If you were to ask any Democrat or Republican in D.C. about their reasons for supporting President Volodymyr Zelensky and Ukraine, their reductive reply is likely to be 'to defend freedom and democracy’.
How much has this
defense of democracy and freedom in Ukraine, located over 6000 miles away
from the US, cost you?
The recent omnibus
spending bill granted $45
billion in aid for Ukraine which adds to the $66 billion of taxpayers'
money lawmakers already dispatched to Ukraine. This is a total of $111 billion
with no accountability measures.
Since it is you are paying for this project, it is worth taking stock of how things are progressing in that war-ravaged nation.
We first look at Press Freedom
Yesterday, the
NYT reported that Zelensky signed legislation that significantly expands the ‘government’s regulatory power over the news media’.
Is this just an
emergency war measure?
No. Zelensky ordered the drafting of a law increasing media regulation in 2019, a short while after becoming President.
Since the beginning
of the war, Zelensky applied draconian
measures to restrain the press such as threats of criminal prosecution and fines against media outlets and journalists,
critical of the government.
Zelensky also banned many media outlets claiming they were carrying Russian propaganda. But reports suggest these outlets were merely holding Zelensky accountable. Also, all TV channels in Ukraine have been shut down except for the one controlled by Zelenskyy.
This recently passed bill expands the authority of Ukraine’s broadcasting ‘regulator’ to cover the online and print news media.
This ‘regulator can fine media outlets, revoke their licenses, temporarily block certain online media outlets without a court order, and request that social media platforms and search giants such as Google remove content.
To sum it up Zelensky has total control of every syllable being uttered by the Ukrainian media.
Ukrainian journalists
have said that the new media statute goes far beyond what the European Union
requires. The National Union of Journalists of Ukraine warned in a statement the bill would
erode press freedoms.
The European Federation of Journalists called the bill’s regulation “coercive” and “worthy of the worst
authoritarian regimes.” The Committee to Protect Journalists, called it a
tightened of “government control over information at a time when citizens need
it the most.”
What about
Political Opponents?
Weeks after Russia's intervention, Zelensky imposed martial law to suppress opposition political parties
Zelensky ‘temporarily’ banned 11 of his political opponents including “The Opposition Platform — For Life”, which has 44 seats in Ukraine's national parliament. The party was accused of, you guess right, being pro-Kremlin
For Life party member, Viktor Medvedchuk was charged with
treason, and so was Taras Kozak, the
chief opposition leader in Ukraine and owner of one of the banned news
outlets. Both were accused of ties with Russia.
Ukraine’s National Bureau of Investigation targeted Zelensky's predecessor Former President Petro Poroshenko accusing him of corruption, treason, supporting "terrorist organizations" and being pro-Kremlin. Observers called this politically motivated.
Zelenskyy also
conducted a purge within government and security agencies. He suspended
officials including the chief of the domestic security agency and a prosecutor
general claiming
they were pro-Russia.
What about
Religious Freedom in Ukraine
Earlier this month,
Zelenskyy sanctioned
personnel within Ukrainian Orthodox Church claiming they were
“affiliated with centers of influence” in Russia.
Ukrainian officials
claim the Church was promoting pro-Russian views and that some priests were collaborating with Russia.
The Church is the
largest in Ukraine with about 12,000 parishes.
The priests and
bishops of these churches are not
allowed to take money out of the country, to own land, and their
capital is frozen.
There is no remorse
for these actions, Zelenskiy pledged
that measures to guarantee Ukraine's "spiritual
independence" will continue
Before the war
Corruption and
cronyism were widespread and innate in Ukraine much before the war. People from all over the world,
including the Bidens, strike shady deals with dubious oligarchs in Ukraine to
enrich themselves, knowing corrupt officials will look the other way in exchange of inducements.
Zelensky himself won
the presidential election in 2019 after much of his campaign was allegedly
bankrolled by one of Ukraine’s richest — and most corrupt — oligarchs,
Igor Kolomoisky.
Kolomoisky is banned from entering the US for “significant corruption” and used
his “influence and power for his personal benefit.”
Zelensky passed
‘tough’ anti-oligarch laws to target both Zelensky’s and
Kolomoisky’s challengers.
After the war
Zelensky targeted
media houses and churches claiming they were pro-Kremlin. He used politized
government agencies to target his primary political opponent. He is also known
as a great facilitator for his
cronies.
Zelensky is like Biden which explains D.C. fawning over him.
But unlike Biden, he can say his lines properly with the right emotions and expressions. He even looks the part, sporting stubble and wearing military-colored clothes. All of this is meant to convey selflessness, exasperation, and stoicness
But when you dig deeper there is no relation between his look, his utterances, and what is happening in Ukraine.
The long-suffering Ukrainians deserve nothing but our empathy for being subjected to such sufferings.
Zelensky is being
called the modern Winston Churchill.
Well, Churchill didn’t ban the Labor Party or adversarial media
outlets or Churches calling for a peaceful solution during World War II even when the Nazis
were bombing Britain during the blitz. He used his powers of persuasion to
bring people together and not draconian measures.
The Perils
This could be much worse than the wastage of $111 billion of your
funds.
The war in Ukraine had attracted over 20 thousand foreign
fighters from all over the world, who obviously haven't been vetted. These ‘fighters’ could pilfer advanced weaponry for further use or sell it in the black market. The buyers could be terrorists.
Biden’s open borders would allow these arms into the US and
could be used against citizens.
The president of
Nigeria revealed that weapons
from Ukraine are ending up in Nigeria. While the Finnish media reported that
criminal organizations could be trafficking weapons from Ukraine to the US or
various EU nations.
In other words, you
could be funding terror attacks on yourself.
This is nothing short
of a scandal.
A handful of corrupt
officials and their cronies in the US and Ukraine are profiting at the cost of
the well-being and security of the nation.
If the US had independent government agencies, the amounts, the
arms, and the aid going to Ukraine would have been tracked and discrepancies
would be reported.
If the US had a fair media this would have questioned the powers that be about their unconditional support for the war and end reckless spending.
Alas, the watchdogs have devolved into lapdogs.
Instead, they are fawning over Zelensky such that Obama would feel
jealous and continue to aggressively sell a gratuitous war with no end date.
All of this while citizens in the US suffer on myriad fronts
Also appears on American Thinker
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