If you have been following the global mainstream media or listening to the utterances of the powerful in Washington, you will be convinced that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is the sole hope for mankind.
Zelensky recently received standing ovations for his rousing speeches
delivered via satellite to the British Parliament in London, the EU parliament
in Brussels, and Congress in Washington. European politicians were so overwhelmed
that they nominated him for a Nobel prize.
The likes of David Frum are claiming “Ukraine
may be the first example in human history of a country that under the pressure
of war is becoming *more* tolerant and *more* liberal”
Most of Washington, across party lines and the media
organizations, have a consensus on Ukraine. They want to send millions of dollars
worth of weaponry to Ukraine. Some even want boots on the ground in Ukraine.
The recent bi-partisan 1.5 trillion dollar spending
bill dedicated $14 billion in emergency funding for the humanitarian
crisis in Ukraine and $3.5 billion for sending new military equipment
and $3 billion for deploying U.S. troops to Ukraine.
They reiterate that the US is duty-bound to defend Ukraine because Ukraine is a democracy while Russia is a totalitarian state.
So what has been Zelensky and the Ukrainian regime's record on
democratic values?
Whenever a democratic nation is at war owing to an attack, the leader attempts to unite the country, this includes citizens and equally important opposition leaders, and the media. The media and the opposition are free to say what they please, but the leader urges them all to unite for the country.
Over the weekend, Zelensky invoked his emergency powers
under martial
law to suppress several opposition political parties and implement
a "unified information policy."
In a national address, Zelensky announced a temporary ban on
"any activity" by 11
political parties.
This ban applies to Ukraine’s largest opposition party, the
“The Opposition Platform — For Life”, which has 44 seats in Ukraine's
national parliament i.e. the Ukrainian people elected them to parliament.
According to Ukrainian news outlet LB, the leader of the For Life
party, Yuriy Boyko, had demanded that Russia "stop the aggression against
Ukraine," but the party has been accused of being pro-Kremlin.
Much before the Russian intervention, in May 2021, Viktor
Medvedchuk, another the leader of For Life party was accused of treason against
Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin is godfather to
Medvedchuk's daughter.
Ukraine’s National Bureau of Investigation has accused
the former
President Petro Poroshenko of corruption, treason, supporting "terrorist
organizations" and being pro-Kremlin.
Critics have said that anti-corruption laws were used to
restrict the activities and punish anti-Zelensky oligarchs.
One has to remember that Ukraine was once part of the Soviet
Union, there are myriad Ukrainians who still have relatives and other ties with
Russia. Yet this was used to suppress political opposition.
The media wasn’t spared either.
Zelensky's
news information policy involves "combining all national TV
channels, the program content of which consists mainly of information and/or
information-analytical programs, [into] a single information platform of
strategic communication" to be called "United News."
Zelensky cited the measure to be essential to fight Russian
disinformation and "tell the truth about the war."
This muzzling of the press isn’t a recent ploy, last year
Zelensky was accused of using draconian
measures to restrain the press.
In February 2021, the National Security and Defense Council at
Zelensky’s initiative banned
three TV channels, namely NewsOne, Channel 112, and ZIK, owned by Ukrainian
lawmaker Taras Kozak for being pro-Kremlin.
Kozak was also charged
with treason for Kremlin ties.
Last year, much before the war, Zelensky demanded that news
outlets have pro-Ukraine (i.e. pro-Zelensky) coverage. There were also attempts
to cancel the screening of a documentary film critical of the Ukraine
government.
Beyond media muzzling.
When war broke Ukrainian men aged 18 to 60 were banned from leaving after Zelensky enforced martial law. There was also conscription of reservists of the same age group.
In a democratic nation, the leader may urge his citizens to
take up arms but force can never ever be applied.
Indian
students, African
and Asian individuals have described the racist behavior
meted out to them by Ukrainian authorities as they attempted to escape.
The Azov battalion a unit of the Ukrainian army that uses the
Nazi Wolfsangel symbol as its emblem has been accused of having Neo-Nazi links. The
Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights accused
members of the Azov battalion of war crimes in the early
stages of the conflict in Ukraine.
Following Russia's invasion, there have been reports of the
Ukrainian government using citizens
as human shields.
To sum it up, the Ukrainian Regime has targeted its opposition
and muzzled the free media.
To understand this better, consider a hypothetical scenario in
the US.
What if the Biden administration or their allies accuse a
critical media figure such as Tucker Carson or a political rival such as
President Donald Trump of treason. What if Democrat-supported government
agencies began investigating President Trump by accusing him of financial
impropriety or colluding with a foreign power without any valid evidence. Imagine
Democrat allies begin cheering for the arrest of both Trump and Carlson.
Well, you don’t have to imagine that.
But imagine Biden actually when one step further and arrested
Republicans and shut down Fox News?
Zelensky seems to be doing exactly what liberals have always intended to do, perhaps that is why they are fond of him.
Zelensky recently berated the Israeli Knesset for enabling a
second Holocaust ("Final Solution,") by not providing them we
advanced weaponry. Israeli officials and Israel's national Holocaust
memorial condemned
Zelensky’s statements as a . trivialization and distortion of the
historical facts of the Holocaust.
Zelensky also demanded that Nestle stop doing business with Russia.
Perhaps the war has driven him to desperation, but Zelensky is increasingly sounding like a tyrant, the very force he claims to be standing up to.
War-torn Ukraine is now a hotbed for mercenaries, defense
contractors, and prison
inmates who were released by the Ukrainian authorities to fight
Russian forces.
What happens when these individuals manage to lay their hand
on advanced weaponry sent by the US?
What are the odds that they may seize this weaponry and resell
it to terrorists or criminal elements?
What cannot be denied is the plight of millions of Ukrainian
people, who are suffering because of this war. Words cannot describe their pain
of being displaced, abandoned, orphaned, and wounded.
But there has to be a distinction between the people and their
governments.
If aid and support have to be given, global powers must ensure
that it reaches the Ukrainian people and is not siphoned off by Ukrainian
officials.
Weaponry must only be sent if it can be ensured that it will
not be resold in the black market or be misused.
The media is attempting to make the case for war painting
Zelensky and the Ukrainian Regime as spotless white and Putin and Russia as
pure black.
The truth, as always, is the greys.
This article also appears on American Thinker
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