Valentyn Ogirenko/Reuters
Will Cathcart and Joseph Epstein, Daily Beast: Is America Training Neonazis in Ukraine?
Officially no, but no one in the U.S. government seem to know for sure.
There are no doubts about the neo-Nazi and white supremacist background of the Azov Battalion, a militia that has positioned itself at the forefront of the fight against Russian-backed separatists in eastern Ukraine. As the founder and head of the battalion Andriy Biletsky once put it, “The historic mission of our nation in this critical moment is to lead the White Races of the world in a final crusade for their survival.”
That Russian President Vladimir Putin and his propagandists exploit this fact, using it to build support for their aggression and to undermine the international effort to help Ukraine defend its independence, is undeniable. But knowing that, and wanting to resist that, does not resolve some very important questions about the basic facts.
What is the relationship of the U.S. government to these people? Is it training them? Might it arm them? Is this, like the Afghan war of the 1980s, one of those cases where we aid and abet the kind of monsters who eventually become our enemies? Concerns about that possibility have been growing on Capitol Hill.
WNU Editor: I am surprised by this report .... covering these extremist groups does not fit the Western news media narrative on who are these people in these Ukrainian militia units. I know in the case of the Azov Battalion .... when (and where) they are deployed on the front .... the fighting and ceasefire violations skyrocket. Unfortunately .... U.S. and Western assistance to these militia/military groups will continue while publicly they will be denying that they are doing just that.
Update: These groups are making their presence felt in Kiev today .... Ukraine crisis: Rally in Kiev urges war on eastern rebels (BBC).
Frankly it's a bit difficult to imagine circumstances under which Neo-Nazis would become America's enemies the way Al Qaeda did. Even more so Ukrainian Neo-Nazis. I suppose anything is possible, but...
ReplyDeleteClearly the US would not intend to support neo Nazis. The entire US government's policy is designed to undermine all things "white" and to promote all things that advance "people of color." Furthermore the US educations system teaches unceasingly how bad Nazis were and how good "Uncle Joe" and the USSR were. This is all the more evidence that the US government failed to "look before it leaped" into the Ukrainian situation. While I do not believe this is the primary opposition to Russia, it does raise significant doubts about the whole situation. This should provide ample "cover" for US statesmen, if there are any left, to get us out of this with some degree of dignity and honor.
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