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发帖数: 20343 | 1 Crimea: Democracy Is Not Democracy…Unless Obama Says It Is…
March 12, 2014 (Eric Draitser - New Eastern Outlook) - As Crimea prepares to
vote on Saturday March 16th in a crucial referendum on its future, the
rhetoric coming from the West and its propaganda machine has hit a new and
ridiculous low. Not only has US President Barack Obama and his
administration done everything to undermine democracy in Ukraine, they have
now resorted to the most naked forms of hypocrisy in an attempt to
delegitimize the democratic process.
On Thursday March 6th President Obama spoke at the White House on the
referendum and the issue of Crimea. In his prepared remarks, Obama stated
categorically that the United States would not recognize the results of the
Crimean referendum. He argued that the it would violate both the “Ukrainian
Constitution and international law.” Obama kept the comedy coming when he
noted that, “In 2014 we are well beyond the days when borders can be
redrawn over the heads of democratic leaders.” As with all statements made
by the US government, and the President specifically, this must be
contextualized and deconstructed in order to be effectively critiqued.
First and foremost is the question of democracy and, more specifically, how
exactly Washington is choosing to define this gravely abused word. In
referring to the so-called “interim government” in Kiev, headed by
Yatsenyuk and his associates, as “democratic leaders”, Obama demonstrates
either a complete lack of understanding of the word democracy, or as I think
is more likely, an utter contempt for democratic principles. By referring
to an unelected entity that has seized political power in Kiev by force, and
through collaboration with Nazi elements, as “democratic leaders,” Obama
exposes himself and his administration to be cynical opportunists whose
interests rest not in democracy but in a geopolitical agenda guided solely
by strategic interests.
Naturally, the references to the Ukrainian Constitution and international
law are also deeply disingenuous. Obama, and the US imperial system more
generally, speak of international law purely when it suits their interests,
eschewing it completely when it does not. This fact has been illustrated
quite clearly with Washington’s wars of aggression throughout that last two
decades, including the illegal wars in Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya, not to
mention the habitual violations of international law in Somalia, Yemen,
Pakistan and around the world.
The most significant point here is that the US recognizes democracy and
international law only when it suits their interests. Moreover, US hypocrisy
regarding democracy becomes self evident if one examines the recent
historical precedents of Kosovo and South Sudan. In both these cases,
precisely the same individuals who today cry about international law and
argue against the democratic right of Crimea to determine its own future,
were then eloquently and unabashedly in favor of precisely the same sort “
democratic aspirations.”
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.com/2014/03/crimea-democracy-is-n |
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