Weeks of Ukraine street protests continue. Washington’s dirty hands are involved. They’re manipulating things disruptively. Imperial ruthlessness operates this way.<\/p>\n
International law is clear and unequivocal. Meddling in the internal affairs of other countries is illegal. Doing so is longstanding US policy. <\/p>\n
It’s to eliminate independent sovereign states. It’s about replacing them with pro-Western vassal ones. <\/p>\n
It’s about weakening major rivals. It aims to eliminate them altogether if possible. It’s for unchallenged global dominance. <\/p>\n
It’s to make the world safe for corporate American profiteers. John Perkins was an “economic hit man.” He explained, saying:<\/p>\n
“(H)ighly paid professionals cheat countries around the globe out of trillions of dollars.” <\/p>\n
“They funnel money from the World Bank, (IMF, and other international lending agencies, as well as) other foreign aid organizations into the coffers of huge corporations and the pockets of a few wealthy families who control the planet’s natural resources.” <\/p>\n
“Their tools include fraudulent financial reports, rigged elections, payoffs, extortion, sex, and murder.” <\/p>\n
“They play a game as old as empire, but one that has taken on new and terrifying dimensions during this time of globalization.”<\/p>\n
Their mandate is plundering nations for profit. It’s controlling their resources. It’s impoverishing and bankrupting them. It’s trapping them debt bondage. <\/p>\n
Nations refusing terms face major reprisals. Washington stops at nothing to achieve goals. Tactics include bullying, intimidation, punishing sanctions, assassinations, coups and lawless aggression.<\/p>\n
Media propaganda accompanies them. The battle for Ukraine features Russia bashing. More on that below. It involves beating up on Ukraine’s democratically elected government. <\/p>\n
New York Times editors want Ukraine tilting West. They lied saying President Viktor Yanukovych “undermined his legitimacy.”<\/p>\n
They said he did so “when his security forces used truncheons and tear gas against thousands of protesters…”<\/p>\n
One day only they confronted them violently. Yanukovych took them to task for doing so. <\/p>\n
During weeks of protests, they’ve shown remarkable restraint. US police are some of the world’s worst bullies. Don’t expect Times editors to explain.<\/p>\n
They lied claiming an EU alliance “open(s) the way to a brighter economic future.” It assures plundering Ukraine for profit, impoverishment, unemployment, debt entrapment, and extreme human misery.<\/p>\n
Former NYT executive editor Bill Keller writes alternate Monday Times op-eds. He does so irresponsibly. He supports wealth, power and privilege. He spurns objectivity. He turns truth on its head.<\/p>\n
On December 15, he headlined “Russia vs. Europe.” He accused Vladimir Putin of “bullying neighboring Ukraine into a new customs union (resembling the) Soviet Union Lite.”<\/p>\n
Fact check<\/p>\n
Putin offers carrots, not sticks. He engaged Yanukovych responsibly. Mutually beneficial trade terms are being negotiated.<\/p>\n
On December 17, Putin and Yanukovych will co-chair a Russian\/Ukrainian interstate commission session. They’ll do so in Moscow. Bilateral agreement terms will be finalized.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, European officials in Brussels suspended talks on an EU\/Ukrainian alliance. They wrongfully accused Yanukovych of refusing to accept terms demanding rejection.<\/p>\n
They’re one-way. They’re take it or leave it with no concessions. They assure opening Ukraine to plunder if accepted.<\/p>\n
Stefan Fule is European Commissioner for Enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy. He duplicitously said Ukraine’s position has “no grounds in reality.”<\/p>\n
He calls anything short of unconditionally agreeing to harsh EU terms unacceptable. So do other EU officials. Washington demands nothing less.<\/p>\n
John McCain represents the worst of legitimate governance. He’s an embarrassment writ large. He’s militantly hardline. He an unindicted war criminal. He’s ideologically over-the-top. <\/p>\n
He showed up in Ukraine. On Sunday, he addressed protesters. He lied saying:<\/p>\n
“People of Ukraine, this is your moment. This is about you, no one else. This is about the future you want for your country.” <\/p>\n
“This is about the future you deserve. A future in Europe, a future of peace, with all of your neighbors.” <\/p>\n
