It is astonishing to see the outrage over the case of the Canadian government honoring a veteran Ukrainian Nazi when, in fact, Nazi ideology is currently being supported by taxpayers in the US, Canada, and other Western countries as they fund Ukraine, independent American journalist Rachel Blevins told Sputnik.
Furthermore, in this specific case, it was as if the Canadian Parliament was excited to get an individual who was a “Ukrainian veteran who fought the Russians,” because “it fit their narrative,” the journalist added.
After the stomach-churning scene of Canadian lawmakers giving a standing ovation to a former Waffen SS Nazi made the rounds on the Internet, Rota at first issued an apology for lauding the man. Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, in light of the scandal, faced the media and said with apparently feigned indignation that it was, "extremely upsetting that this happened. The speaker has acknowledged his mistake and has apologized."
However, he added, without blinking an eye: "I think it's going to be really important that all of us push back against Russian disinformation and continue our steadfast unequivocal support for Ukraine."
Trudeau was at once ripped for grasping at the “Russian disinformation" narrative, typically used in the West, with Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk taking to X (formerly Twitter) to scathingly remark that “not everything is Russian disinformation.”
Trudeau's office claimed that neither the Canadian prime minister nor Zelensky's delegation were notified in advance of the invitation of Hunka. Warsaw also demanded an apology from Canada, with Polish Ambassador to Canada Witold Dzielski saying on Monday that Poland would never agree to "whitewash" Nazis. The House of Commons Speaker Anthony Rota finally resigned on Tuesday over the scandal.
'Fits the Narrative'
Looking at the flurry of “weak" explanations for the incident from Ottawa’s officials, one cannot but wonder if the Canadian government “chose to do this,” said Rachel Blevins, adding:
“They had Zelensky there. He got around a dozen standing ovations, which of itself was just insane. But then the House speaker stands up and he says, ‘Hey, everybody, we've got this Ukrainian hero, a Canadian hero, this 98-year-old man who fought the Russians.’ Now, for anyone looking back at history, thinking, 'Wait a minute, this guy's 98-years-old. He fought decades ago. Oh, we fought during World War II. We fought the Russians. Oh, who was he fighting for? Oh, it was Nazi Germany fighting the Russians.’ And of course, that was left out, that he was part of this notorious Nazi unit.”
The journalist underscored that only after the footage from the Canadian Parliament had gone viral on the Internet, even the mainstream media felt like, “Okay, this is ridiculous. Now we have to report on this.”
“Then you have the House speaker come out, and he gives this, you know, excuse for an apology. But what's worse is that Justin Trudeau then came out… He said, ‘Yeah, it's terrible, it's embarrassing.’ And then in the same breath he goes, ‘But we really need to worry about Russian propaganda.’ And it's like, No, no, no. The Canadian government chose to do this. They found this individual,” said Blevins.
'Tone Deaf' Response
While Anthony Rota made a feeble attempt to present it as though Hunka was just a random constituent whom he had decided to honor, one has to wonder about the “tone deaf” response from the government, the journalist pointed out.
“It's as if either they genuinely didn't know and were ignorant or they're mad that they got called out for it and they expect that the public should just gloss over this and be happy with the fact that they brought a Ukrainian veteran into Parliament no matter that he was fighting for Nazi Germany.”
As for Warsaw's outrage, Blevins notes:
“I know Poland has stepped in and now they're saying that they want to extradite this 98-year-old man to face war crimes charges... If you want to push for justice for someone like him, for the crimes that he was likely a part of many years ago, that's all fine and good. But… it's still going on today.”
Despite the recent spat over Warsaw's ban of Kiev’s grain imports, Poland has been one of Ukraine's main supporters amid Russia’s special military operation. Warsaw ranks sixth among the countries giving Ukraine military aid, having sent $3.3 billion worth of military supplies to Kiev, including tanks, fighter jets, multiple launch rocket systems (MLRS), artillery, and ammunition since the conflict there escalated.
As for Canada, PM Tustin Trudeau unveiled a military aid package for Ukraine worth CAD $500 million (USD $373 million) during his surprise visit to Kiev in June.
“And in Canada, you're expected to celebrate the fact that the Canadian taxpayers are forced to pay for all of this military aid for the Ukrainian military, which has adopted these far-right neo-Nazi units into their military. And then we're told here in the US as well, ‘Oh, it's fine. Don't worry about the Azov* battalion [an infamous Ukrainian neo-Nazi unit]. Don't worry about those articles that were written just a couple of years ago talking about their Nazi beliefs. Those don't matter anymore because now they've slapped on a Ukrainian military uniform.’ And it's just to put people in a position where on one hand, you're telling them that they can only be outraged about something if you say that it's okay, and only if it's in this specific case. It's just a reminder that people are expected to be ignorant and not to ask questions," Rachel Blevins pointed out.
Honoring the Ukrainian Nazi WWII veteran “fit the narrative of fighting the Russians,” Blevins reiterated.
“And it seems to be the case also when you look at the aid and the support that the US and its Western allies have given to Ukraine as well, they're like, ‘Hey, don't question, you know, these extremists that we're funding. They are getting the goal done... Therefore, we're using your taxpayer dollars to fund these extremists to then get what we want done.”
The leaders of Western countries funding NATO’s proxy war with Russia in Ukraine are just expecting that people will not question this, will not stop to think, "wait a second, I thought that Nazis were bad. Why are we acting like they're good, and they're our allies? And also we're giving them funding and weapons?" said Rachel Blevins.
21 September 2023, 19:18 GMT
* The Azov Battalion is regarded as a terrorist organization by Russian authorities and is outlawed in Russia.