From Holden:
Via Froomkin (the man is a gold mine) we learn that the White House sent an outspoken anti-semite to the Ukraine for Viktor Yushchenko’s inauguration.
A delegation sent by President Bush to Ukraine’s presidential inauguration last weekend included a Ukrainian-American activist who has accused Jews of manipulating the Holocaust for their gain and blamed them for Soviet-era atrocities in Ukraine.
“Big money drives the Holocaust industry,” Myron B. Kuropas wrote in August 2000.
The inclusion of Kuropas in the U.S. delegation to Sunday’s inauguration of Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko, which was led by Secretary of State Colin Powell, appeared to be an embarrassment for the Bush administration.
A White House official, who refused to be identified by name, said Tuesday, “We were not aware of his previous statements. Had we been aware of such comments beforehand, we would not have invited Dr. Kuropas to be a member of the delegation.”
[snip]
It couldn’t be learned who suggested Kuropas be part of the delegation. But three State Department officials said the delegation was assembled by the White House. Such delegations normally are vetted carefully, but this one was pulled together very quickly because Yushchenko’s inauguration date was set only last week after a challenge from the loser, Viktor Yanukovych, was rebuffed in court. Powell went only because the confirmation of his replacement, Condoleezza Rice, was delayed by Senate Democrats.
The disclosure comes at a particularly awkward time.
Vice President Dick Cheney is to attend ceremonies on Thursday at the former Nazi death camp in Auschwitz, Poland, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the concentration camps.
[snip]
“It’s disturbing to give him credibility and to put him on the delegation,” said Malcolm Hoenlein, executive vice chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
Kuropas’ argument that Jews played a driving role behind Soviet leader Josef Stalin’s murderous policies in Ukraine “is the one great anti-Semitic canard in Ukraine today,” Hoenlein said.
Embarrassed White House and State Department officials said Tuesday that they were trying to determine how Kuropas got on the delegation. As part of the delegation, Kuropas traveled on Powell’s plane.
[snip]
The Ukrainian News, based in Edmonton, Canada, quoted Kuropas as saying in a March 1998 speech that Ukrainian “good cops” should engage Jews in a dialogue on their common history, while Ukrainian “bad cops” should “go on the offensive reminding Jews of … Jewish Bolsheviks without whom the murderous Soviet regime would have collapsed in its infancy.”
“Let the Jews go on the defensive for a change. The crimes of their people cannot be explained away easily,” he was quoted as saying.
So, who in the White House picked Myron Kuropas to be a member of our official delegation to the Ukraine? I don’t know, but I do know that Kuropas purchased a 1/2 page advertisement in the Ukrainian Weekly last fall loudly proclaiming support for Bush and the GOP. He’s also a financial backer of Denny “The Meatpuppet” Hastert.
Smells like Karl Rove to me.