Democracy Imposed by Force in Afghanistan is Doomed

The failure of the US and NATO in combating terrorism, imposing Western-style democracy, and restoring normal life in Afghanistan are ever more obvious. Although acknowledging difficulties, Washington and Brussels pretend everything is going as planned. The Canadian newspaper Globe and Mail echoes this viewpoint in an article by the Canadian representative at NATO headquarters in Afghanistan, Colonel George Petrolecas. He quotes touching anecdotes in his article. There are an increasing number of girls in Afghan schools, falling child mortality rates, and that the multi-national forces are fighting polio. All of this is good of itself, of course. Unfortunately, the overall status of the country has not improved since the NATO multinational forces ousted the Taliban from Kabul some six years ago.

In fact, the situation on the ground is deteriorating daily, as the American magazine Time pointed out in its 14 July issue. Yes, the Taliban suffered crushing blows from the NATO forces. However, according to evidence offered by Zamir Kabulov, the Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan, it continues to control up to 25 percent of the Afghan territory. Moreover, with support from Al Qaeda terrorists, the Taliban sharply increased its operations recently, including strikes launched from Pakistani tribal areas into Afghanistan.

Every day, terrorist acts occur throughout Afghanistan, killing both civilians and members of the coalition forces. During May and June 2008, there were more combat-related deaths in Afghanistan than in Iraq. Violence was up 40 percent in the first half of this year as compared to the same period last year. The Afghan people are demoralised because of the frequency of civilian deaths caused by NATO and US operations. BBC reports say that 47 villagers, 39 of them women and children, were killed in a US air raid in eastern Nangarkhar province this month. After a similar incident in Jalalabad a year ago, President Khamid Karzai of Afghanistan warned the NATO command that the patience of the Afghan people was running out. 

On a visit to Kabul recently, US presidential candidate Barack Obama advocated sending more troops and military hardware to Afghanistan. This echoes the thoughts in the Globe and Mail article by Colonel Petrolecas, who remarked smugly that the West is not the Soviet Union, and that Russia’s hard-won experience in Afghanistan is of no relevance to NATO or its allies. These comments look more like a Cold War-style attempt to jeer at Russia rather than an attempt to analyse the situation as it is. This is strange, since Moscow is a true ally of Washington and Brussels in combating terrorism in Afghanistan. Instead of boastful mockery, the US and NATO should draw conclusions from their failure in Iraq, where their attempts to impose democracy by brute force in violation of the UN Charter proved a complete failure. As if responding to Mr Obama, former US National Security adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski wrote in the British newspaper Financial Times that boosting the American military presence in Afghanistan will not solve the problem of combating terrorism in that country. 

22 July 2008

Viktor Yenikeyev

Voice of Russia World Service

http://www.ruvr.ru/main.php?lng=rus&q=77779&cid=19&p=22.07.2008 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

George Bush is attempting to fight two regional conflicts, garrison the Balkans, and threaten Russia, all with a skeleton regular-force army of only 33 manoeuvre brigades. This is not the army of a “super-power”. The US is only a superpower because of its naval squadrons deployed throughout the world. The US ground forces have not fought a large-scale continental war against a peer-force since 1945. Such people should not boast, I would think, especially when George Bush called reservists in their 50s back to the colours to avoid having to conscript 19-year-olds. Ask the grunts that had to accept stop-loss orders and stay in a war zone past their discharge date what they think…

The Church of Cyprus Refuses to Participate in the Kiev Celebrations Marking the 1,020th Anniversary of the Baptism of Russia

Archbishop Chrysostom Demetriou (1941- ), FIrst Hierarch of the Local Church of Cyprus

Moscow, 22 July 2008 (Interfax):

The Church of Cyprus decided to refuse to participate in the celebrations marking the 1,020^th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia at the end of the week in Kiev. A statement of the Holy Synod of the Local Church of Cyprus said that it shall not participate in the festivities in the Ukraine, “The First Hierarch shall not do so, nor shall any other representative of the Church”. This decision, adopted three days before the arrival of Patriarch Bartholomew in Kiev, places him in a difficult position, since everyone assumed that the chorus from the Kikkskogo Monastery in Cyprus would have sung at the Liturgy in St Sofia Cathedral in Kiev and also at the pannikhida for the victims of Stalinism (what is mislabelled the Holodomyr by Galician extremists: editor’s note) reports the website Bogoslov.ru.

