Mass mailing anti-American propaganda to Eastern Ukraine (Russian)
Mass mailing anti-American propaganda to Eastern Ukraine
In 2001 I was living in Odessa, Ukraine in the Peace Corps when the terrorists hit the World Trade Center. I had an Arab friend from Dubai who was the kindest, most honorable, most incredible man I have ever met in my entire life. A couple of days after 9/11, I was walking on the warm promenade of the port city of Odessa with Jaz. In a low tone that was so foreign, he said, "If they [Americans] come to my country, I will kill them". I was shocked, how could the gentlest man I ever met hate America so much? I then began to study American Foreign Policy and was horrified with what I found.
The Ukraine Peace Corps had always said officially that they were not part of the CIA and the CIA would never be allowed into the Peace Corps. But I found congressional testimony that the CIA can legal infiltrate the United States Peace Corps. I created a letter and had a local Ukrainian translator translate this letter into Russian. The day I left Ukraine in September 2002 I secretly mailed approximately 200+ of these letters from the airport to media organizations throughout Eastern Ukraine.
I was devestated when I found out that dozens of protesters died in Odessa. Every death is a tragedy. But my deepest hope is that I helped plant some of the seeds for the eventual breakup of pro-American Ukraine on Russia's doorstep.