If anyone has answers to these questions, please share. I am also confused...
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I'm confused. A few weeks ago we were told
in the West that people occupying government buildings in Ukraine was a very
good thing. These people, we were told by our political leaders and elite media
commentators, were 'pro-democracy protestors'.
The US government warned the Ukrainian
authorities against using force against these 'pro-democracy
protestors' even if, according to the pictures we saw, some of them
were neo-Nazis who were throwing Molotov cocktails and other things at the
police and smashing up statues and setting fire to buildings.
Now, just a few weeks later, we're told
that people occupying government buildings in Ukraine are not'pro-democracy
protestors' but 'terrorists' or 'militants'.
Why was the occupation of government
buildings in Ukraine a very good thing in January, but it is a very bad thing
in April? Why was the use of force by the authorities against protestors
completely unacceptable in January, but acceptable now? I repeat: I'm confused.
Can anyone help me?
The anti-government protestors in Ukraine
during the winter received visits from several prominent Western politicians,
including US Senator John McCain, and Victoria Nuland, from the US State
Department, who handed out cookies. But there have been very large
anti-government protests in many Western European countries in recent weeks,
which have received no such support, either from such figures or from elite
Western media commentators. Nor have protestors received free cookies from
officials at the US State Department.
Surely if they were so keen on
anti-government street protests in Europe, and regarded them as the truest form
of 'democracy', McCain and Nuland would also be showing solidarity
with street protestors in Madrid, Rome, Athens and Paris? I'm confused. Can
anyone help me?
A few weeks ago I saw an interview with
the US Secretary of State John Kerry who said, “You
just don't invade another country on phony pretexts in order to assert your
interests.” But I seem to recall the US doing just that on more than
one occasion in the past 20 years or so.
Have I misremembered the 'Iraq has
WMDs claim'? Was I dreaming back in 2002 and early 2003 when politicians
and neocon pundits came on TV every day to tell us plebs that we had to go to
war with Iraq because of the threat posed by Saddam's deadly arsenal? Why is
having a democratic vote in Crimea on whether to rejoin Russia deemed worse
than the brutal, murderous invasion of Iraq – an invasion which has led to the
deaths of up to 1 million people? I'm confused. Can anyone help me?
We were also told by very
serious-looking Western politicians and media 'experts' that the Crimea referendum wasn't valid
because it was held under “military
occupation.” But I've just been watching coverage of elections in
Afghanistan, held under military occupation, which have been hailed by leading western
figures, such as NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen as a “historic moment for Afghanistan” and
a great success for “democracy.” Why
is the Crimean vote dismissed, but the Afghanistan vote celebrated? I'm
confused. Can anyone help me?
Syria too is rather baffling. We were and
are told that radical Islamic terror groups pose the greatest threat to our
peace, security and our 'way of life' in the West. That
Al-Qaeda and other such groups need to be destroyed: that we needed to have a
relentless 'War on Terror' against them. Yet in Syria, our
leaders have been siding with such radical groups in their war against a
secular government which respects the rights of religious minorities, including
Christians.
When the bombs of Al-Qaeda or their
affiliates go off in Syria and innocent people are killed there is no condemnation
from our leaders: their only condemnation has been of the secular Syrian
government which is fighting radical Islamists and which our leaders and elite
media commentators are desperate to have toppled. I'm confused. Can anyone help
me?
Then there's gay rights. We are told that
Russia is a very bad and backward country because it has passed a law against
promoting homosexuality to minors. Yet our leaders who boycotted the Winter
Olympics in Sochi because of this law visit Gulf states where homosexuals can
be imprisoned or even executed, and warmly embrace the rulers there, making no
mention of the issue of gay rights.
Surely the imprisonment or execution of
gay people is far worse than a law which forbids promotion of homosexuality to
minors? Why, if they are genuinely concerned about gay rights, do our leaders
attack Russia and not countries that imprison or execute gay people? I'm
confused. Can anyone help me?
We are told in lots of
newspaper articles that the Hungarian ultra-nationalist party Jobbik is very
bad and that its rise is a cause of great concern, even though it is not even
in the government, or likely to be. But neo-Nazis and ultra-nationalists do
hold positions in the new government of Ukraine, which our leaders in the West
enthusiastically support and neo-Nazis and the far-right played a key role in
the overthrow of Ukraine's democratically elected government in February, a ‘revolution’ cheered on by
the West. Why are ultra-nationalists and far-right groups unacceptable in
Hungary but very acceptable in Ukraine? I'm confused. Can anyone help me?
We are told that Russia
is an aggressive, imperialist power and that NATO's concerns are about opposing
the Russian ‘threat’. But
I looked at the map the other day and while I could see lots of countries close
to (and bordering) Russia that were members of NATO, the US-led military
alliance whose members have bombed and attacked many countries in the last 15
years, I could not see any countries close to America that were part of a
Russian-military alliance, or any Russian military bases or missiles situated
in foreign countries bordering or close to the US. Yet Russia, we are told, is
the‘aggressive one’. I'm
confused. Can anyone help me?
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