A Time to Correct Errors
The new fix into which Ukraine got on September 24, when the US State Department told a press briefing that it was revising US policies toward Ukraine and President Kuchma in the light of accusations against the Ukrainian leadership of planning to supply Kolchuha radar systems to Iraq, is hardly as unexpected and groundless as it may seem.
If you look at things with quite a naked eye, it seems at first glance that there was a coincidence of otherwise not so tragic circumstances. There are some purely American circumstances. Firstly, the United States has been pursuing all its policies over the past year under the slogan of war on terrorism. It is quite natural for a people that went through the tragedy of September 11 last year. None of the nations has so far been dealt with such a powerful, basically psychological, blow. Secondly, cynical as it may seem, the United States is now in bad need of a victorious war. Otherwise it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to achieve such a high degree of national cohesion and support for the current president. The brilliantly managed antiterrorist PR campaign did not leave even the slightest chances to the problem that emerged and continued with the bankruptcy of the energy mammoth Enron, making it clear that it is rooted not only and not so much in inadequate management as in the system based on the not-always-overt relationships between business and politics. In peacetime, this problem would inevitably grow into a political crisis more devastating than Monicagate. But now that an all-out effort is being made to launch a holy war against terrorism, all that is related to Iraq, the declared embodiment of evil (which the Saddam Hussein regime is doing its best to promote), assumes special importance for Washington. For various reasons, Washington cannot backpedal on the already launched campaign, so it needs examples for others to follow. Ukraine has furnished such an opportunity. The fastidiousness of Washington in this matter can be the subject of a long talk. The Melnychenko tapes story is likely to raise more and more questions, including those of ethics and international law. International politics in general is very rarely being made with crystal clean hands, so it is not always worth deliberating on ideals.
It could be noted that, as American officials make it clear, the United States is not so much interested in Ukraine as such.
The purely Ukrainian circumstances are that Kyiv failed to understand that the official authorities had shown inadequate reaction back at the time of the first tapegate, when they tried to resist international pressure. This looks still more inadequate today. While the then situation required advanced steps rather than indignant denials and self-flagellation, the current situation requires, as National Security and Defense Council Secretary Yevhen Marchuk said, as much openness as possible; it requires, above all, the will which Kyiv was so much afraid to demonstrate, losing the last traces of confidence in itself. The situation demands that urgent surgical measures be taken at last in the interests of precisely the state and the country — only then will Ukraine get an opportunity to speak with others without humiliating itself. Instead of begging for support, it must receive it as a given. Only then will it be possible to beat Verheugen’s arguments without resorting to futile polemics.
It is almost doubtless that the next UN inspection will prove that Ukraine did not breach sanctions against Iraq. As the United States demands not exactly this, it is not ruled out that the two sides will be speaking in different languages. Frankly speaking, Kyiv itself has created a situation from which it will have to wriggle out entirely on its own. Therefore, what really matters here is the truth, and it is extremely important that at least the Ukrainians speak the same language among themselves and remember that life is not a one-day affair and they are going to live precisely here.
It will exclusively depend on Ukraine itself today which arguments will win and with what score. And the price it is going to pay is sure to rise with every passing day. It is time we began at last to learn on mistakes.
