On June 11, 2015, the late Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) member John Conyers made this statement about Ukraine. “House passed my amendment to prohibit assistance to Azov Battalion—a far-right white supremacist militia at front lines of Ukraine conflict.” Conyers was right of course. The Azov Battalion was and is a core part of Ukraine’s military. They have Nazi roots, as do many other organizations in that country. But after the Pentagon objected the amendment was stripped from the spending bill and never saw the light of day.
It is important to remember what Conyers tried to achieve the year after Barack Obama sided with right wing Ukrainians and brought down the elected president of that nation. The Conyers amendment passed unanimously in the House but was killed because the administration was well aware of the Azov Battalion’s role and approved of it. The policy of using Ukraine against Russia was settled and any effort to remove a central component of its military was off the table.
Now the CBC is a shell of its former self. Conyers and others from his era would not be welcome among its current membership. They say nothing about Ukraine that isn’t a chapter and verse recitation of Biden administration policy. Even members such as Barbara Lee , still famous for providing the sole vote against the Afghanistan invasion, mouths dangerous platitudes.
-- Margret Kimberley, "Black Caucus Fails on Ukraine" (BLACK AGENDA REPORT).
