General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Wikileaks Ukraine cable proves US government knew of fascist threat [View all]The Magistrate
(95,247 posts)I have said many times that all sides have a right to fight, but none have a right to succeed.
It is a fact that Yanukovich tried to suppress dissent by force; he has as much right to as any government does. He failed. Rather than serving to assert his legitimacy and cow opposition, he convinced people he had no legitimacy, that he had lost 'the Mandate of Heaven' so to speak. He fled, and what remained of government took steps to fill the vacuum. It is, to my mind, a legitimate exercise of legitimate authority. But even if it were the result of full-blown revolution, the authorities established by the revolution would have the same claim to legitimacy as any other government in being. Whether I agree with it, with its platform and views, is immaterial; it exists, and it governs, it is the government.
The current government in Kiev is making an attempt to use force to suppress secession, secession which is the stalking horse for a foreign power's attempt to annex portions of Ukraine. It may well fail in this attempt, but it has every right to make it. It is nonesense to try and claim that the simple fact of its having made resort to force demonstrates that it is illegitimate, to state that it does not have the same right as every government to use force to defend its territorial integrity.
I have only two strong views in all this.
I am opposed to Russia annexing the eastern portions of Ukraine; I think opening up the map of Europe by force is fraught with potential peril.
I am opposed to the flat distortions and outright lies being peddled by some who support Russia's endeavopr to annex portions of Ukraine.