The Only Standards Are Double Standards for the US in Ukraine

[newthinking]

[font size="2"]The Only Standards Are Double Standards for the US in Ukraine

President Obama is still embracing Official Washington’s false narrative on Ukraine as he hypocritically
blames the crisis entirely on Moscow and ignores the West’s role in toppling an elected president and provoking a nasty civil war[/font]

by Robert Parry
Posted at CommonDreams.org


President Barack Obama and President-elect Petro Poroshenko of Ukraine talk after statements
to the press following their bilateral meeting at the Warsaw Marriott Hotel in Warsaw, Poland, June 4, 2014.
(Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

[center][font size="2"]"The U.S. presents itself as the great guardian of
democracy and constitutional order, except when those democratic
impulses conflict with U.S. interests."[/font][/center]

Sometimes in dealing with the U.S. government and its compliant mainstream media, I’m left with the feeling that if it weren’t for double standards, there would be no standards at all. From President Barack Obama to the editors at the Washington Post and the New York Times, it’s obvious that what’s good for the goose is not good for the gander.

An election in an embattled country is valid and even inspiring if it turns out the way Official Washington wants, as in Ukraine last month; otherwise it’s a sham and illegitimate, as in Syria this month.

Similarly, people have an inalienable right of self-determination if it’s Kosovo or South Sudan, but not if it’s Crimea or the Donbass region of Ukraine. Those referenda for separation from Ukraine must have been “rigged” though there is no evidence they were. Everything is seen through the eye of the beholder and the beholders in Official Washington are deeply biased.

[center][font size="2"]"Official Washington’s narrative of
the crisis must always be maintained, whatever
the lack of verifiable evidence."[/font][/center]

When it comes to military interventions, U.S. officials such as Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power assert a “responsibility to protect” transcending national sovereignty if civilians are threatened in Libya or in Syria, but not when the civilians are being slaughtered in Gaza, Odessa, Mariupol or Donetsk. When those killings are being done by U.S. allies, the allies are praised for their “restraint.”

Continued:
https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/06/05-4

[reformist2]

1. That first sentence says it all.

[newthinking]

2. What is most troubling is that the neo-cons were involved

Victoria Nuland is the wife of famous PNAC founder Richard Perl (how we got the Iraq war" after the "New Pearl Harbor&quot . How the heck did she get in a place to continue the awful policies that were implemented under Bush?