Post by dodger on Oct 18, 2013 21:34:55 GMT
A 'dictator' who keeps winning elections!, 18 Oct 2013
This Will Podmore review is from: Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship (Hardcover)
Wilson has produced a travesty of the truth in this supposedly academic, unbiased picture of Belarus.
Read Stewart Parker's book for balance. Parker shows that this 'dictator' holds elections and, outrageously, wins them, rather like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Because neither do what they're told by the USA (and lapdog Britain), they are vilifed.
In 2004, President Bush called Belarus an `outpost of tyranny' and the USA passed the Belarus Democracy Act - yet Belarus has 18 registered political parties. The Act claimed that Belarus harassed its Jewish community, though the chief Rabbi of Belarus said that he had `no qualms with any aspect of Lukashenko's rule'. The US-based National Conference of Soviet Jewry noted that in Belarus `long suppressed Jewish life has rebounded and is flourishing'.
At the 60th meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights, in 2004, Belarus and Russia tabled a joint resolution warning of the `resurgence and spread of neo-Nazism, neo-fascism and aggressive nationalism'. The majority adopted it, but the USA and the EU member states voted against.
When the Belarus government closed down two newspapers that regularly printed anti-Semitic material, it was criticised for stifling independent media: Belarus has 555 independent newspapers. In 2004, Belarus banned the White Legion, a fascist, terrorist group: it was accused of abusing their human rights.
The British Ambassador regularly has letters printed there, criticising the government. Belarus' Ambassador to Britain regularly writes to newspapers here, to defend his country against slanders, but has never had a letter published.
An article in the New Statesman of 17 September 2001 falsely accused the Belarus government of trafficking women. The International Office for Migration, which works with the UN, says, "Belarus has been globally recognised as one of the world's most resolute fighters against the slave trade."
In 2006 Bush ordered sanctions against Belarus. The US government tried to isolate it and continued to interfere there, particularly in its elections. The EU and Poland are also very hostile. The USA and the EU member states have banned President Lukashenko from travelling to their countries. Yet Belarus trades with most of the world. It has very friendly relations with Cuba and Venezuela.
In 2004, the World Bank reported, "overall health expenditures are progressive, in the sense that the poor benefit relatively more than the better off. ... Pensions are found to be the most adequate benefit, in part as a result of the policy of indexing pensions to real wages. Child allowances are also found to provide adequate protection. ... Belarus can be justly proud of the elaborate system of social services it provides to its population. The ability of households to access quality education, health and social protection services makes a large difference to their living standards in the present, and their prospects for the future." It summed up, "The poverty reduction and inequality performance of Belarus is impressive."
In 2005, 80 per cent of Belarus' industry was still state-owned. It was the most equal country in the world: the highest income was only five times the lowest. In 2006, unemployment was just 1.3 per cent. It imposed ecological taxation on oil refineries and petrochemical processing. President Lukashenko believes, "First of all, we need to support our domestic manufacturers."
US Senator John McCain absurdly said, "September 11th opened our eyes to the status of Belarus as a national security threat." Belarus sounds more like a good example than a threat.
This Will Podmore review is from: Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship (Hardcover)
Wilson has produced a travesty of the truth in this supposedly academic, unbiased picture of Belarus.
Read Stewart Parker's book for balance. Parker shows that this 'dictator' holds elections and, outrageously, wins them, rather like Hugo Chavez in Venezuela. Because neither do what they're told by the USA (and lapdog Britain), they are vilifed.
In 2004, President Bush called Belarus an `outpost of tyranny' and the USA passed the Belarus Democracy Act - yet Belarus has 18 registered political parties. The Act claimed that Belarus harassed its Jewish community, though the chief Rabbi of Belarus said that he had `no qualms with any aspect of Lukashenko's rule'. The US-based National Conference of Soviet Jewry noted that in Belarus `long suppressed Jewish life has rebounded and is flourishing'.
At the 60th meeting of the UN Commission on Human Rights, in 2004, Belarus and Russia tabled a joint resolution warning of the `resurgence and spread of neo-Nazism, neo-fascism and aggressive nationalism'. The majority adopted it, but the USA and the EU member states voted against.
When the Belarus government closed down two newspapers that regularly printed anti-Semitic material, it was criticised for stifling independent media: Belarus has 555 independent newspapers. In 2004, Belarus banned the White Legion, a fascist, terrorist group: it was accused of abusing their human rights.
The British Ambassador regularly has letters printed there, criticising the government. Belarus' Ambassador to Britain regularly writes to newspapers here, to defend his country against slanders, but has never had a letter published.
An article in the New Statesman of 17 September 2001 falsely accused the Belarus government of trafficking women. The International Office for Migration, which works with the UN, says, "Belarus has been globally recognised as one of the world's most resolute fighters against the slave trade."
In 2006 Bush ordered sanctions against Belarus. The US government tried to isolate it and continued to interfere there, particularly in its elections. The EU and Poland are also very hostile. The USA and the EU member states have banned President Lukashenko from travelling to their countries. Yet Belarus trades with most of the world. It has very friendly relations with Cuba and Venezuela.
In 2004, the World Bank reported, "overall health expenditures are progressive, in the sense that the poor benefit relatively more than the better off. ... Pensions are found to be the most adequate benefit, in part as a result of the policy of indexing pensions to real wages. Child allowances are also found to provide adequate protection. ... Belarus can be justly proud of the elaborate system of social services it provides to its population. The ability of households to access quality education, health and social protection services makes a large difference to their living standards in the present, and their prospects for the future." It summed up, "The poverty reduction and inequality performance of Belarus is impressive."
In 2005, 80 per cent of Belarus' industry was still state-owned. It was the most equal country in the world: the highest income was only five times the lowest. In 2006, unemployment was just 1.3 per cent. It imposed ecological taxation on oil refineries and petrochemical processing. President Lukashenko believes, "First of all, we need to support our domestic manufacturers."
US Senator John McCain absurdly said, "September 11th opened our eyes to the status of Belarus as a national security threat." Belarus sounds more like a good example than a threat.