The Bad vs. the Corrupt

More from Counter Punch on the Ukraine crisis - PolPop


Standoff in Ukraine

By LEE SUSTAR

The election standoff in Ukraine is portrayed in the U.S. media as a battle between pro-Washington democrats and pro-Moscow authoritarians. But it's really a scramble for power within a ruling class dominated by corrupt politicians and their wealthy backers.

It's almost certainly the case that the current government's candidate for president, Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovich--who has the high-profile support of Russian President Vladimir Putin--stole the election with widespread fraud in the runoff election November 21. But according to election observers, there were also reports of fraud in the Western Ukrainian strongholds of Viktor Yushchenko, a former prime minister who's supported by the U.S. and the European Union (EU). . .