11/18/2002 | AST

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THE LESSONS OF KUCHMAGATE
Roman Kupchinsky

At long last the more than two-year-old crisis of leadership in Ukraine is coming to its logical conclusion amidst signs that the Ukrainian government and the Kuchma regime are resorting to panic and ever greater distortions of the facts as they see their days numbered.

The Kuchmagate affair as it is known, and more specifically, the Kolchuga sale to Iraq, has done more to discredit the established political order in Ukraine then any Russian FSB or US CIA plot combined could ever hope for. The resulting loss of reputation has not only affected the President of Ukraine, Leonid Kuchma, it has destroyed the reputations of the majority of the political elite who were allied with him. The essence of the entire sordid business was that it had nothing whatsoever to do with any strategic or geopolitical aim of Ukraine. It was a matter of pure greed. A greedy President was recorded telling a subordinate to carry out an illegal act so that he, the President, could enrich himself. There never was any intention of returning the money from the sale of the Kolchuga to the State treasury, to pay miners wages, to pay doctors or teachers – it was all for Danylovich and those with whom he choose to share the take.

Being involved in reporting and researching this matter from its inception, I want to share my observations and reach a conclusion.

The first observation I want to make is that Leonid Kuchma, along with Leonid Derkach and others in the immediate surrounding of the President, were extremely arrogant men. They believed that they could fool everyone, especially the Americans. This attitude, common among former Soviet bosses, large and small, was so inbred in Kuchma and Derkach that they themselves did not bother to question it. They assumed that Americans were idiots and therefore could be easily fooled. I suspect that they still believe this to a large degree, but are beginning to have some doubts as time goes by.

From the very beginning of the affair and the publication of the Kuchma-Malev conversation, it was clear that the President of Ukraine had committed a unpardonable act – he was sanctioning Malev to break the law and thus he was guilty of criminal intent. This was known to all, yet Kyiv kept denying it. Furthermore, Kuchma had agreed in the conversation that the sale of the Kolchuga would be a covert operation run by the SBU. This is more then clear. But afterwards, when the nature of the conspiracy was exposed, Kuchma and his men kept insisting that all the weapons export controls were in place and they could never allow the Kolchuga to be sold. This would be so if the sale was not a covert operation run by a government agency with the proven ability to by-pass all such controls. The United States knew this perfectly well, but Kuchma’s supporters kept on insisting that black was white.

The initial denials of having sold the Kolchuga to Iraq were not only contradictory, they were stupid which is a worse crime. Such arguments as “our competitors in the arms sales business are behind this…” soon became the object of jokes. Then came the fall-back lie that the radars were sold to Ethiopia through some Israeli company. That the Israeli company chosen for this role was a known suspect in other shady deals never occurred to Kuchma and his advisors. Then there were attempts to blame the Russians. This too was so silly that it soon was dropped. Next came the business of a Ukrainian authentication of the Melnychenko recording of Kuchma talking to Malev which found that the recording had been “edited.” Nobody in their right mind believed any Ukrainian attempt at authentication, especially in this case. Earlier, the General Prosecutors office issued its verdict – Kuchma was innocent of any wrongdoings. This was accepted as a bad joke and soon even the pro-Kuchma people refused to cite this as any type of proof. Then Kuchma, in a burst of arrogant defiance, raised the question of the “dubious (Melnychenko) recordings” after the US government announced that the FBI lab had decided that the recording was unedited and genuine. Whoever was advising Kuchma (most likely Orel) was not doing his boss any favors.

My second observation from this affair is that the Ukrainian press, with certain small exceptions, is just as guilty as the President. By placing the interests of Kuchma above the interests of the nation, the press played a terrible role in the matter. Journalists, editors and owners outdid themselves in trying to prove their loyalty to Kuchma and his fellow conspirators. They did so with a vengeance. By releasing a steady barrage of lies, half-truths and smoke, they showed themselves to be as hopelessly corrupt and bought off as their spiritual godfather. By airing the most vile lies, (the film “PR” has not been forgotten), by neglecting to show the BBC production about Gongadze “Killing the Story”; by printing outrageous lies and defamation against others, the Ukrainian press showed itself to be worse at times then the Soviet Ukrainian press. Such TV shows as Epicenter, ICTV News, the Era channel and others will long be remembered for their grand failure to provide fair and accurate coverage of this momentous event. Recently one Ukrainian journalist appearing on ICTV told the moderator that in the Kuchma Malev tape the word “Iraq” was inserted instead of some other country and thus the scandal. What other country was there originally? Might it have been Germany which the Jordanian representative of UkrSpetzExport was reporting on? Were the Americans concerned that Germany might get the Kolchuga? If you change the name of the country, you have to change the entire conversation. But for this journalist, who is known for his ability to sooth the hemorrhoidal pains at Bankivska, this was not important. He was there, on ICTV, to please his masters. He was a reliable cadre, a soldier of the Kuchma revolution and logic did not matter to him. He, alas, is not the only one.

My last observation is that the affair is over with. Kuchma, as a personality, as a leader of a nation, does not exist for most civilized countries. He might try to convince the Ukrainian nation that this is not so, but it is too late for this. He is beyond the pale. The Ukrainian side, led by Anatoly Zlenko, will go to the United Nations and demand that their good name be cleared. Unfortunately, Mr. Zlenko is also prone to twisting the truth often and is not the most highly regarded emissary Ukraine has.

Kuchma has been found guilty of criminal intent. He might insist on remaining President of Ukraine till his term expires – or longer – but this is only a technicality. In the eyes of the world he is thief, to be avoided and shunned. He is the man who sold Saddam the Kolchuga, and give the order to have a journalist kidnapped and subsequently murdered. He does not deserve a kind word from anyone.
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Гавкає. Солдатом Кучми обзивається.
Таке старе і таке дурне. :-((