Secession in Ukraine?

Maybe The Answer, But Not The Issue

Looking at the electoral map of Ukraine, Lew Rockwell ponders whether secession might be one way out of the current crisis. Though I don't know much about Ukraine's history, I know enough to realize the "blue" regions are overwhelmingly Orthodox and Russian, while the "yellow" regions are Catholic (outright or Eastern-rite) and anti-Russian. Indeed, some territories - the Donbas and Crimea, for instance - were Russian lands given to Ukraine by Communists.

Where I disagree with Lew, and strongly, is his admiration for Eric Margolis, whose work is colored by a strong Slavophobia. For all his protestations of Imperial invasions in the Middle East, Margolis has been a hard-line warmonger regarding the Balkans. Seems like he's never seen a war on Orthodox Christians he didn't like, just as he's never seen a war on Muslims he didn't oppose. Why not oppose them all, Eric?

I've written before about the tremendous benefits of peaceful separation between conflicting communities. If people of Western Ukraine want to become the latest EU snack, who has the right to stop them? If the Russophile Eastern Ukrainians refuse to serve the Brussels-Washington Empire, why should they? By what mystical margin does the will of one group become the only legitimate view? Democracy is obviously nonsense.

Unfortunately, secession isn't at issue here. Western Ukrainians are being used as stooges of the Empire, to take over the entire country. The orange-clad, Soros-sponsored followers of Viktor Yushchenko don't want to secede, but rather to force their pro-Russian compatriots to submit to their rule.

That's aggression. No libertarian can support that.