Mick Hall  in a letter to a non-political friend organises his rage against the Ukrainian government of Volodymyr Zelensky.

The US saw an opportunity to poke the bear and foolishly Putin took the bait the rest is history.

In 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet Union the current incarnation of the Ukrainian State emerged Since then it’s been run by gangsters, oligarchs, and opportunist politicians like Zelensky, who promised in his election manifesto if elected he would make a deal with Putin’s Russia.

This would have been the sensible thing to do, not least because over a third of the population were Russian speaking. It was one of the main reasons he won the election in 2021. The other was bringing an end to the rampant corruption. He did neither. If anything, corruption is far worse today than when he came into office. And some say corruption is lapping around his feet.

After he was elected he renegaded on his election promises. It’s said soon after he took office that he had an offer he couldn’t refuse from the fascist Azov Battalion. I don’t know if this is true but a few months later they were incorporated into the Ukraine military, with some members being given senior positions in the army and security services.

To stop the flow of people leaving, Zelensky eventually made it illegal for men between 18 and 60 to leave the country. He has also banned Trade Unions, neutered the media, turned the economy into neoliberalism in-line with the USA, banned books and speaking Russian. If you think about the latter that’s the first language a third of Ukrainians speak!

As far as the West’s response to Putin’s invasion it’s been designed in Langley. And like good little soldiers Europe’s politicians put on Khaki and followed the US military-political-Industrial complex over the top and we are where we are today on the precipice of world war three.

Given the record of the USA military and CIA over the last twenty five years in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and all points NSEW they're little more than Murder Incorporated with Zelensky as their patsy in Ukraine. Their finger prints are all over the recent coup in Peru and the attempted coup in Brazil. On this issue for me the main enemy is at home. I curse the day our politicians got us involved in this war. What they have done is trashed their own economies and for what the second most corrupt country in Europe!

As to your friend going home to join the Ukraine army good luck to him Liam. But if he hasn’t had previous military experience it will be tough for him to survive as both Russia and the Ukraine are using grunts as cannon fodder.

On ceasefires and diplomacy things do look pretty grim, Russia will never concede the Crimean Peninsula but there is a discussion to be had about the eastern region of the Ukraine. Sadly this will never happen when NATO is continuously pouring petroleum on the flames. As to morals they don’t exist in warfare no matter what Zelensky claims to the MSM.

If I were to give you any advice I would say stay clear, sorry I can’t be more help..

All the best to you Liam.

⏩ Mick Hall is a veteran Left Wing activist and trade unionist.

Organised Rage ✑ Against Zelensky's Corrupt Neoliberal Government

Mick Hall  in a letter to a non-political friend organises his rage against the Ukrainian government of Volodymyr Zelensky.

The US saw an opportunity to poke the bear and foolishly Putin took the bait the rest is history.

In 1991 after the breakup of the Soviet Union the current incarnation of the Ukrainian State emerged Since then it’s been run by gangsters, oligarchs, and opportunist politicians like Zelensky, who promised in his election manifesto if elected he would make a deal with Putin’s Russia.

This would have been the sensible thing to do, not least because over a third of the population were Russian speaking. It was one of the main reasons he won the election in 2021. The other was bringing an end to the rampant corruption. He did neither. If anything, corruption is far worse today than when he came into office. And some say corruption is lapping around his feet.

After he was elected he renegaded on his election promises. It’s said soon after he took office that he had an offer he couldn’t refuse from the fascist Azov Battalion. I don’t know if this is true but a few months later they were incorporated into the Ukraine military, with some members being given senior positions in the army and security services.

To stop the flow of people leaving, Zelensky eventually made it illegal for men between 18 and 60 to leave the country. He has also banned Trade Unions, neutered the media, turned the economy into neoliberalism in-line with the USA, banned books and speaking Russian. If you think about the latter that’s the first language a third of Ukrainians speak!

As far as the West’s response to Putin’s invasion it’s been designed in Langley. And like good little soldiers Europe’s politicians put on Khaki and followed the US military-political-Industrial complex over the top and we are where we are today on the precipice of world war three.

Given the record of the USA military and CIA over the last twenty five years in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Libya, Somalia, and all points NSEW they're little more than Murder Incorporated with Zelensky as their patsy in Ukraine. Their finger prints are all over the recent coup in Peru and the attempted coup in Brazil. On this issue for me the main enemy is at home. I curse the day our politicians got us involved in this war. What they have done is trashed their own economies and for what the second most corrupt country in Europe!

