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Ukraine-Iran Missile Deal Confirmed

[Ukrainian] President Viktor Yushchenko confirmed Thursday that nuclear-capable cruise missiles were illegally sold to Iran and China under Ukraine’s previous government. In an interview with NBC News, Yushchenko offered the highest-level acknowledgement that the sales, which have alarmed the U.S. intelligence community, indeed took place. “I confirm this, though I do so with bitterness,” the […]

[Ukrainian] President Viktor Yushchenko confirmed Thursday that nuclear-capable cruise missiles were illegally sold to Iran and China under Ukraine’s previous government. In an interview with NBC News, Yushchenko offered the highest-level acknowledgement that the sales, which have alarmed the U.S. intelligence community, indeed took place.

“I confirm this, though I do so with bitterness,” the president said. ~MSNBC

When I first saw the headline for this story, I had taken it to mean that Mr. Yushchenko, in spite of his evident desire to be the lackey of Washington and Brussels, was pursuing a more independent course in foreign policy than some, including myself, had considered likely or possible. In fact, this was only an official confirmation of other reports of these sales undertaken by the previous government. It is good to know that Mr. Yushchenko’s “bitterness,” even if feigned for Western benefit, reveals him yet again to be the predictable stooge of U.S. foreign policy. It is regrettable, though really not our business, that the past Ukrainian government sold these weapons to China and Iran, but I see little reason for Washington to worry when it has just finished selling F-16s to China’s closest ally and the world’s chief nuclear proliferator, Pakistan.

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