From today's Washington Post editorial:
Some have described the crisis in Ukraine as a contest for influence between Russia and the West, with the West backing opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko in the same measure that Russian President Vladimir Putin has supported the official candidate. That is a gross distortion. For the Ukrainians who have spent four freezing nights in the streets of Kiev, the fight is not about geopolitical orientation -- most favor close relations with Moscow -- but about whether theirs will be a free country, with an independent press and courts and leaders who are chosen by genuine democratic vote. Mr. Putin, who has channeled hundreds of millions of dollars into the prime minister's campaign, is backing the imposition of an authoritarian system along the lines of the one he is creating in Russia -- with a propagandistic regime, controlled media, official persecution of dissent, business executives who take orders from the state, and elections that are neither free nor fair.
This is amazing for two reasons: First, the Post actually gets it right. Second, their editorial criticizes a regime in which "business executives take orders from the state." Let's hope they've finally seen the light.
P.S. I'm not holding my breath.
Thursday, November 25, 2004
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