As to your friend going home to join the Ukraine army good luck to him Liam. But if he hasn’t had previous military experience it will be tough for him to survive as both Russia and the Ukraine are using grunts as cannon fodder.

On ceasefires and diplomacy things do look pretty grim, Russia will never concede the Crimean Peninsula but there is a discussion to be had about the eastern region of the Ukraine. Sadly this will never happen when NATO is continuously pouring petroleum on the flames. As to morals they don’t exist in warfare no matter what Zelensky claims to the MSM.

If I were to give you any advice I would say stay clear, sorry I can’t be more help..

All the best to you Liam.

⏩ Mick Hall is a veteran Left Wing activist and trade unionist.

21 comments:

  1. If ever there was a politician who was not taken seriously and has been greatly underestimated it is President Zelensky. He was a comdedian elected to high office -something sure to attract ridicule and dismissal as being serious. But we soon saw his integrity through Trumps first impeachment --despite the fact that nobody was taking him as a serious politician in the face of Triump trying to shake him down by using vital aid to Ukraine -he came out of that with flying colours -Trump also refused to invite him to the White House unless Trump got something out of it --the effect of Trump's sleezy shake-downs meant Selenky was not validated as a credibile politician. His next big test, despite the personal danger to himself and his family --he stepped up to the plate saying give me weapons not a lift.

    It's not often we get to judge a politician's integrity by their actions rather than just their assurances: Putin and Zelensky are like chalk and cheese -one is a war criminal and the other is standing up for the freedom of his people at real risk to himself --the motives behind the pro-Putin supporters have to be taken with a pinch of salt.

    Whatever our view about the the overall brinkmanship and rivalry between Russia and NATO -Putin blinked first to devasting cost to his own reputation and the Russian lives he is feeding into the meat grinder of an unjust war.

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    1. Zelensky has been internally repressive and has supported the bombing of Gaza by Israeli war criminals. Things that would not endear me to him. If forced to choose between him and the Russian despot, he would win by a country mile. Trying to depict the resistance to Russia's supreme international crime is a non starter.
      I feel people on the Left, particularly those with a past or present in the useless Communist parties with their preponderance of pound shop revolutionaries, have become so enamoured with the Stalinist method that they prefer most forms of Czarism to most forms of democracy.
      I don't know why Mick does not support the right of Ukraine to resist, preferring instead to depict it as a war between two sets of scoundrels. He has been a lifelong champion of people given a raw deal by capitalism and imperialism, always on the right side of the barricade, yet appears to have a blind spot when it comes to those in Ukraine targeted by Russian aggression.
      But for all that and our differences of opinion, he has been a good friend to us for many years and his output will always find a spot here.

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    2. AM

      I agree with what you say as I was mindful that in politics its not all black and white... I was speaking strictly on a credibility/integrity basis between Putin/Zelensky. Mick makes a fatal error to blindly see the conflict as a western strategy to discredit Putin and Puin fell for it. Putin's war violates just about every international treaty there is from the Universal Declaration, Geneva Convention and the Rome Statute. Settled universal world order has agreed that soveriegn states cannot invade the territory of other sovereign states -that is not a western agreement but universal one. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend' is not a strict or accurate maxim and the left are in a tail spin to catch up with reality.

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    3. In addtion: If the number of Ukrainians that can speak Russian justifies the Russian invision and occupation -how does Mick square that with British occupation of Ireland??

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    4. Mick Hall comments

      AM

      I have never said the Ukraine doesn’t have the right to resist it would be a ridiculous thing to say especially given the current situation.

      I believe this is a war which was manufactured in Langley and Moscow. It’s being led by two scoundrels, Biden and Putin and their underlines. I’m not prepared to support either side.

      Christy

      Who broke the treaties you mentioned and drove a coach and horses through them which opened the door for Putin to do the same?

      You mentioned how can I square my lack of support for the Ukraine with my support for a 32 county Irish republic, it’s because they are not Like for Like. One stood alone for 800 years against injustices inflicted on them by the British state and military, whilst the other has only been a recognised country in the modern era since 1991 and today they have the US/UK/EU military holding their coattails.

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    5. Mick

      Ukraine is an internationally recognised soveriegn state, all soveriegn states, including Russia, have agreed that no State, especially larger States have a right to invade their neighbours, especially smaller neighbours.

      Your defence of Russia is basd upon the rivalry between Russia and NATO but that does not justify you ignoring a greater evil because if fits with your leftist politics. Russia is currently carrying out war crimes and crimes against against humanity. In certain Ukrainian regions Russia is conducting a genocide of depopulation of all residents or non-Russian speaking Ukrainians. I have heard some Russian speaking Ukrainian nationals vow that they will never speak Russian again. In certain regions the Russians have been indiscrimnate where the ability to speak Russian is no protection. Russia have also enslaved countless children, who are being reconditioned to reject their birthright.

