LETTERS TO THE EDITOR (05/09/04)

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Bush must take a stand on Ukraine

Dear Editor:

Many people at the recent meetings with U.S. and Ukrainian government officials held at the invitation of the Action Ukraine Coalition in Washington have been greatly disturbed - infuriated, in fact - at the laissez-faire attitude of the Bush administration towards the corrupt presidential campaign already (unofficially) under way in Ukraine. There is lip service, but no teeth behind our stated goals of fostering democracy and "a level playing field" for the opposition in the upcoming October election.

The fact that Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, for instance, cannot get access to its listeners in Ukraine is an absolute travesty. Are we just going to stand by and click our tongues? Is President George W. Bush afraid of annoying President Leonid Kuchma and thus having him pull Ukraine's contingent out of Iraq as well?

AUC's Dr. Zenia Chernyk suggested sending embedded journalists to cover the Ukrainian campaign. That seems like a good idea, although one wonders if they would be any safer than the "embeds" who went to Iraq?

The following words of a highly placed State Department person in the Ukraine program, spoken privately, illustrate the situation perfectly: "Unless there is a Plan B [to convince the Kuchma administration to stop its corrupt campaign practices and repressions] that will be implemented soon, we can probably say farewell to democracy in Ukraine for a long time to come, as well as to the affection of those Ukrainian democrats who have relied on the United States to stay true to its ideals. Funny isn't it? Men and women are dying for those ideals in Iraq and yet in Ukraine, where we have a real opportunity to move those ideals to fruition, we hesitate and vacillate."

Natalie Gawdiak
Columbia, Md.

The Patriarchate and wise choices

Dear Editor:

Alec Danylevich's letter (April 4) suggests how deeply Ukrainian Eastern Christians are divided. We are divided for reasons which, a stack of theological tomes notwithstanding, have less to do with faith than with power, pride and politics - and a politics, moreover, not of our own making. To judge the Union of Brest, or for that matter the Treaty of Pereiaslav, by its ultimate consequences - from the perspective of 20-20 hindsight, and including unintended results and independent intervening causes - is pointless. Historic decisions should be judged in the light of the options available at the time they were made. Let us leave their evaluation to professional historians.

What matters today is to make wise choices in our present circumstances, though in the light of history. We need not perpetuate mutual recriminations, or debate whose mistakes were more harmful. Rather, Ukrainian Catholics might seek a better appreciation of the value of re-establishing ties with the Mother Church of Constantinople, while Ukrainian Orthodox could re-evaluate the importance of unity with the See of St. Peter.

Both should work together to establish a Kyivan Patriarchate independent of Moscow, recognized by its sister Churches, and in communion with the two great centers of Christianity.

Andrew Sorokowski
Rockville, Md.

The Ukrainian Weekly welcomes letters to the editor and commentaries on a variety of topics of concern to the Ukrainian American and Ukrainian Canadian communities. Opinions expressed by columnists, commentators and letter-writers are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of either The Weekly editorial staff or its publisher, the Ukrainian National Association.

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