Hypocricy galore: Powell's comments on Ukraine

Not to ruin anyone's Thanksgiving, but this link was up on Michael Moore's website, and the outright hypocricy is enough to drive me mad. Particularly the third paragraph makes me want to scream, as Powell states that the U.S. cannot accept the Ukrainian election results "because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse". Meanwhile, those MF's squelch ANY attempt by us to investigate the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse. Ugg.

Happy Thanksgiving. Bah, humbug.

Powell Says Ukraine Vote Was Full of Fraud

By Steven R. Weisman / New York Times

ASHINGTON, Nov. 24 - Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Wednesday that the voting in Ukraine's presidential election was riddled with fraud and that the United States could not accept a victory by Victor F. Yanukovich as legitimate.

In an unusually tough statement that some diplomats said could widen a breach with Russia, which openly backed Mr. Yanukovich, Mr. Powell also warned that there would be "serious consequences" to the American-Ukraine relationship if allegations of fraud were not cleared up.

"We cannot accept this result as legitimate because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse," he said. "It is still not too late for Ukrainian authorities to find a solution that respects the will of the Ukrainian people."

Mr. Powell's comments, delivered at the State Department, came as protests have spread in Kiev over an election on Sunday that has been criticized by international monitors, including Senator Richard G. Lugar, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, as well as by the European Union.

The State Department said Mr. Powell had been engaging in intense diplomatic discussions behind the scenes to try to avert a showdown with Ukraine, and by extension with Moscow. He has urged both sides to be restrained in handling street protests, an official said.

Worries about Ukraine's election have been a part of Bush administration thinking for months, administration officials said, especially because the balloting had become a test of wills between two candidates over relations with Moscow. Mr. Yanukovich backs close ties to Russia, and his opponent, Viktor A. Yushchenko, has called for closer ties to the West.

Those concerns have mounted as relations with Moscow have grown strained over several other issues, including the crackdown by President Vladimir V. Putin on dissent and on the free press, what is seen as Russia's meddling in the affairs of neighboring countries and the use of state powers to favor political allies.

Despite warnings by the Bush administration to Russia not to interfere in the internal politics of another former Soviet republic, Georgia, Mr. Putin openly campaigned for Mr. Yanukovich. That sent a signal that Moscow preferred Ukraine to be part of the Russian sphere of influence as in cold war days.

It was not clear what sort of "consequences" Mr. Powell was referring to. A State Department official said the United States was not ready to consider any cutoff in aid or economic cooperation, particularly aid that has paid for the dismantling of Ukraine's nuclear weapons left over from the cold war.

Last year, the United States gave Ukraine $227 million to promote democratic reforms, help establish a market economy, support security and provide relief aid. Since the 1990's, the United States has dedicated hundreds of millions of dollars to Ukraine's nuclear disarmament.

Mr. Powell called on Ukrainian leaders to explore various alternatives to defuse the situation and added that "one suggestion" was to hold another election. Among other suggestions, a State Department official said, is selective voting in areas where the evidence of fraud was especially obvious, or some kind of power-sharing arrangement.

In pressing for solutions to the problem over the last few days, Mr. Powell spoke on the telephone to the Russian foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, to President Leonid D. Kuchma of Ukraine and to senior European envoys, including the European Union's foreign minister, Javier Solana, the State Department said.

The State Department's top official in charge of relations with Europe, A. Elizabeth Jones, has also been in contact with Ukrainian, Russian and other ambassadors.

Administration officials spoke to concerns that relations between President Bush and Mr. Putin could be damaged, saying Mr. Powell and other American officials were arguing that neither Russia nor the United States had an interest in an unstable situation in Ukraine.

"We have common cause because none of us wants to see a politically unstable Ukraine," a State Department official said. "It can't serve anyone's interest to have a president who lacks popular legitimacy."

Mr. Powell, asked whether the election results reflected Russian interference in Ukraine, said he preferred not to comment.

"What we stand for is free, fair, open elections," he said, adding: "What I would rather do is concentrate on how we get out of, and how the Ukrainians get out of the difficult situation they find themselves in. At a later time, one can talk about how we got into this situation."

Got the above article from http://www.michaelmoore.com/words/index.php?id=384

Also, Can't we use Powell's words against the naysayers? Can't we copy and paste them all over the place and use them as the reason that we MUST investigate? If we repeat his words that an election result is unacceptable if allegations of fraud are not investigated, can't we use his words to SUPPORT our cause, as though he were our spokesperson? Can't we act as though Powell is thereby supporting our cause, and keep acting as though we now have his endorsement whenever we contact media and government leaders?