      Unfortunately the Left's Antisemitism was ignored because of the complexy of Zionism.
      But it totally discreditted itself with its support for Islamism which exposed a fundamental contradiction in leftist politics. Support for Russia is just a continuation of the flaws and contradictions of far left politics and defence of the most horrendous and barabaric abuses of human rights. The Left use human rights abuses and atrocities as propoganda tool to condemn or support in so far as they adhere to Leftist politics. The Left doesnt condemn human rights abuses only who the violators are.

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    6. Mick, My point about Russia's right to invade Ukraine because many Ukrainians can speak Russian -justifies any Country invading a neighbour for the same reason -the Brits can invade the 26 counties -Germany can invade its neighbours with large german speaking populations or all of Switzerland because its national language is a german dialect.... or loads of other examples.

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  2. PS: Zelensky said he'd maintain friendly relations with his Russian neighbour -and not any underhanded agreement between scoundrals as is suggested.

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  3. Mick . Long before it became "a recognised country in the modern era" in 1991; Ukraine was a distinct nation which suffered under the jackboot of Soviet tyranny. You have heard of the Holodomor man made famine in the 1930s instigated by Stalin to destroy not just the Kulak peasantry but Ukrainian nationhood itself. Russian imperialists such as Putin have always seen Ukraine as part of Kev Rus never as an distinct nation. How can you support the independence of one nation from its larger neighbour (i.e. Ireland from Britain) and not another (Ukraine from Russia)? As a victim of unprovoked aggression from a far right imperialist power; Ukraine as a democratic nation has every right to defend itself through its own heroic efforts and to rely on support from the wider liberal democratic world.

    The sort of arguments you are making represent the moral and intellectual bankruptcy of that part of the Left which only opposes one form of imperialism. Would you have drawn similar equivalences between Nazi Germany and Czechoslovakia and Poland in the late 1930s? Where would you stand if China was to attack Taiwan.

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    1. I heard a young friend mention the other evening that the Holodomor was not genocide. I suppose it rests on how the term is applied. There are certainly two schools of thought on it. It is as much a genocide as the Irish Famine was - that is if you agree the famine was a genocide. I was actually dissuaded from coming down firmly on the genocide view by the way a 'famine fascist' - as he was derisively called - tackled the matter, screaming at everybody who took a different view.
      Genocide or not, the Holodomor was extermination through starvation. By product of a bad economic plan or strategic intent, millions died needlessly. So cruel was it that many Ukrainians thought the NKVD was as bad as if not worse than the SS.

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  4. The biggest elephant in the room when I read whoever talking about big countries invading little countries is .....Israel erosionsof Palestine, the culture...the people who live their (have done for 1,000's of years..... )

    Christy......

    But we soon saw his integrity through Trumps first impeachment --despite the fact that nobody was taking him as a serious politician in the face of Trump trying to shake him down by using vital aid to Ukraine -he came out of that with flying colours -Trump also refused to invite him to the White House unless Trump got something out of it --

    Part of what The Donald wanted was the contents of Hunter Bidens laptop and a complete run down of what the Biden crime family were up to. Not only did MSM stifle the conversation but so did social media....I'll throw this into the mix, so far every charge they've thrown at The Donald, none stuck....

    It's not often we get to judge a politician's integrity by their actions rather than just their assurances: Putin and Zelensky are like chalk and cheese -one is a war criminal and the other is standing up for the freedom of his people at real risk to himself

    Rambo.....His problem isn't Russia. His problem is the West and if he refuses to do their bidding he will get taken out by the CIA and they'll blame Putin. Rambo and Putin aren't 'chalk and cheese' but two cheeks of the same arse...Have a look again at what Mick said....

    "To stop the flow of people leaving, Zelensky eventually made it illegal for men between 18 and 60 to leave the country. He has also banned Trade Unions, neutered the media, turned the economy into neoliberalism in-line with the USA, banned books and speaking Russian."

    To me, Rambo sounds exactly like Putin................

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  5. Frankie

    So speak of elephants -the Jews occupied the region before Muslims. If you want to equally respect religions then the regions was God's chosen land for Jews and is every bit a significant as Mecca -Muslims took control of Christian and Jewish places of worship and either killed them or drove them away. Isreal is a terrorist state but Hamas and other Muslim organisations arent any better -they dont treat their own people better than the Isrealis. If the Brits blitzed entire neighbourhoods after every IRA mortar attack... I dont think theyd continue firing mortars... But Hamas fire Katyusha rockets to harmlessly hit pavements in Isreali territority just for the propoganda value of Isreals excessive response.