Recently, Archbishop Chrysostom, the First Hierarch of the Church of Cyprus, visited Moscow. When he met with Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and all Russia, he was able to see easily that His Holiness was troubled by the interference of the Ukrainian and Estonian governments in church matters. “Whenever politicians interfere in the life of the church, they frequently ruin things, not build them up, for only a few contemporary politicians follow reasonable moral values”, Archbishop Chrysostom said. “We are greatly saddened by this situation. We have never agreed to any similar action. The Holy Canons take first place in the church, and we must strictly observe them. We are called to maintain, not destroy, [Orthodox] unity”, he added. He also noted that Patriarch Aleksei said to him that some politicians “want to tear apart the ancient spiritual and canonical connections between the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, and there are Orthodox ‘brothers’ willing to aid them in this”. In turn, Archbishop Chrysostom told Patriarch Aleksei that there was an emphatic need for solidarity amongst the Local Orthodox Churches in averting schisms, since such are capable of inflicting grievous wounds to world Orthodoxy. Patriarch Aleksei then thanked Vladyki Chrysostom for his solid, frank, and principled position.

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/cis.php?act=news&div=25605 (in Russian)

The UAOC (MP) says that the Ukrainian Government is Negotiating with the EP on the Behalf of Ukrainian Schismatics

The assembled bishops of the MP at the late Archpastoral Council. They, not Black Bart and the traitor Yushchenko, have authority in the Ukraine. May God give us strength to crush the evil unleashed by the EP. 

Moscow, 22 July 2008 (Interfax):

The Ukrainian Autonomous Orthodox Church of the MP (UAOC (MP)) accused the Ukrainian political leadership of attempting to foment a schism in Orthodoxy in the Ukraine with the active cooperation of the EP. Archimandrite Kirill Govorun, the head of the Department of External Church Relations of the UAOC (MP), said that negotiations between the EP and the Ukrainian government were going on for the last several days with the active participation of President Viktor Yushchenko, the newspaper Sevodnya (Today) reported on Tuesday.

Fr Kirill asserts that the reason for the negotiations is that the Ukrainian government wants Bartholomew to declare union between the EP and two schismatic Ukrainian “Orthodox” bodies, the so-called “Patriarchate of Kiev” and the so-called “Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church”, and make their leaders Metropolitans of the EP. Yushchenko wants Bartholomew to announce this on 26 July, when the EP visits the Ukraine for the celebration of the 1,020^th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. If these negotiations are successful, the newspaper noted that both of these structures would gain “canonicity”, since they are recognised by no other Local Church at present.

Fr Kirill believes that this course of events would lead only to emphatic opposition in church circles and from non-Orange Ukrainian political parties, to seizures of churches by schismatics, and, the main thing, schism in world Orthodoxy. According to the information received by Fr Kirill, both Yushchenko and Philaret Denisenko, the leader of the so-called “Patriarchate of Kiev” (a deposed cleric of the MP rightly under an anathema: editor’s note), want the EP to grant autocephaly to that schismatic body in the very near future. However, Fr Kirill is certain that Bartholomew has other plans. “Today, its flock numbers three million people (sic), scattered throughout the world. If it took over the Ukraine, such an action would considerably increase its flock. Yushchenko believes that [Bartholomew] will hardly refuse such an offer”, he stated.  

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/cis.php?act=dujour&div=12 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

Things are worse than I thought yesterday. Yushchenko is a traitor to Orthodoxy and a blasphemer who dares to divide the Body of Christ. Black Bart is worse. There are no words to describe such vileness. This means war, and such a war may not be merely rhetorical or confined to the ecclesiastical sphere. God help us and preserve us from the evil being unleashed by Yushchenko and Bartholomew. May the Lord have mercy on their souls for such perfidiousness and wickedness.

Speech of Archpriest Vsevolod Chaplin at the World Russian People’s Congress (VRNS) on the 90th Anniversary of the Murder of the Imperial Family

Today, any church-minded person, any Orthodox Christian, cannot help but be inspired by the fact that tens of thousands of people have poured into Yekaterinburg to honour the memory of Tsar St Nikolai Aleksandrovich and his family. We see people of different social classes, generations, and nationalities. They came from throughout Russia and they came from abroad. They came here to thank the holy tsar for what he did for Russia, to glorify his martyric podvig (“heroic exploit” is a VERY weak rendering, a strongly-emphatic word in Russian: editor’s note), and to ask for his intercessions before the Throne of God both for us and for our country.

These pilgrims have already given their judgement of the tragedy that occurred here some 90 years ago. The Orthodox Church gave its judgement, for it glorified the imperial family and placed them amongst the assembly of the saints. However, there are politicians, historians, and journalists who, until now, refuse to evaluate this event clearly and squarely. What exactly did occur during those dark days in those troubled years? Truly, after all we now know from history, are there still those who would dare to say that the imperial family were rightfully subjected to arrest, humiliations, and murder? At its heart, was this not a political crime, one undertaken to smash the basis of the traditional Russian state and intended to break the spirit of the Russian people to prevent their future revival?

