Ukraine as the Country of Liars
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Ukraine as the Country of Liars
15.04.2014
Alexander Rodgers, Ukrainian essay writer
There is a wonderful story by Italian writer Gianni Rodari, Gelsomino nel paese dei bugiardi (“Jasmine in the Country of Liars, 1958). Its hero, a very honest boy finds himself in a country of liars, where dogs are called cats (and where they are also made to mew). As a result of an armed coup the power there was taken by dictators, who, in order to disguise the fact, diverted the meaning of most words, having replaced “war” by “peace”, and “dictatorship” by “democracy”.
You can observe exactly the same process in present day Ukraine: armed guerrillas are called “peaceful protesters”, the junta bears the name of “legal authorities”, those who oppose the dictatorship are called “separatists”, and pro-Western freebees are portrayed as “patriots”. Oh, and certain “Trains of Friendship” made an appearance here, consisting of hundreds of armed ultra-right guerrillas, travelling by railway from Western Ukraine to the rebellious East. All these acts are masked, done stealthily, whereas the population is drowned in the sea of lies and false smiles to the accompaniment of sweet stories about “the united Ukraine”, the country, which unity they themselves have buried by their display of faked supremacy and open conceit.
We have even got a bald dictator wearing a golden wig, just like in Rodari’s fairy tale. Though, it is Turchinov, the acting president, who is bald, and the chignon is decorating Tymoshenko’s head, but, nevertheless, they both constitute a sort of a collective dictator.
A “free” and “democratic” country, which allows her citizens to think in accordance with a fixed template only, and the word “plebiscite” (implying the direct volition of a nation!) became a derogatory and forbidden term. We can see the use of double standards everywhere. When the westerners (dwellers of the western part of Ukraine) seize control over administrative buildings, it is viewed as “the will of people”. When the South-East does the same, it is labeled as “terrorism”. When armed with baseball bates westerners run wildly along the streets wearing helmets, they are called “peaceful protesters”, whereas the armed people in the South-West are “separatists”. If the dwellers of Lviv declare their rebellion against the central authorities, the act is called an uprising, if the citizens of Donetsk do the same, it is called a revolt.
The rising of the EU banner in Maidan is considered to be the expression of patriotism, whereas the rising of Russian flag in Kharkov - and expression of treason. Polish and American politicians are welcome to make speeches in Maidan, finance the coup and apply diplomatic pressure. At the same time Russian and Belarusian politicians are frowned upon when they are merely expressing their opinion. When European and American ambassadors arrogantly and openly instruct their Ukrainian puppets, the junta calls in “independent policy”, and when Russians voice their indignation with the western meddling into Ukrainian internal affairs, it is viewed as an attempt to “impinge the sovereignty”. Which “sovereignty” is meant, the one that has already been nullified by the “provisional government”? In fact, two floors of a hotel in Kiev are occupied by an improvised anti-crisis centre of the CIA, carrying out the actual rule over the country, and the “provisional” ones are only vocalizing American orders. The absurdity rate is so high, that the USA attempt to impose the pipeline rates for Ukraine on the Russian Federation.
However, the ugliest lie uttered by the junta is calling the people’s militia of the South-East “terrorists”, and the dictatorship’s guerrillas’ assault against it - “anti-terror campaign”. The castigators, taking part in these campaigns, are called “self-defense”. An attacking self-defence force is a rare sight indeed! What a loathsome lot the internet-commentators are, who enthusiastically strive to drown the state in blood! As for me, I do not want to share the country with these blatantly bloodthirsty fiends! To be exact, I do not want THEM to live in the same country with me. They should follow the instruction “suitcase-airport-the USA” and join their no less bloodthirsty masters.
Have they even taken the trouble to think of how much time it would take for the national economy to reconstruct in the aftermath of the civil war, or consider the fate of millions of pensioners in the course of a large-scale civil conflict? They evidently have not, as their hatred is overflowing and pushing them towards bloodshed.
Thus, the total system of lies is overwhelming and widespread. The worst off are those who are the easy game and believe every lie- they are almost schizophrenic by now. Not only media lie on the regular basis, but all the public figures follow the case. Popular pop-singer Ruslana offered to carry out a self-immolation. Later she explained it was a joke. Yarosh (the head of the so-called Right Sector) had already put forward a dozen of ultimatums, none of which was followed by actions. Liashko (the leader of the Radical Party) promised to head the battalion of castigators and attack the East, but got lost in the outskirts of Kiev. Avakov, the acting interior minister, who also made a promise of shooting himself if the town of Slaviansk (what a telling name!) is not “liberated from separatists” till the midnight two days ago-is unable to obtain a gun, it seems. Or, perhaps, his hands are trembling. These are mere trifles.
Turchinov and Yatseniuk are the biggest liars of all. At first they signed an Agreement on Truce and Reconcilement with Yanukovich on February, 21st, and the very next day they broke the Agreement, having inspired a bloody bath in the centre of Kiev. Lately, the next day after having promised peace, concessions and plebiscite to the South-East, they started hostilities instead. To believe them is to believe pathological liars. Any negotiations with them are useless, for they will inevitably deceive again. At times it seems to me that they are unable to utter a single word of truth, because the correspondent areas of their brains have already got mummified.
It gets worse and worse as it goes on. Earlier they lied about the non-visa regime with the EU, then about the war with Russia (simultaneously begging Russia to lower the pipeline tariffs and to give new credits), and now they are lying about European aid and the IMF credits. They promised the credit of 27 bln dollars from the IMF to arrive in two weeks time - one week is already over, by the way - to help solve all Ukrainian economic problems.
Unfortunately, a couple of days ago the latest IMF’s report was published, in which the Fund refused to give any prognosis concerning Ukrainian economy. In order for you to understand the implications, I will mention the fact that the only other country which was left without a prognosis was Somali. The Statute of the IMF rules out any credit insurance arrangements for the countries with no prognosis. There are no relevant mechanisms of issuing such credit arrangements. Thus, the IMF is unable to aid Ukraine irrespective of its good will. Accordingly, there exist no banks wishing to allot credits to the crooks who would never return the loan.
Besides, I would like to expand on the issue of “honesty” and “patriotism”. Why do you think the “provisional authorities” do what they do, in order to save Ukraine? This suggestion is not even funny. They do it for profit, of course! The new Head of the National Bank of Ukraine, field commander Kubiv, refinanced bank “Privat” by 9 bln UAH absolutely baselessly. “Privat” poured all this money into the interbank in order to buy dollars cheaply, having torn down the weak Ukrainian currency market as a result. Since then dollar costs one Hryvnia more each day, and the inflation process is seemingly endless. This way the economy of Ukraine is being ruined for the sake of self interest.
I do not want to guess how long the pro-Western regime in Kiev will last, - perhaps, a week or two. Its oncoming downfall is only to be expected. These people have no ideas, no cadres, no resources, no courage, and no conscience. Even the elite units of Ukrainian Secret Service SBU do not want to fight on the side of the Western puppets. That was why the junta failed to launch large-scale hostilities in Slaviansk. And as far as all sorts of “self-defence forces” and “National Guards” are concerned, they are only suited exercise. The downfall of this regime is inevitable.
The Truth will conquer it. I am no Jasmine, but my voice will also be heard in the victorious chorus of the Truth.
Translated by Olga Greenyuk