    Trump is a prime example of what the social elite and rich can get away with, from sexual exploitation and abuse all his life to grafting, cheating and corruption --- that he has gotten away with it is not evidence of his innocence -the Mob take the 5th. It appalls me with what they get away with -as they say, if a poor man owes a bank $1 he is in trouble but if a rich man owes a bank $1M, the Bank is in trouble. But I expect Trump is lucking out soon.

    Russia is not Zelensky/Ukraines problem --Id say the mass graves, war crimes and devastation throughout Ukraine makes you sound like a MAGA fascist with a hard on for Putin.

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    1. "the Jews occupied the region before Muslims. If you want to equally respect religions then the regions was God's chosen land for Jews and is every bit a significant as Mecca -Muslims took control of Christian and Jewish places of worship and either killed them or drove them away."

      For years the Israeli's have been looking for the biological marker that would set them different from everyone else..God's chosen people..

      Imagine the irritation they had when they found that the ancestors of themselves and the Palestinians...are the same people!

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  6. Frankie

    In time of war all countries put restrictions on their citizens, including making some things obligatory and international human rights law incorporate derogations to certain human rights a freedoms. On the face of it, the Ukrainians are as united as any people can be -I dont think too many disagree with how Zelensky is showing leadership in the fight against Russia. And I havent got any sense that Zelensky is a Rambo -history will probably record him as an inexperienced politician who stepped up to the plate in extrodinary circumstances and has acted in the best interests of his nation.

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  7. Christy....Open the link I provided and find out what the Biden crime family got up to in Ukraine before the war...(during the lead up the 2014 coup and after).

    Rambo is a stool pigeon and his wife is no better than a footballers WAG...While Ukrainians and Russians are being killed and maimed daily, Rambo's wife likes to shop in Paris and quiet happily spends the money Rambo skimmed on his way to becoming a multi-multi millionaire/billionaire...(how do think a second rate comic became that rich? ) then she goes on to TV wearing her designer clothes while millions of Ukrainians only have one shirt.....

    International law, Geneva Convention etc....All look good on paper but then the 'big 3 + Israel' don't give a toss about international law, (successive UK Gov's have ignored international law when it suits them too....)...

    And where are the UN peace keepers in all this?

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    1. Frankie

      I have no time for Qanon shit --maybe you should run a 'whois' check on what you take as 'relaible sources' so to speak.

      I reservedly agree with you with regard to international law --there are easy ways around it or disregard it like you suggest --but generially imperialism and taking over countries to expand your boarders is settled international law that is respected.

      You appear to be coming across as the MAGA type of conspiracy theorist that will say anything to discredit Trump or Putins enemies. I have no view about what is or is not on any laptop or if ever was Hunter Bidens --he was not in government even if he is a crook. Your only point is to distract away from the former Mob President.

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    2. Frankie, there was no coup in 2014 just an uprising against a corrupt Kremlin placement who vetoed Ukraine's desire for closer links to the EU which was bloodily suppressed in Maidan square. The illegal annexation of Crimea and Donna's then followed with no response from the rest of the world.

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  8. Mick Hall comments

    Just so I’m clear, I’m not prepared to support Biden, Putin, nor their underlings. I don’t think I can be clearer than that. I’m not alone in doing this even though Joe Biden and his poster-boy for war Zelenskyy claimed recently the whole world is supporting the Ukraine, which is just not true, it’s one more lie of many. (I have no doubt Putin says much the same crap to his people)

    China, Brazil, Turkey most of Africa including South Africa, India, and much of Asia don’t support any side in this war, along with an increasing number of Europeans. It’s time for a ceasefire and negotiations, as that old villain once said jaw jaw is better than war war. There is a way it could end peacefully the Ukraine becomes a non aligned state with security guarantees from the UN etc, sadly this won’t happen when all sides are throwing petroleum on the flames and threatening Armageddon.

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    1. Mick

      Your proposal is a non-runner because Putin will not give up an inch of Ukraine voluntarily. And given your long solidarity with the Irish resistance to British occupation of the six counties I would expect you to support Ukraine's right to self determination and Russia cannot occupy any part of Ukraine. Any negotiated agreement must mean all Russian occupation of Ukrainian territory has to be vacated. Occupation of Crimea was resisted by Ukrainians but there is no returning to that arragnment either... I have no doubt the Ukrainians will never stop until all occupation troops are dead or evicted --even if many western countries begin to get war weary.