I am utterly convinced that Russia shall not be able to go confidently into the future if it does not cleanse itself of the sin of regicide that lies upon our history. I do not accept vacuous “expressions of national repentance”, for this is a pale substitute for the sacrament of repentance as we Orthodox know it. Those who are guided by a churchly spirit and are working at present for the spiritual revival of Russia are free from the consequences of this sin of regicide. However, the state, in refusing to clearly condemn the crimes committed against the imperial family, burdens not only itself, but, to a certain extant, our people as well, with the consequences of this crime.

Indeed, it is right that our people should give a high estimation to many accomplishments of the Soviet era. Yes, we do indeed have the right to say that during this historical period, especially in the 40s, 50s, and 60s, we brought peace to many peoples; we made of ourselves a Great Power, millions of people gained education, and our scientific and cultural output increased considerably. However, there is a specific reason why this Great Power was brought down. In spite of the heroism and sacrifice of the people, the very foundation of the state was rotten to the core. Its very beginning was tainted. Through their actions, the Bolshevik usurpers, who founded the Soviet state, doomed it to eventual and inevitable destruction.

The Ipatiev House After the Murder of the Imperial Family (Pavel Ryzhenko, no date (1990s))

Today, when Russia is again searching for values to prop up the foundations of the state, it is necessary for us, without rejecting the positive legacies of the Soviet era, to cease being the heirs of the Bolsheviks and to again return to the millennial traditions of Russian statehood. To do this, first of all, we must clearly call the imprisonment and murder of the imperial family by its proper name… a crime. Individuals have brought their repentance; the church has brought its repentance. However, is it not all the more necessary for the state to condemn this crime in the strongest terms possible so that it does not remain as a drag on the country and a stain on our history?

Without going into legal technicalities, I would say that such a crime cannot be thought of as being remote to us. It is inappropriate to say that it is not worthwhile to properly assess the roles played by those now dead. It is not necessary to punish these people, for God has done so already in His Judgement. Disputes over politics or ideas are not important for us now. What is important is that the state would establish and proclaim the truth to the people. We know who carried out the murder of the imperial family and those with them.  It is necessary to know who gave and approved the orders to murder the imperial family. Likewise, it is necessary to give a just estimation of the actions of those who ordered the imprisonment, despoilment, and humiliation of the imperial family. We should call a crime, a “crime”, and we should call criminals, “criminals”. There is ample historical evidence for us to do so. The facts say so.

I hope that this shall occur. This shall be the last and final expression of the repentance of our country and our people before the martyred imperial Passionbearers. However, this repentance should lead to us a new and brighter future, one in which we would not return to the sins of the past, and one in which we would desire to do every good deed necessary to heal and correct all the consequences of the tragic history of the 20^th century.

15 July 2008

Yekaterinburg

Fr Vsevolod Chaplin

Deputy Head of the MP DECR

Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=documents&div=803 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

There are many hubristic voices in America who believe that the US victory in the Cold War was the result of a superior system. It was not. The USSR had a cancer in its vitals, one it carried from its very birth. In fact, the argument can be made that Soviet Marxism and American Democracy (the theory, not the pragmatic practice one finds in many quarters) were two sides of the same secularist coin. Both were products of loopy Enlightenment thought, it just so happened that American Democracy grew in a hothouse environment where it did not face serious opposition, which made many of its outward manifestations more benign. In short, both the USA and USSR were contrived constructs, in the technical sense of the words. However, both Russia and America are ontological realities, in the deepest sense of those words. Can we then say that the USA and USSR were false reflections of the peoples they ruled? Interesting question… 

No Cross for Them! Orangies Ban Rock Concert on Independence Square

An “icon” of Yushchenko painted by a Uniate artist. If this does not prove that no decent Orthodox Christian can support Yushchenko and his cronies Denisenko and the Uniate Cardinal Husar, nothing can (3 samogonshchiki (rotgut peddlers), if there ever were such!).

Yesterday, it became known that the planned rock concert of DDT, Bratya Karamazovy, and SKAI on Independence Square in Kiev scheduled for 26 July as a part of the celebrations of the Baptism of Russia was banned by the Orange authorities. The musicians were upset that pressure from pro-Western politicians forced them to unexpectedly change the venue of their event.

The front-man of Bratya Karamazovy, Oleg Karamazov, reported that the Kiev government banned the concert, which was to be the capstone of a tour by the rock bands of many Ukrainian cities. He said, “Last Tuesday, we came to Kiev, and we met with Yuri Bogutsky, the deputy head of the secretariat of the Ukrainian president and the deputy head of the celebrations for the anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. It boiled down to the fact that he felt it necessary to transfer the concert to the Maydan because the [Ukrainian] president is appearing that day at Sofia Square, and he thought that [Yushchenko’s] motorcade would pass through the Maydan”. Mr Karamazov went on to say that, on Friday, the musicians learned that the deputy to Mayor Sergei Rudyk “released a document on the celebrations of the anniversary of the Baptism of Russia that indicated that the concert was to be transferred (yet again!: editor’s note) to 28 or 29 July to a new venue, Pevchevskoe Field. We should add that the permission of the Kiev city government was obtained a month ago for the original date of 26 July at the original location. As for the order suddenly changing the date and the venue, “No one told us officially until now”.

