US hypocrisy over Ukraine ‘absolutely stunning’

The US approach to violence in Ukraine is hypocritical, executive director of the Ron Paul Institute, Daniel McAdams, told RT. Holding an election in such a climate is impossible, yet the US will accept any result of the “wonderfully democratic” vote.

RT:The US has repeatedly praised Kiev for trying to de-escalate the situation, yet we all saw what happened in Odessa and what looks like it was allowed to happen...How do those things tally up?

Daniel McAdams: Well it is interesting, because in Kiev, not that many months ago, a couple of months to be exact, unarmed police forces were sent out against the violent protesters, and the US government – including the president and the secretary of state have – said they were “disgusted” by the show of force against these protesters. And you see in Ukraine, it is obvious that the government in Kiev is using the military against its own citizens. It is blockading cities, starving people out. This is exactly what the US used as a pretext for attack in places like Libya and elsewhere. So the hypocrisy of the US side is absolutely stunning.

RT:WeheardMarie Harf from the US State Department again praising Ukraine's “restraint,” where she said that Kiev has a “responsibility to maintain law and order for their own people,” and that “the onus really is on the Russian government to pull back.” What is your comment to that?

DM: You have to wonder what reality these people are occupying. They have tried pulling a fast one, the State Department did. A couple of weeks ago when they put out those phony photos what they claimed were the Russian forces in Ukraine. The person who took those pictures, as you know, said they are completely phony. The New York Times was burned on the US State Department lies. To its credit, the NYT has actually sent some people into eastern Ukraine, and they have reported just a couple of days ago, that actually these militias don’t contain any Russians whatsoever and the people are not necessarily wanting to join Russia anyway. They are using old, worn out weapons, so the State Department just continues to pile lie upon lie. It is absolutely revolting.

RT:Will things get better after the Ukrainian presidential elections later this month?

DM: How can you run a presidential election when the army is firing on its own people? I have been an election monitor many times in bad situations, and it is simply impossible. Likewise, I'm afraid to say these referendums in the east will simply be ignored by the US or if this resolves, this desire will come out of presidential elections; the US and the OSCE will say, it is “wonderfully democratic.”

RT:We are still hearing the US calling for people in the east of Ukraine to lay down their weapons, but at the same time they are backing Kiev's government crackdown...How does it add up, calling for one thing yet doing the other?

DM: Well you see already there are reports in the German press over the weekend that the US CIA and the FBI has sent at least a couple of dozen people to advise the Ukrainian government on how to crack down. Perhaps they were advising them on assassination techniques and these sorts of things, one never knows.

The statements, views and opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of RT.