Keeping our eye on the ball

By Frieda Park

The news we are getting about Ukraine is selective, biased, emotive and rigorously censored. No alternative views are permitted not even the slightest criticism or questioning can be heard on the airwaves. The neo-Nazis of the Azov battalion are endorsed, frequently popping up on TV, with not the slightest demur. There is a total amnesia about its history, once reported in the press here, as vicious right wing thugs attacking minorities, trade unionists, the left, anti-fascists and even International Women’s Day celebrations. It has not changed since then and does not even claim to have changed. It still uses a version of the Waffen-SS insignia as its symbol and is still described in Wikipedia as “…a neo-Nazi unit of the National Guard of Ukraine based in Mariupol…”. (1) The promotion and arming of neo-Nazis in Ukraine and encouraging mercenaries to go and fight there is creating a right wing terrorist threat to the whole of Europe and beyond.

LACK OF OPPOSITION 

The combination of the media onslaught, the lack of alternative views and being placed on the defensive by the unexpected Russian intervention has disarmed the left and the peace movement. The recent history of NATO’s culpability in creating the conditions for this crisis is being forgotten, voices are muted and, even worse, some are falling into line with the West’s war objectives. There are trade union organisations which have called for further sanctions against Russia, the boycotting of Russian oil tankers and for more arms for Ukraine.

It is not quite so monolithic in other countries. Some examples: In Italy, trade unionists blacked a shipment of arms for Ukraine which was disguised as humanitarian aid. In Spain, where it is part of the government, there has been strong opposition among Unidas Podemos MPs to sending arms to Ukraine. In Greece some MPs from Syriza walked out when President Zelensky addressed the Greek parliament flanked by Azov battalion commanders. In Germany 20 prominent figures, including the former Vice President of the Bundestag, Antje Vollmer, wrote to the government calling on it to halt arms deliveries to Ukraine.

Here, however, the lack of opposition to British government and US strategy, is making it harder to mobilise for a peaceful, negotiated solution and against pouring further arms into Ukraine which are fuelling the war and making the situation worse. It is also making it harder to mobilise in the longer term against the future war aims of the United States as it tries to maintain its position as the world’s only superpower.

There is a danger that, unchallenged, the West’s narrative on the Ukraine crisis becomes the template by which future such conflicts are understood, at least in the West. We need to keep our eye on the ball of what the US is up to as it tries to ensure its hegemony. The line it is pursuing, with China now explicitly in its sights, is highly destabilising and contains the seeds of future wars. A plague on both your houses, equally blaming both sides is too simplistic and lets the US off the hook for its responsibility in creating the world order which gives rise to these conflicts. We therefore, need to constantly expose the continuing military build-up and interventions by NATO, the US and its allies across the globe and the immense suffering being caused.

Alongside that it will be necessary to challenge the narratives that will be used to bolster the argument for war, like the selective demonisation of other countries and their leaders. That doesn’t mean to say that these will be good people with progressive governments, but let’s face it that is not really the criteria for US hostility or support. They are happy to promote alliances with the likes of Israel and Saudia Arabia. While the media here heaps opprobrium on Vladimir Putin the war criminal Tony Blair gets a knighthood. So we need to ask why are they focusing on some countries and not others and ensure we are not side-tracked by the story they want to tell. That story is one of diverting attention from their real motivations to protect their geo-political and economic interests by focusing on other issues like human rights.

WESTERN HYPOCRISY

The hypocrisy of the US, Britain and the other Western countries knows virtually no bounds. Untrammeled by socialist countries or a strong non-aligned movement, since the end of the last century, the United States and other imperialist powers have sought to impose their power across the globe. They have done so using brute force to maintain their stranglehold over weaker nations and the developing world to extract their resources and exploit the labour of their peoples. This force takes the form of economic coercion, military might and control of assets, produce and markets. There have also been the invasions of Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya, the ongoing attempt to overthrow the government of Syria and wars in Africa. It is rank hypocrisy for the West to denounce Putin and Russia for what it is doing in Ukraine when it has destroyed countries across the Middle East and is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in the illegal wars it has waged – men, women, children, killed indiscriminately.

However, the United States unipolar world in which others have to bow to its power has been challenged in recent years, not just by smaller countries in the developing world, but by bigger powers who do not wish to be dictated to by the US. This includes China, Iran and Russia. They are all very different sorts of countries and in different ways have challenged the US world order, undermining its global power. This is completely unacceptable to the United States and is at the root of tensions across the globe. The US is deeply concerned about these signs of independence. Even with its most determined efforts it has failed to bring many countries of the global south into line over Ukraine. Many have refused to impose sanctions on Russia, including Turkey a NATO member, or to back the US at the United Nations.

We need to argue for respect for the sovereignty of other countries and their right to independence from the United States in world affairs. There need to be peaceful solutions to tensions and differences, including an end to the widespread use of sanctions by the US to enforce its will. If this does not happen then there will be more Ukraines, more war and more suffering.

There are a lot of things that could be said about Ukraine, but some effective immediate demands might be:

  • Money for people facing mass impoverishment - not for war.
  • No to sending more arms to Ukraine and to arming neo-Nazis and mercenaries.
  • For a negotiated peace in Ukraine.
  • No to the United States and NATO’s global war drive

(1) These are just a few examples of past exposés of Azov in the media:

Ukraine must stop ongoing abuses and war crimes by pro-Ukrainian volunteer forces - Amnesty International 8/11/14

Commentary: Ukraine’s neo-Nazi problem | Reuters 19/3/18

Inside A White Supremacist Militia in Ukraine - YouTube Time Magazine 8/1/21

The far-right group threatening to overthrow Ukraine's government - Newsnight - YouTube 23/7/15

 

Mastiff armoured vehicle of the sort Britain is sending to Ukraine - photo by Steve Blake

...the lack of opposition to British Government and US strategy is making it harder to mobilise for a peaceful, negotiated solution and against pouring further arms into Ukraine which are making the situation worse.