US Ukraine election fraud. From today's WaPo editorial

UKRAINE FACED a fateful choice on Sunday: not just between two sharply opposed candidates in a presidential election runoff, but between two political systems. Opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko promised a genuine liberal democracy along Western lines, while Prime Minister Viktor Yanukovych represented those forces that, backed by a neo-imperial Russia, would rule this large European nation through force and fraud. The outcome of the vote has brought this confrontation to a head. According to exit polls, the democratic opposition won handily, by 54 to 43 percent in one survey. But yesterday the government revealed its intent to steal the election, announcing that Mr. Yanukovych had a decisive lead in the vote count. Tens of thousands of outraged citizens filled the center of Kiev last night to oppose this authoritarian coup. The United States and other Western governments must do everything possible to support them.

For the Bush administration, the responsibility starts with stating the unvarnished truth about what has happened in an election that some -- including those employed by a large Ukrainian lobbying operation in Washington -- have falsely portrayed as flawed but free. Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.), who traveled to Kiev to observe the elections with the endorsement of President Bush, made an excellent start: "It is now apparent," he said in Kiev, "that a concerted and forceful program of election-day fraud and abuse was enacted with either the leadership or cooperation of governmental authorities." That judgment was backed by the European Union, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, and several nongovernmental organizations that sent observers to Ukraine. Appropriately, the State Department called yesterday for "quick action on the part of the government of Ukraine" to "ensure an outcome that reflects the will of the Ukrainian people."

The United States should do everything possible to help those who seek to reverse the fraud. [emphasis mine] If that proves impossible in the short term, the United States at least can demonstrate to Ukrainians that it supports their desire for genuine democracy -- and it can oppose any use of force by the government to suppress popular demonstrations.

Crazy Ruskies. That would never happen here.