“The free world is with you. America is with you. I am with you. Ukraine will make Europe better, and Europe will make Ukraine better.”<\/p>\n
Turning East, not West, serves ordinary Ukrainian best. McCain lied claiming otherwise.<\/p>\n
So did Senator Chris Murphy. He accompanied McCain. He disingenuously told Kiev protesters “Ukraine’s future stands with Europe, and the United States stands with Ukraine.”<\/p>\n
Keller espouses the same one-way dogma. He maliciously attacked Putin. He accused him of “draw(ing) the line against Europe.”<\/p>\n
He’s “deepen(ing) division. It seems clearer than ever that Putin is not just tweaking the West to rouse his base or nipping domestic opposition in the bud.”<\/p>\n
He’s “attempting to turn back 25 years of history. (He) put on a KGB uniform and never took it off. (He’s) the cynical, calculating master of realpolitik.”<\/p>\n
“He sees the world in conspiracies and responds in kind. (He’s) a tortured Russian soul out of Dostoevsky, distressed by godlessness, permissiveness and moral decline.”<\/p>\n
“He is Soviet Man, still fighting the Cold War. (He’s) a classic narcissist…His beef with the West is no longer just about political influence and economic advantage. (It’s) profoundly spiritual.”<\/p>\n
Keller-style Putin bashing features malicious misinformation. Putin and Obama are polar opposites.<\/p>\n
Putin supports global peace, stability and security. He urges cooperative relations with all countries. <\/p>\n
He rejects meddling in the internal affairs of other states. He believes sovereign independence is inviolable.<\/p>\n
Obama prioritizes advancing America’s imperium. It aims for unchallenged global dominance. <\/p>\n
It features ruthless economic exploitation. It involves violence, instability and imperial wars. <\/p>\n
Obama breaches rule of law principles. He abhors democratic values. He wants the world made safe for US corporate crooks. <\/p>\n
He’s ravaging one country after another to achieve it. Putin is polar opposite. Don’t expect Keller to explain.<\/p>\n
His op-eds read like administration handouts. Propaganda substitutes for truth and full disclosure.<\/p>\n
He recalled Mikhail Gorbachev’s July 1989 speech. At the time, he endorsed Russia sharing a “common European home.” <\/p>\n
Keller quoted former Washington Post chief foreign correspondent, Jim Hoagland, saying:<\/p>\n
“The long winter of world conflict based on the division of Europe seems to be approaching an end.”<\/p>\n
According to Keller: “Nearly 25 years after Gorbachev’s ‘common European home,’ Putin sounds like a common European home wrecker.”<\/p>\n
Fact check<\/p>\n
In 1989, GHW Bush promised Gorbachev NATO wouldn’t expand East. It wouldn’t do it to Russia’s borders provided Moscow let its former republics become independent.<\/p>\n
Another promise made. Another broken. Former Russian republicsEstonia, Latvia, and Lithuania are NATO members. <\/p>\n
Other Eastern European ones include Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovenia.<\/p>\n
Washington wants all remaining Eastern European nations co-opted. It wants them part of NATO. <\/p>\n
US bases encircle Russian and Chinese borders menacingly. So-called missile defense systems intended for offense target them. <\/p>\n
Neither country threatens America. Positioning strategic weapons near their borders shows Washington’s real intentions. <\/p>\n
Keller conveniently omitted explaining what readers need to know. He told half the story. He suppressed its most important part.<\/p>\n
He duplicitously claimed Ukrainians “hope to be part of the West.” National sentiment is divided. <\/p>\n
Longstanding historical and cultural ties point East, not West. So does hope for Ukraine’s troubled economy. <\/p>\n
Allying with EU’s sinking ship assures disaster. It guarantees predatory Western exploitation. <\/p>\n
It risks turning Ukraine into a zombie country. No responsible leader should chance it. Whether Yanukovych is up to the challenge remains to be seen.<\/p>\n
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net. <\/p>\n
His new book is titled “Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.”<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanII.html<\/p>\n
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com. <\/p>\n
Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.<\/p>\n
It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour<\/p>\n
http:\/\/www.dailycensored.com\/washingtons-dirty-game-ukraine\/<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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