- The Guardian
- Issue #2024
The cause of the Ukraine conflict is the fact that the presence of NATO and US bases, military forces, and nuclear missile systems put Russia’s western border under continual threat. Over the past decade Lithuania, Poland, Latvia, Romania, and Estonia have provided a home to these weapons, maintaining a constant war footing. NATO’s expansion now includes not only Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic – in 2004 seven additional countries were added. NATO once numbered twelve members; now it comprises twenty-eight. Furthermore, the NATO military alliance is looking at Bosnia and Herzegovina, Georgia, and Ukraine as possible future members. Another factor to be considered in the current crisis is the fate of the four million Russians living in the areas of Luhansk and Donetsk, Ukraine. Agreements reached in 2014 with respect to their autonomy have never been implemented by Ukraine. These regions opposed the 2014 US-backed coup that overthrew the elected president of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovych. During the coup fascist thugs attacked Ukraine’s trade union federation headquarters, locked its occupants inside and set the building on fire, leaving them at the mercy of the flames. Democratic mechanisms in Ukraine have been abolished. After the 2014 state coup, real policy on its territory has been dictated by aggressive nationalist bands. Representing an absolute terrorist minority, they hold Ukrainian people in fear and impose rules of behaviour on members of the political establishment. This accounts for the political transformation of Vladimir Zelensky. Elected by Ukrainians as the president of peace in Donbass and normalisation of relations with Russia, he became a vehicle of the opposite kind of policy. In the international arena the time has come to launch a decisive political offensive against any attempts at the rehabilitation of fascism.
Australia’s support for the fascist regime in Ukraine and for fuelling the conflict includes the testing of new military hardware, with the Albanese government to provide Ukraine with a fleet of thirty Hawkei 4WD military vehicles now being produced at arms manufacturer Thales right here: Australia is now becoming a major arms manufacturer to the world. So far Australia has supplied $388 million of death dealing weapons to Ukraine. A former Department of Defence public servant, now a member of the might-is-right think tank Australian Strategic Policy Institute, trumpeted this as a “benefit of real-world battlefield testing.”
PARASITE OF THE WEEK: The Albanese government is further demonstrating its commitment as US deputy sheriff in the region by attempting to bully Pacific nations. In the case of the Solomon Islands it is working for regime change, as demonstrated by last week’s blatant attempt to manipulate and interfere in the nation’s internal affairs. Solomon Islands Prime Minister Manesseh Sogavare pulled no punches, calling Foreign Minister Penny Wong’s “offer” to fund Solomon Island elections “an assault on our parliamentary democracy” and “direct interference by a foreign government in our domestic affairs.”
