Ukraine Parliament. Reuters / Andrew Kravchenko / Pool / Reuters
Askold Krushelnycky, Foreign Policy: Kiev in Denial
Ukraine’s leaders think their country is too important to fail. They're wrong.
Russia is at war with Ukraine — there is no concealing this basic fact. Yet despite the seriousness of the threat from the East, Moscow isn’t the worst enemy the Ukrainians face. Given the self-inflicted corruption that has infected every facet of business and government, the country’s worst enemy may be its own leaders.
Ukraine’s corruption was inherited from the dying Soviet Union and has persisted for two and a half decades. It has made the country into a brutal kleptocracy that hands power and wealth to a tiny and unassailable elite, impeding the development of a normal economy. It has warped society, ruining everything from the health care and education systems to law enforcement and the judiciary. This is a system where the drunken son of an oligarch can walk free if he happens to run over an ordinary citizen with his car.
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WNU Editor: Kudos to Askold Krushelnycky for writing this post .... I could not have done a better job. I have family and friends in Ukraine .... and on one side of my family I can honestly say that they are not oligarchs .... but they are close to it. And their views and altitudes towards the current situation in Ukraine .... especially how the West views them .... makes me drop my jaw. And even though other members of my family are furious at them .... they (like the rest of the establishment that runs Ukraine) are in complete denial. My prediction .... Ukraine fatigue is settling in .... which means that Western support will not be there forever .... doubly so if someone like Trump wins the Presidency. In the meantime .... the war ..... which is becoming deadlier with every passing day .... continues .... Russian Troop Buildup Along Ukraine Border Raises War Fears (VOA).
2 comments:
Ukraine really is in denial. They seem to have gone pathologically insane like the rest of the governments of the "west" Ukraine is a pipsqueak country that shouldn't matter a wit on the tadars of Western European governments or the American givernments.
Now as for important countries, how about the one that is a major supplier of oil to Wsestern Europe, possess thousands of the world's most advanced nuclear weapons, has some of the best trained and best led military forrces on earth that icludes some of the best Intel service along with some of the best cyber warriors the world has ever seen, and is a VERY large country? This would be Russia.
As pipsqueaks, if western European governments were sane, they'd be asking themselves questions like "how can we keep Russia happy", "what can we offer Russia", "does Russia have enemies we can hurt in order to curry favor with them", and I could go on.
Suffice it to say, if Ukraine truly believes they are to big to fail they are beyond nuts and probably cannot be helped and the sooner they are cut loose and the sooner the better. They never should have been supported in the first place!!
For what it's worth NO ONE or NOTHING is to big to fail. Anyone who believes such things is the height of hubris and their ultimate failure is guaranteed.
SD: Very respectfully, I never said "Russia good, Ukraine bad." Again, very respectfully, please actually read the posts in their entirety before commenting. The point I was trying to make was/is from the perspectives of America and Western European nations Ukraine is not an important country or at least it shouldn't be if they had their priorities arranged properly. Furthermore given Russia's history Ukraine is understandably going to be very important to them. In contrast, Russia is a very important country for the reasons outlined above.
Ukraine is a corrupt basket case of a country as has been documented on this website and others numerous times. While there may be a time and a place to risk WW3 with Russia, Ukraine is NOT it. Furthermore we need Russian assistance in a number of key areas one of which is Iran. As such, policies that are confrontational in nature towards them or that they could interpret in such a way are not advisable.
Additionally working with Russia in the fight against ISIS in places like Syria would be optimal to facilitate the defeat of this grave threat to us. Assuming Mr. Trump follows through on his stance toward Russia which his choice of advisors seems to indicate he will he has this exactly right. As such, this alone would be sufficient reason to vote him.
Improving relations with Russia should be the top priority of the next POTUS. We simply MUST purge our country of the combination of people who have the intellectual maturity of vindictive children and insane psychopaths. When Mr. Trump is the most mature and sane person in race, this is a scary thought. Pray for our country.
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