FACES AND PLACES: Can the U.S. save Ukraine? (10/03/04)

FACES AND PLACES

by Myron B. Kuropas

Can the U.S. save Ukraine?

Talk to some Ukrainian Americans and they'll tell you that they are voting for John Kerry because, among other things, President George W. Bush has neglected Ukraine.

Some have met with Sen. John F. Kerry's surrogates, specifically former Secretary of State Madelene K. Albright and former Assistant Secretary of State Richard Holbrooke, and were assured that Ukraine would be back on the radar screen in a Kerry administration.

Our people remember how warm and accommodating the Clinton administration was toward Ukraine - a state dinner for President Leonid Kuchma, visits to Kyiv by top administration officials, Ukraine as the third largest foreign aid recipient. They look at President Bush and wonder why he's not as chummy.

Some Ukrainian Americans are also exercised about the apparent lack of White House support for S. Res. 202, a bill that expresses the sense of the Senate regarding "the genocidal Ukraine Famine of 1932-1933."

Will a Kerry administration do better? Given Sen. Kerry's reticence to talk about his murky 20-year record in the U.S. Senate during which he, among other things, supported the Sandinistas, kissed up to Fidel Castro, and called President Ronald Reagan's tenure in the White House "eight years of moral darkness," one can only wonder about the depth of his commitment to Ukraine. I ask you, can a man with zero administrative experience who has run such a chaotic campaign really do better in the White House?

The difficulty, however, is not with Sen. Kerry or even with President Bush. The problem is that President Kuchma's Ukraine is so very different from what it was during President Bill Clinton's first term. To expect the same U.S. largesse to flow today as then is to ignore history and U.S. interests. Ukraine has changed dramatically during President Kuchma's last eight years. Think Gongadze, a totally corrupt, oligarch-controlled administration, a precipitous loss of media freedoms, bowing to President Vladimir Putin's will, attempts to physically eliminate the opposition, openly turning away from NATO and western Europe, selling arms to Moldova and, more recently, to Venezuela and Cuba. Ukraine today is not exactly a resolute and ardent companion on the road to a better, safer world. Don't expect to find Messrs. Bush and Kuchma sitting around a campfire in Crawford, Texas, singing "Kumbaya" any time soon.

The United States also has changed since Mr. Clinton left the White House. The horror of 9/11 has significantly modified the foreign relations equation. The United States is at war. There are different priorities. We have new enemies, different friends.

Does this take the Bush administration off the hook regarding Ukraine? No. I wish President Bush would pay more attention to Ukraine, not for Ukraine's sake, but for the sake of the United States. A strong, democratic Ukraine facing West and allied with the United States, would be a bulwark against Russian red fascist imperialism which, under President Putin, appears to be rearing its ugly head again. President Bush has spoken out recently against the dismantling of democracy in Russia, despite the fact that the U.S. needs Russia in the war against Islamic terror. He will do so again.

I also wish I had more confidence in National Security Council (NSC) chief Condeleeza Rice who, as a Russia specialist, appears to have succumbed to the Russia-can-do-no-wrong virus. Equally disquieting is the fact that Condi was mentored by Brent Scowcroft who, in turn, was a pupil of former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, the realpolitik guy who, during the Gerald Ford administration promoted the concept of a permanent division of Europe into Russian and Western spheres of influence. Remember the Sonnenfeldt Doctrine?

I, too, wish that the State Department was more forthcoming when it comes to Senate Res. 202. They are terrified by the "G" word. Some Ukrainian Americans believe the Jews don't want to identify the Famine as a genocide because it would somehow diminish the Holocaust. Others believe the Russians are objecting. Both beliefs are wrong. I am told that the real reason Sen. Richard Lugar is sitting on the bill is Turkey, a member of NATO. The State Department is afraid that once this bill is passed, the Armenian American community will ask for a similar bill condemning the Turkish genocide of Armenians in 1915-1923. Wrong excuse. The same argument was used to justify State Department objections to the creation of the Ukraine Famine Commission. Wiser heads prevailed and the Famine bill was passed.

And, finally, I wish Ukraine would receive more credit for its involvement in Iraq. Ukraine's contributions are included in the GOP platform and President Bush metioned Ukraine during his last press conference. But is that enough? How many contracts have been given to Ukrainian firms for the reconstruction of Iraq? Why is it that Ukrainians find it almost impossible to receive American visas while Saudi Arabians have no problem?

We need to remember two things.

First: No American president, not George W. Bush, not John F. Kerry, not even Ralph Nadar, can save Ukraine. Only citizens of Ukraine can save Ukraine. And they still have a chance. In contrast to a rising tide of red fascism in Russia, Ukraine remains relatively democratic. The October elections in Ukraine are crucial. If Viktor Yushchenko wins, Ukraine will get a second chance to do the right thing. If Viktor Yanukovych wins, corruption and thuggery will continue for another four years. That will be tragic but Ukraine will still survive as an independent nation-state.

Second: The presidential election in the United States is not about Ukraine. It's about the future of America. As in Ukraine, the stakes are high. A wide chasm exists between the ideology, ideas and proposals of President Bush and Sen. Kerry. One is the most conservative president since Reagan. The other is the most liberal senator in Congress. Rarely have candidates for U.S. president been so diametrically opposed in their thinking.

Ask yourself. Which election, the one in Ukraine or the one in the United States, will have the greatest impact on your daily life? Think about it and act accordingly.

Myron Kuropas's e-mail address is: [email protected].

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