      The west has fallen victim of its own freedom and availability of various information sources so there is no comparison with Russian or Chinese censorship. I think the claim of support for Ukraine is exagerated -its the nature of propoganda --but most reasonable people and nations would see the Russian unprovoked agression as the greater evil by far.

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    2. Mick,

      I think you can be clearer.

      From what I can see most opposed to the Russian war on Ukraine don't support Putin or Biden. They identify what you identified - Russia has no right to invade. Ukraine has a right to resist.

      The countries you mentioned that claim to be neutral have a strong authoritarian streak. The Chinese Capitalist Party which calls itself the Chinese Communist Party just loves the idea of being able to suppress dissent; India has moved to the right under Modi in a way never thought possible under Indira Ghandi; South Africa is a fine example of where revolutionaries end up if not brought under democratic control; Brazil when under Bolsonaro moved the country to the brink of fascism; Turkey has embraced the Islamist right in a way unimaginable to Ataturk. All these countries identify with authoritarianism and draconian regime implementation. Russia under Putin is erotica to them.

      I do agree - talks rather than war. Best way to start that process is for all sides to pull back to the pre war position. Stop the occupation and start the talks.

      As we know even from Lenin - another autocratic chancer - there is a difference between a so called bourgeoise democracy (as much as I hate talking like that because it makes me sound like a leftoid!!!) and an absolutist capitalist state. Look at your own situation - bad as England is under the Tories you have more democratic space within which to struggle and dissent than you have in the absolutist states.

      Sartre's position of the worse the better was tosh.

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  9. Christy.....

    So speak of elephants -the Jews occupied the region before Muslims.

    Now what I said was......"Israel's erosion of Palestine, the culture...the people who live their (have done for 1,000's of years..... )"

    I never said anything about Muslims. Palestine has been mentioned since at least the 5th century BCE in Greek writings. And Palestinians have been around longer. Islam came along 1,000 yrs later.....And for the record not all Palestinians are Muslim.

    If you want to equally respect religions then the regions was God's chosen land for Jews

    Which God? Grab a bible and check out what Gen 1 v 27 says...("Let us make them in our likeness".....) That tells me there must be more than one God, so again which God gave that part of the world to the Jews. I know it can't be the new woke lets go pink gender neutral God the vegans are talking about today. Personally I don't care what God anyone prays to on any given day of the week. I wont bow down and pray to one....I gave up on religion over 30 yrs ago.

    Isreal is a terrorist state but Hamas and other Muslim organisations arent any better -they dont treat their own people better than the Isrealis.

    You wont find any argument with me in what you said.

    If the Brits blitzed entire neighbourhoods after every IRA mortar attack... I dont think theyd continue firing mortars...

    The Brits 'blitzed entire neighbourhoods ' only they used different tactics some examples..... interment without trial, using Loyalist death squads to murder at will, arrest young men like you on trumped up charges, beat and tortured young men and women in Castlereagh and got them to sign forced confessions....The Brits blitzed at will.

    Trump is a prime example of what the social elite and rich can get away with, from sexual exploitation and abuse all his life to grafting, cheating and corruption,

    I have been talking on/off about the sexual exploration of children by the world elite for years on TPQ. I've penned pieces about Kincora, Westminster , European Royalty, talked about Dutroux, asked questions about how John Podesta and the Clinton foundation covered up sex trafficking. I think I was the first Quiller to ask questions about The Donalds relationship with Epstein before he was arrested the second time. I have also asked "What did Ashley Biden mean in her diary about having 'sexually inappropriate showers with daddy (Creepy Joe Biden)"..... Bidens are as dysfunctional as the Kennedys — and protected by the press

    I have no time for Qanon shit --maybe you should run a 'whois' check on what you take as 'relaible sources' so to speak.

    Christy....I didn't need to use 'who is', 'passive recon' or any other tool you care to mention. Do your own research.

    You appear to be coming across as the MAGA type of conspiracy theorist that will say anything to discredit Trump or Putins enemies. Your only point is to distract away from the former Mob President.

    I don't know what you mean by "the former Mob President"......If you mean The Donalds ties to the American Mafia, that the ill informed talk about, that has been debunked. If you don't believe me..... open the link and listen to what Michael Franzese a former caporegime in the Colombo crime family has to say on the subject.

    As for Qanon and MAGA , like the Donald, simply great free entertainment, nothing more or less....And I think Rambo is a corrupt stool pigeon.

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