From left to right

Le Sabot Post-Moderne has a link to an article by Jake Rudnitsky in the eXile about the unlikely alliance of Western leftists and Pat Buchananite right-wingers that has worked during the past few months to try to discredit the Ukrainian opposition and its leader, Ukraine's new president, Viktor Yushchenko. In addition to discussing the Kremlin-sponsored "Russia Club", the article's author also provides a telling dissection of the so-called "British Helsinki Human Rights Group" (BHHRG), whose efforts over the past decade have been mainly devoted to supporting dictators like Milosevic and Lukashenka, and which has played an important part in the anti-Yushchenko campaign in the West - and there are also pointers further afield:

The real issue BHHRG has is with what they call the New World Order, a name that far right libertarians, Pat Buchananites and Lyndon LaRouchians give to what they see as the dawning of a world government run by men in black helicopters. These guys' paranoia makes Ames seem downright rational. Almond explicitly refers to this worldwide conspiracy in his piece, while it lurks in the shadows of Laughland's.

It's the same libertarian position that informs Chad Nagle's article for left-wing counterpunch.org, titled, "In Ukraine's "Redneck" Regions, People Like Yanukovich." Nagle is one of the main contributors to the right-libertarian antiwar.com (along with Pat Buchanan), a site which Wikipedia also links with the BHHRG.

It's as well to be aware of these alliances and pairings, as they have an influence on the way the news about Eastern Europe and Russia gets reported in the West. In particular, the issue of Chechnya is likely to be next on the agenda of these aspiring opinion-formers.