by James Thompson
There has been much discussion of the crisis in the Ukraine in the press across the world. The recent coup d’état in the Ukraine has been characterized by the U.S. Press in general and Secretary of State John Kerry in particular as being an orderly, democratic process being conducted by the “freedom loving” people of the Ukraine. Russia Today has played images of Kerry speaking alternated with videos of the destructive coup d’état in the Ukraine and which many people were hurt or killed and there was much destruction of property. These clips may be called Russian propaganda by the Western media, but they clearly illustrate and instruct us on the gross hypocrisy of US propaganda.
Stench of fascism detected in the US.
As it turns out, the mendacity of this outrageous propaganda is starting to stink. The stink we are all smelling is the stench of fascism.
The BBC http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-26079957  and other news sources http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article37599.htm  have exposed the lies and prevarications of US government officials and their sordid support of the open fascists who now control the government of Ukraine. Victoria Nuland, Assistant Secretary of State, openly announced that the US has invested $5 billion to support the fascists. This is, of course, an outrageous expenditure of precious taxpayer money that is not in the interest of the working people of the United States of America.
What is Fascism?
Before this article goes any further, “fascism” should be clearly defined since it is often used and poorly understood. George Dimitrov in his book “Against Fascism and War” clearly defined fascism on page 2: “Fascism in power was correctly described by the 13th Plenum of the Executive Committee of the Communist International as the open terrorist dictatorship of the most reactionary, most chauvinistic and most imperialist elements of finance capital.” He continues on page 7 “But whatever the masks that fascism adopts, whatever the forms in which it presents itself, whatever the ways by which it comes to power–
Fascism is a most ferocious attack by capital on the mass of the working people;
Fascism is unbridled chauvinism and predatory war;
Fascism is rabid reaction and counterrevolution;
Fascism is the most vicious enemy of the working class and of all working people.”
Dimitrov should know. He was a Bulgarian in Germany who was accused by the Nazis of firebombing the Reichstag. He defended himself in a Nazi trial and won.
What is the USA doing?
Supporting fascists is what the US government, the best cheerleaders for capitalism that money can buy, is doing. The US government has and is supporting, encouraging, defending and funding fascists in the Ukraine.
Marxists generally believe that fascism is a political tool of capitalism that is used during times of economic crises especially when there is a threat from the left. The world capitalist system has been in a state of acute crisis since 2008. The crisis has been extreme in the Ukraine and many have noted that the country is near economic collapse.
Ushering in and cavorting with the fascists is none other than Communist fighting Sen. John McCain. He has been photographed in meetings with the fascists, but even president Obama has met with the fascist leader of the Ukraine who is also the head of the Ukrainian Fatherland Party.
Meanwhile, the rest of the world is holding its nose in disgust.
What is the history of the US support of fascism?
Here is one article that details a list of 35 countries where the USA has supported fascists and other degenerates to further the interests of the wealthy, capitalist class: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/news/ukraine-is-latest-of-35-countries-where-the-united-states-has-supported-fascists-drug-lords-and-terrorists#.UyZOPRROVFI
How has NATO been involved in the spread of capitalism?
It must be remembered that NATO was founded in 1949 and its first Secretary-General, Lord Ismay, stated that the organization’s goal was “to keep the Russians out, the Americans in, and the Germans down.” NATO’s foundation initiated a long series of imperialist wars during the Cold War and has continued since the end of the Soviet Union. NATO has intervened in Bosnia, Herzegovina and Kosovo from 1992 until 1999. Those interventions started as the Soviet Union ended and resulted in the destruction of the Yugoslavian socialist state which was a former ally of the USSR. NATO intervened in Afghanistan in 2001 and this still continues. This intervention which was preceded by the US support of the Mujahideen and Osama bin Laden who succeeded in bringing down the socialist government of Afghanistan, which was an ally of the USSR. NATO has been involved in the Iraq war and Iraq has been a traditional ally of Russia. NATO intervened in Libya and provoked a coup d’état against Moammar Gadhafi which ultimately resulted in his death. Gadhafi had supported socialism in Libya and revolutionary movements around the world. Libya was at one time an ally of the USSR.