Viktor Goncharuk, the chief of domestic policy for the Kiev city government, reported that the proposal for the concert was examined by his office and it found no opposition. At the same time, sources in city hall studied the question of transferring the event to another location on the next day. According to Mr Goncharuk, this was connected with the number of visitors to Kiev on the occasion of the official visit of Patriarch Bartholomew. “If we feel that the crowd would be too large, we shall examine changing the date and location of the concert”, he said.

Mikhail Pogrebinsky, the director of the Centre for Political and Conflict Studies of Kiev, believes that the decision for the changing of the concert date and location came directly from the secretariat of the president, and said that it was “based solely in political considerations”. In his opinion, the musicians who are part of the rock tour repeatedly voiced their political views openly, including opinions in opposition “to the nationalism expressed by certain factions in the Ukrainian government. Most likely, someone in the secretariat wished to ingratiate themselves with the bosses. Unfortunately, that is how the entire secularist bloc acts in the Ukrainian government”.

Oleg Karamoazov, in turn, considers the concert on 26 July on Independence Square a matter of principle. “Nevertheless, we are coming to Kiev and playing at the time and place indicated in our advertising campaign. Only two people can forbid or change this concert. That is, Metropolitan Vladimir of Kiev or Patriarch Aleksei, for they blessed this appearance”.

22 July 2008

Aleksandr Zvorksy

Komersant (Ukrainian edition)

As quoted in Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=print&div=8741 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

American-supported “democracy” at work! It appears that Yushchenko FEARS the voice of the Ukrainian people. He is also miffed that when Chancellor Angela Merkel visited Kiev recently, she probably reiterated the opposition of Germany and France to Ukrainian NATO membership (she is right to do so, for such is a deliberate provocation of Russia, recklessly so). Like all bullies, Yushchenko is lashing out at those who cannot strike back. This is what Bush has led us to. It is a sad ending for a once-noble country.

A Baptism without Russia

The running-dog-lackey of the Pope, Bartholomew, was trained in Rome and his actions towards the RCs are condemned by the united voice of the Mountain. If it’s the pope or Holy Athos… it’s no contest. Opa! to the Holy Fathers of the Mountain! This is what Yushchenko wants for the Ukraine.

At the end of the week, there shall be a celebration of the 1,020^th anniversary of the Baptism of Russia. Patriarch Aleksei II of Moscow and all Russia, Patriarch Bartholomew of Istanbul, and the heads of other Local Churches are invited and expected to attend. However, the experts here at Argumenty i Fakti (Arguments and the Facts) fear that there are those attempting to include a generous and unpleasant dollop of political sludge in the coming festivities.

Many in the Ukraine have long observed that President Yushchenko is agitating for the creation of a Ukrainian Orthodox Church independent of the MP. So far, most parishes in the Ukraine remain loyal to the MP, although a few went into schism in the 90s as the so-called “Patriarchate of Kiev” headed by the schismatic “patriarch” Philaret Denisenko. For this anti-church action, the former Metropolitan of Kiev was placed under an anathema and excommunicated. Besides this body, other improper church bodies are active in the Ukraine, the so-called “Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church” and the Uniates. In the opinion of RF Gosduma Deputy Sergei Markov, there are factions in “official” Kiev who wish to use the occasion of the celebrations to prise Ukrainian believers away from Moscow. “Anyone can figure out their probable plan. They wish to form a united Local Church in the Ukraine and also ban the operation of the MP in the country, by force, if necessary. Their intent is to involuntarily compel all parishes of the MP to join this ‘Local Church’. Then, there shall be a ‘reunification’ with the Uniates in the name of ‘church unity in the Ukraine’. However, one must never forget that the Uniates are the willing agents of the Pope”.

Mr Markov went on to say that the church would then become a component part of the pro-Western Orange extremist faction, supporting such enormities as the replacement of the Cyrillic alphabet with the Western Latin one and the entrance of the Ukraine into NATO. A “wake-up call” was given Saturday when the supporters of “patriarch” Philaret stole the Church of St Catherine in Chernigov. Many sources confirm the active role of the president’s brother, Pyotr Yushchenko, in such plots against the Church.  

22 July 2008

Viktor Yuryev

Argumenty i Fakti (Arguments and the Facts)

Quoted in Interfax-Religion

http://www.interfax-religion.ru/?act=print&div=8740 (in Russian)

Editor’s Note:

Reflect on the fact that Bush and Rice support a “church union” that is rejected by 85 percent of Orthodox in the Ukraine. “Democracy in action”, indeed!