The future, it seems, is not orange in the Ukraine
In 2004 the people of the Ukraine were treated to US imperialism’s non-invasion method of controlling a state that is not doing what is required by the US.
At that time the government was pro-Russian and led by Viktor Yanukovich, the President. The West backed Viktor Yushchenko against him in an election and, after the count went the way of Yanukovich, had their man take it to the Ukrainian Supreme Court to get the result overturned and the election rerun while they threw millions of dollars around to buy protesters on the street and plenty of rock concerts, tents and media to capture the scene as they wanted it portrayed.
In the re-run Presidential election, Yushchenko claimed victory in spite of the massive and many claims of violations including the loss of vote for over 5 million people. The West was ecstatic; it had pulled a state away from Russia and continued the encirclement of that country (along with the access to profits formerly denied them). The Ukrainians who had taken part in the ‘Orange Revolution’ (yellow putsch would be a more apt description) waited for the virtual paradise that they had been promised to become reality.
In 2007 we reported in this paper that things were not going as planned for the ‘Orangists’ and their imperialist backers as the Ukrainian people, especially many of those duped into playing a role on the streets for the ‘orange’ puppets of the US, had seen through the lies and deceptions. Older people looked back to the USSR longingly and even the post Soviet Yanukovich days looked good. Now another three years on, and given the chance of a presidential election in which to show their dissatisfaction, the Ukrainian masses dumped the sitting president, Yushchenko, in the first round with a derisory 5.45% of the vote, which has to be something of a record low for an incumbent president seeking re-election.
Amazingly, the election has been won by Yanukovich, with Yulia Tymoshenko coming a close second. It also would seem that all the time, money and effort that US imperialism put into organising and sponsoring the ‘orange revolution’ were totally wasted as once again its dreams and schemes have turned to dust in its hands.
Tymoshenko initially refused to accept the result, making accusations of ballot irregularities and attempted to launch various legal procedures. She even threatened to take her supporters on to the streets. Seeing little will among the people to go out and take part in another ‘orange’ debacle, she has been forced to accept the legitimacy of her opponent’s election. Even the imperialists could not be counted on to support such an event as Tymoshenko, although an orange ally of Yushchenko, is known to have quite close ties to Russian Prime Minister Putin and as such could not be trusted not to side with Russia when it comes to questions of defence, gas pipelines etc.
US imperialism is increasingly finding the world a harsh place as the DPRK and Iran ignore its threats, the resistance in Iraq and Afghanistan continue to fight back sucking in more and more US troops and funds; Latin America is going its own way and building anti-imperialist alliances in Uncle Sam’s ‘backyard’; China is bypassing it in all economic counts; and even in tiny disaster-hit Haiti, where Cuban doctors are seen as heroes, the US military are being seen more and more as an army of occupation. The beast that is imperialism is not yet dead and it is still incredibly dangerous but, just like its faithful puppet in the Middle East, Israel, if we all play our part, its days are numbered.