Starting on March 12, 1999 membership in NATO has been granted to many former socialist countries, former allies of the Soviet Union and former republics of the Soviet Union to include the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Albania and Croatia.
What is the relationship of the Russian Federation with the Ukrainian crisis?
Lenin taught us that the definition of a revolution is the passing of state power from one class to another. The Russian counterrevolution of 1991 resulted in the passing of state power from the working class to the capitalist class. The current Russian government is clearly a capitalist controlled government. Before the coup d’état in the Ukraine, the democratically elected government headed by Victor Yanukovich was clearly a capitalist government. So, by this definition, the crisis in the Ukraine is not a revolution or counterrevolution. State power has remained in the hands of the capitalists. The fascists who head the current Ukrainian government are still cheerleaders for capitalism. They are merely the more extreme sectors of the population in the Ukraine and represent a tiny minority of the Ukrainian people. Apparently, they are espousing anti-Semitic, anti-communist and anti-Russian laws which would give members of certain groups a different set of rights from “real Ukrainians.” We all know that the German Nazis started this line of thinking and it ended in vicious wars of occupation and large segments of the German population being relegated to concentration camps and mass executions.
One can easily see that both the Russian capitalists and Russian working class in both Russia and the Ukraine have been backed into a corner of sorts by the Western capitalists. The Western capitalists are using their fascist puppets in the Ukraine to terrorize Russians.
It is important to consider the history of the relationship between Russia, the Ukraine and Germany. Nazi Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 21, 1941. German soldiers first entered the Ukraine during the invasion. Ultimately, they were defeated by the Soviets and were driven back to Berlin in defeat. This happened after millions of people were slaughtered. The goal of the German invasion was to exterminate Communists and seize the natural resources of the USSR and the neighboring region.
It should be remembered that the Ukraine has for a long time been considered “the bread basket of Russia.” Russian oil and gas is piped through the Ukraine to the EU. It is easy to see the importance of close economic ties between Russia and the Ukraine for their respective peoples. It is also easy to see why Russians would be sensitive to the presence of Western fascists on their borders.
Just after World War II, in 1954, Nikita Khrushchev, a Ukrainian and leader of the Soviet Union, gave the Crimea to Ukraine. It had formerly been part of Russia. Recent research has discovered that Khrushchev propagated much of the anti-Communist lies about the Soviet Union which have become standard propaganda for US capitalists.
Why fascists must be stopped.
The people of the world know the history of global destruction and ruin brought to their doorsteps by fascists in the past. We remember the hateful ideology which led to genocide. We are hearing the same ideology espoused again and it is being openly supported by the government leaders of the United States.
Prior to World War II, if the Western nations and the Soviet Union had joined together and quashed the fascists in Germany and Italy, the world would be much more advanced today. Instead of vast resources being spent and destroyed in a vicious war, resources could have been spent on science, technology, healthcare and education and the world would be in a far better place than it is today. Millions of lives could have been saved. Families would not have been torn apart. Vast numbers of people would not have been tortured. Perhaps two cities in Japan would not have been incinerated by atomic blasts and a city in Germany would not have been reduced to ashes by firebombing. Many cities in the Soviet Union would not have been held in siege for years.
This is why working people across the globe must unite and fight the fascists both at home and abroad. There can be no excuse for people of conscience to support the use of fascism to oppress working people. The destruction that fascism brings affects people of all races, classes, sexes, political persuasion, etc. The fascists in Germany had horribly destructive weapons to use against the people of the countries that they invaded. However, what they had were mere slingshots compared to the nuclear weapons that are available today. As one famous antiwar song from the 60s proclaimed as sung by Pete Seeger “we can all be cremated equally.”
