BELARUS NEWS AND ANALYSIS

DATE:

31/03/2006

Criticism of Belarus sounds eerily familiar

A March 18 Washington Post story reported "The White House accused the authoritarian president of Belarus yesterday of being 'among the most corrupt leaders in the world,' and administration officials said they will consider new sanctions assuming tomorrow's elections are manipulated as expected." The story goes on to quote the White House as alleging that Belarus' president, "....Alexander Lukashenko 'has created a repressive dictatorship on the doorstep of the European Union,' ...sold arms to rogue states and enriched himself at the expense of his people."

White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan acknowledged that "We are very concerned about the behavior of the leaders in Belarus. They are not pursuing a democratic course."

Can you imagine that? Just because a president is linked to manipulating elections, sells arms to rogue states and enriches himself at the expense of his people, all of a sudden he's being cast as one of "the most corrupt leaders in the world!"

Not once, not once is the possibility raised that he's only exercising his rights as the leader of a country which is under perceived threat to its security and that he, therefore, can break any law he sees fit. This sounds so familiar, but I can't remember where I heard this kind of rationale before.

BRIAN HELLER

Source:

http://www.poconorecord.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060331/NEWS04/603310308