFTER MEETING:

We've also discussed the role that NATO plays with respect to Russia and how this administration, my administration, is seeking a reset of the relationship with Russia, but in a way that's consistent with NATO membership and consistent with the need to send a clear signal throughout Europe that we are going to continue to abide by the central belief that countries who seek and aspire to join NATO are able to join NATO.

President Obama, however, did not mention any specific steps, such as his presidential campaign view of Ukraine as being ready for a Membership Action Plan (MAP).

Meanwhile, Ukrainian PM Yulia Tymoshenko, in Japan, promoted the idea of European collective security, attributing it to Sarkozy and Merkel.

Gee, I thought this whole European collective security counter-concept to NATO was the pet project of Chirac and Schröder.

Granted, neither France nor Germany has been a supporter of NATO expansion. But hasn’t France decided to reunite with the NATO military structure?

Looks like the guys who write talking points/articles for Tymoshenko have been drinking too much French wine.

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2009/3/26/92019.htm
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2009/3/26/92021.htm
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Remarks-by-President-Obama-and-NATO-Secretary-General-Jaap-de-Hoop-Scheffer-After-Meeting/

Keep Ukraine Out of NATO, Washington Panel Recommends

Now that they made promises, wrote letters, pushed buttons and made more promises, they want to keep Ukraine out of the door.

That’s the foreign policy prescribed by a “high-level bipartisan commission” in Washington. Below are excerpts from the IHT article Panel flags state of U.S.-Russia relations:

The panel was headed by Gary Hart, a former Democratic senator from Colorado, and Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska. Its members include two former national security advisers, Brent Scowcroft and Robert C. McFarlane; Sam Nunn, a former Georgia senator experienced in Russia issues; and Lee H. Hamilton, a former chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

The commission report said that the new administration should "accept that neither Ukraine nor Georgia is ready for NATO membership" but that it should also work with NATO allies to find other ways “to demonstrate a commitment to their sovereignty.” The United States, it said, does not now have “a compelling security interest” in NATO membership for either country.

An excerpt from AFP's Obama urged to oppose Georgia, Ukraine NATO bids:

“A special relationship with NATO short of membership could serve the same function as membership, and would be a useful way to ensure that those Ukrainians and Georgians seeking to join NATO do not become discouraged,” it said.

Look who’s here! Sam Nunn! Is that the Democratic “disarmament diplomat” who patronized Ukraine in the ‘90s and happily oversaw our giveaway of the world’s third-largest nuclear arsenal?

OK, guys. If you think you can trade friends for favors, then you should know the probable price of your trade.

If you decide to trade us in, then we should reciprocate by pushing our own reset button. We should keep the door open to mutually beneficial trade with Iran.

The day Russia decides to move in, our commitment to the MTCR should be null and void.

Don't be discouraged!

Sources:
http://www.pravda.com.ua/news/2009/3/17/91450.htm
http://www.iht.com/articles/2009/03/16/america/diplo.php
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090316/pl_afp/usrussiapoliticsdiplomacy_20090316210308

Obama: 'Like a Poland or a Czech Republic' (Updated)

I remember presidential candidate Obama saying “the Ukraine” —
with the definite article — which defines my country as a territory, not as a country.

I also remember Obama referring to the Poles and the Czechs as “fledgling democracies.”

But this quote knocked me off my feet:

Russia needs to understand our unflagging commitment to the independence and security of countries like a Poland or a Czech Republic. On the other hand, we have areas of common concern.

Call me a nitpicker, but I had never heard the indefinite article applied to Poland or the Czech Republic in a context like this. Never had I imagined it being applied by a U.S. president, much less by a former chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on European Affairs.

Now, I’m not a native speaker of English and I'm not a stranger to different schools of thought. But I just wonder how countries “like a Canada or an Israel” would feel?

Because I’m a smalltime Ukrainian who lives in a smalltime country that gave up the world's third-largest nuclear arsenal for chicken feed, I view Obama's remarks as a Bittergate.

UPDATE
I just had a light bulb moment!

I do remember a case of Ukraine and Georgia being used as countable nouns — in a geopolitical context, by a senior official/politician!

Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Vice Speaker of the Russian State Duma: Your country and economy will collapse. And what will NATO do? Georgia: Immediately there will be war with Abkhazia and Southern Ossetia. That's why NATO will never accept you, Ukraine and Georgia. And then there's a more important scenario. Suppose everything is fine in Ukraine and Georgia. But we here think that it doesn't benefit us. And never will NATO trade Russia for one hundred Ukraines and two hundred Georgias.

I guess perestroika must be about to start in America, just Zhirinovsky expected.


Sources:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=101376609&ft=1&f=1004