Congratulations on the 8th Anniversary of Independence!!!

[johnstruthers]

It is a little late, I suppose, to be responding to the kind congratulations on Independence Day 8th Anniversary, but I only just discovered this board, so: Independence may not be perfect, but it is what it is, and will lead to better things. We must all stay friends, because we will need each other. I was in Volhyn Olbast (Lutsk) when then-American-President George Bush gave his infamous "Chicken Kiev" speech to Ukraine. This was in July of 1991, right after he had visited Moscow. He patronizingly told Ukraine that he was standing behind a united USSR, and Ukraine should withhold its ambitions for independence because, well, it would roock his boat. When the Putsch happened on August 19, then ended on the 22nd, Ukraine gave its answer to the Bushman by declaring independence on August 24. It took a lot of guts, because even a benign Yeltsin was capable of sending in troops. But nobody had any stomach for that after the events in Moscow, so Kiev had played its cards right. I can still get choked up thinking of the moment. Then, to yank 16 feet of granite Lenin off the Square of the October Revolution, replace him with a billboard for Bank Ukraina and rename the place Square of Independence is more than symbolism. Something big and important happened eight years ago. Maybe we should call it an evolution, not a revolution. No blood was really shed, and it keeps on going. There haven't been any wars over Krim, or over the splitup of the Black Sea fleet, Rukh hasn't spread its craziness too far east, and Kuchma, for as many bad things as you can say about him, keeps the ship on a steady, if unprofitable, course. Nobody is shooting anybody. Not bad for amateurs in the free market-democracy game. Maybe we can do it without crushing our poor and giving over the election process to the rich, like Americans.
Oops. Sorry, there, your toe was in the way, Uncle Sam.
Bye for now,
John

[StasUA]

I agree with you, on the whole %100. Ukraines independence was like a win a independence war but without any violence...

[Yulia]

Hey you guys, who do you think created independence? People? I didn't see any protesting or anything like that. The independence was created from up above - government.
I'm not against it, it just everything happened so fast that it seems to be artificial.