Editor’s Note: This feature separates Ukraine’s friends from its enemies The Order of Yaroslav the Wise has been given since 1995 for distinguished service to the nation. It is named after the Kyivan Rus leader from 1019-1054, when the medieval empire reached its zenith. The Order of Lenin was the highest decoration bestowed by the Soviet Union, whose demise Russian President Vladimir Putin mourns. It is named after Vladimir Lenin, whose corpse still rots on the Kremlin’s Red Square, 100 years after the October Revolution he led.
Dan Coats: The Order of Yaroslav the Wise
The Budapest Memorandum, the document signed in the Hungarian capital on Dec. 5, 1994 that gave security assurances to Ukraine in return for it giving up its nuclear arsenal, is rarely mentioned in the context of Russia’s three-year war against Ukraine in the Donbas.
That’s probably because the states that were to give those assurances, the United States, the United Kingdom, and Russia, would for various reasons rather that this document be forgotten.
Russia doesn’t want to talk about the memorandum because it blatantly broke its commitments, stealing Ukrainian territory and starting a fake insurgency in the Donbas that it feeds with men, weapons and ammunition to this day.
The United States and the UK don’t want to be reminded of not meeting their commitments under the memorandum. They didn’t even hold official consultations with Russia regarding the Kremlin’s violation of the memorandum, as point six of the document demands.
But the most significant reason these countries would rather the Budapest Memorandum be forgotten is that it sets a dreadful precedent for the world. It teaches all states that, given that nuclear powers will not guarantee another country’s sovereignty and can steal another country’s territory with impunity, those that have nuclear weapons would be foolish to give them up, and all states that want to protect themselves should acquire nuclear weapons as soon as they can.
So it is refreshing to see the U.S. director of national intelligence, Dan Coats, draw attention to some of the most serious fallout from Russia’s war against Ukraine. Speaking at the U. S. Senate Armed Services Committee in May, Coats warned that the main lesson from the Budapest Memorandum debacle would not be lost on North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, who has already acquired a nuclear bomb and is now scrambling to develop missiles to deliver it.
“And so we see what’s happened in Ukraine probably would not have happened if they had maintained a nuclear weapons capability,” Coats told the committee.
But the Budapest problem goes further, as Coats pointed out: States that have acquired nuclear weapons for protection may also be tempted to threaten other states with them. Some states might even be tempted to use nuclear weapons offensively, Coats warned.
So Coats wins the Order of Yaroslav the Wise this week. Ukraine must be supported, Russian aggression brought to an end and the Budapest Memorandum upheld, for the good of the entire world.
Jesse Ventura: The Order of Lenin
Former U. S. Navy SEAL, professional wrestler, actor and Minnesota governor Jesse Ventura is rebooting his career as a TV host at the Kremlin’s main propaganda outlet, RT, it was reported this week.
Plugging his new show, “The World According to Jesse,” Ventura told the Minneapolis Star Tribune he had been assured by RT that it would not censor him.
He, and his potential viewers should have no concerns on that front — Ventura already has a history of venting anti-American conspiracy theories, which are bread-and-butter fare for RT.
Previously, he hosted a TV show called “Conspiracy Theory with Jesse Ventura” on a U.S. cable channel. He co-wrote a book called “American Conspiracies” and another called “63 Documents the Government Doesn’t Want You to Read.”
His latest book is called “They Killed Our President: 63 Reasons to Believe There Was a Conspiracy to Assassinate JFK.”
“I have total artistic control and I can talk about anything I want,” Ventura also told the Star Tribune. “We’re more interested in talking about our country. I didn’t join RT to report on Russia.”
There you have it: RT won’t censor Ventura — he’ll censor himself just fine.
Don’t expect to see Ventura on RT investigating Russia’s supplying a BUK missile launcher to its proxy forces in Ukraine, the weapon later being used to shoot down Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine on July 17, 2014, killing 298 passengers and crew.
Don’t expect to hear him report on Russia’s organizing a sham referendum as cover for its illegal annexation of the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, or give details of Moscow’s covert operation to foment a fake “civil war” in Ukraine, or discuss the Kremlin’s operation to fund and equip its proxy forces in the Donbas.
And don’t expect him to mention how the Kremlin has financed parties in Europe on the extreme left and extreme right to undermine the European Union, or how it has interfered in democratic elections in both Europe and the United States.
Those facts, not theories, aren’t the kind of things he’s interested in reporting on, as he said.
“I’m working for the enemy of the mainstream media now,” Ventura told the Star Tribune.
Quite. And for a mouthpiece of the enemy of Ukraine.
So, for taking a job with the Kremlin’s main propaganda outlet to help it pursue its goal of misinforming the world about Ukraine and the West, Ventura wins this week’s Order of Lenin