And thought, how come they can find the problems THERE but not HERE?

And quote Powell - even act as if you're talking about the Ukraine until the end of the letter.

addressed in this country when reading headlines around the world until I read the word Ukraine! I too read this yesterday and saw Powell speak about the election fraud there; I can't remember if he used the exit poll discrepancies as soft 'proof,' but the incredible hypocrisy is almost too much to bear. But isn't this administration great at slinging mud at others to cover up their own?

NO to fraud here - but YES to fraud there!

I just finished reading this on another thread and it occurred to me that the US may be objecting to their supported guy not winning because the Moscow group want to go Euro and we don't want that.

I'm not saying there wasn't election fraud, probably always has been, I'm just saying it's odd how public and determined the US is to have it OUR WAY this time.

???

Understanding the dollar's decline against the euro in the oil business:


President Vladimir Putin has stated both publicly and privately that invoicing Russia's crude-oil and gas exports to the European Union in euros instead of in dollars makes very good sense for both Russia and the EU. Putin is known to have very close relations with "old Europe", primarily Germany and France. His statements and those of German and French leaders have even on occasion drawn attention to the fact that US global dominance fundamentally rests on the fact that the dollar is the international currency, and that if an exit from the dollar were to occur in the sphere of global petro-transactions, the effect would be seriously to undermine that global dominance. Furthermore, a number of oil-exporting countries have already gone on public record as to their preference to make an exit from petro-dollars in favor of petro-euros. They have indicated that if Russia begins such a move to petro-euros, they will rapidly follow Russia's lead. The net effect would be a rapid international abandonment of the dollar as the international currency, which would in turn "bring down the towers" of the heavily debt-ridden US economy.

If Russia is perhaps positioning itself to make even a partial exit from the dollar in the pricing of its petro-transactions, then the Asian and other economies don't want to risk being left out in the cold, unprepared, seeing the value of their own huge dollar reserves undermined by a steep or chaotic decline in the value of the dollar. They cannot afford to ignore Russia's moves. Hence as Russia moves to decrease the percentage of its own holdings of dollars, so are the big Asian economies, as well as many other economies around the globe. No one wants to get burned in the event Russia moves to the euro. Additionally, as the dollar continues to weaken and crude oil continues to rise in price, having the dollar as the preferred international currency for petro-transactions will become more of a liability, especially for the big Asian economies, which are heavy importers of crude oil. This fact will tend to further undermine Asian, as well as the rest of international support for the dollar.

Entire article here:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/FK25Dj03.ht ...

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20041125/D86J5T000.html

I was curious why the Bu$hits were sticking their nose in this election.

:hi:

Powell Says ______Vote Was Full of Fraud

By Steven R. Weisman / New York Times

WASHINGTON, Nov. 24 - Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said Wednesday that the voting in ________'s presidential election was riddled with fraud and that the United States could not accept a victory by ___________ as legitimate.

In an unusually tough statement that some diplomats said could widen a breach with Russia, which openly backed Mr. Yanukovich, Mr. Powell also warned that there would be "serious consequences" to the American-Ukraine relationship if allegations of fraud were not cleared up.

"We cannot accept this result as legitimate because it does not meet international standards and because there has not been an investigation of the numerous and credible reports of fraud and abuse," he said. "It is still not too late for ______ authorities to find a solution that respects the will of the __________ people."

Mr. Powell's comments, delivered at the State Department, came as protests have spread in _____ over an election on Sunday that has been criticized by international monitors.

....

Mr. Powell called on ________ leaders to explore various alternatives to defuse the situation and added that "one suggestion" was to hold another election. Among other suggestions...is selective voting in areas where the evidence of fraud was especially obvious, or some kind of power-sharing arrangement.

.....

"We have common cause because none of us wants to see a politically unstable ______," a State Department official said. "It can't serve anyone's interest to have a president who lacks popular legitimacy."

Mr. Powell, asked whether the election results reflected ______ interference in _______, said he preferred not to comment.

"What we stand for is free, fair, open elections," he said, adding: "What I would rather do is concentrate on how we get out of, and how the _________ get out of the difficult situation they find themselves in. At a later time, one can talk about how we got into this situation."

That actually might work as a letter to the editor (if it were shortened)!