Defeated By The Taliban, Washington Decides To Take On Russia And China
By Paul Craig Roberts
December 07, 2013 "Information Clearing House - The several days of organized protests in Ukraine are notable for the relative lack of police violence. Unlike in the US, Canada, Thailand, Greece, and Spain, peaceful protesters have not been beaten, tear gassed, water cannoned, and tasered by Ukrainian police. Unlike in Egypt, Palestine, and Bahrain, Ukrainian protesters have not been fired upon with live ammunition. The restraint of the Ukrainian government and police in the face of provocations has been remarkable. Apparently, Ukrainian police have not been militarized by US Homeland Security.
What are the Ukrainian protests about? On the surface, the protests don’t make sense. The Ukrainian government made the correct decision to stay out of the EU. Ukraine’s economic interests lie with Russia, not with the EU. This is completely obvious.
The EU wants Ukraine to join so that Ukraine can be looted, like Latvia, Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Portugal. The situation is so bad in Greece, for example, that the World Health Organization reports that some Greeks are infecting themselves with HIV in order to receive the 700 euro monthly benefit for the HIV-infected.
The US wants Ukraine to join so it can become a location for more of Washington’s missile bases against Russia.
Why would Ukrainians want to be looted?
Why would Ukrainians want to become targets for Russia’s Iskander Missiles as a host country for Washington’s aggression against Russia?
Why would Ukrainians having gained their sovereignty from Russia want to lose it to the EU?
Obviously, an intelligent, aware, Ukrainian population would not accept these costs of joining the EU.
So, why the protests?
Part of the answer is Ukrainian nationalists’ hatred of Russia. With the Soviet collapse, Ukraine became a country independent of Russia. When empires break up, other interests can seize power. Various secessions occurred producing a collection of small states such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, the former central Asian Soviet Republics, Ukraine, the Baltics, and the pieces into which Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were broken by “nationalism.” The governments of these weak states were easy for Washington to purchase. The governments of these powerless states are more responsive to Washington than to their own people. Much of the former Soviet Empire is now part of Washington’s Empire. Georgia, the birthplace of Joseph Stalin, now sends its sons to die for Washington in Afghanistan, just as Georgia did for the Soviet Union,
These former constituent elements of the Russian/Soviet Empire are being incorporated into Washington’s Empire. The gullible nationalists, naifs really, in these American colonies might think that they are free, but they simply have exchanged one master for another.
They are blind to their subservience, because they remember their subservience to Russia/Soviet Union and have not yet realized their subservience to Washington, which they see as a liberator with a checkbook. When these weak and powerless new countries, which have no protector, realize that their fate is not in their own hands, but in Washington’s hands, it will be too late for them.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Washington quickly stepped into the place of Russia. The new countries were all broke, as was Russia at the time and, thus, helpless. Washington used NGOs funded by Washington and its EU puppets to create anti-Russian, pro-American, pro-EU movements in the former constituent parts of Soviet Russia. The gullible peoples were so happy to have escaped the Soviet thumb that they did not realize that they now had new masters.
It is a good bet that the Ukrainian protests are a CIA organized event, using the Washington and EU funded NGOs and manipulating the hatred of Ukrainian nationalists for Russia. The protests are directed against Russia. If Ukraine can be realigned and brought into the fold of Washington’s Empire, Russia is further diminished as a world power.
To this effect NATO conducted war games against Russia last month in operation Steadfast Jazz 2013.http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2013/10/17/nato-steadfast-jazz-exercise-chill-of-cold-war.html Finland, Ukraine, Georgia, and neutral Sweden have offered their military participation in the next iteration of NATO war games close to Russia’s borders despite the fact that they are not NATO members.
The diminishment of Russia as a powerful state is critical to Washington’s agenda for world hegemony. If Russia can be rendered impotent, Washington’s only concern is China.
The Obama regime’s “Pivot to Asia” announced Washington’s plan to surround China with naval and air bases and to interject Washington into every dispute that China has with Asian neighbors. China has responded to Washington’s provocation by expanding its air space, an action that Washington calls destabilizing when in fact it is Washington that is destabilizing the region.
China is unlikely to be intimidated, but could undermine itself if its economic reform opens China’s economy to western manipulation. Once China frees its currency and embraces “free markets,” Washington can manipulate China’s currency and drive China’s currency into volatility that discourages its use as a rival to the dollar. China is disadvantaged by having so many university graduates from US universities, where they have been indoctrinated with Washington’s view of the world. When these American-programmed graduates return to China, some tend to become a fifth column whose influence will ally with Washington’s war on China.
So where does this leave us? Washington will prevail until the US dollar collapses.
Many support mechanisms are in place for the dollar. The Federal Reserve and its dependent bullion banks have driven down the price of gold and silver by short-selling in the paper futures market, allowing bullion to flow into Asia at bargain prices, but removing the pressure of a rising gold price on the exchange value of the US dollar.
Washington has prevailed on Japan and, apparently, the European Central Bank, to print money in order to prevent the rise of the yen and euro to the dollar.
The Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic Partnerships are designed to keep countries in the US dollar payments system, thus supporting the dollar’s value in currency markets.
Eastern European members of the EU that still have their own currencies have been told that they must print their own currencies in order to prevent a rise in their currency’s value relative to the US dollar that would curtail their exports.
The financial world is under Washington’s thumb. And Washington is printing money for the sake of 4 or 5 mega-banks.
That should tell the protestors in Ukraine all they need to know.
By Paul Craig Roberts
December 07, 2013 "Information Clearing House - The several days of organized protests in Ukraine are notable for the relative lack of police violence. Unlike in the US, Canada, Thailand, Greece, and Spain, peaceful protesters have not been beaten, tear gassed, water cannoned, and tasered by Ukrainian police. Unlike in Egypt, Palestine, and Bahrain, Ukrainian protesters have not been fired upon with live ammunition. The restraint of the Ukrainian government and police in the face of provocations has been remarkable. Apparently, Ukrainian police have not been militarized by US Homeland Security.
What are the Ukrainian protests about? On the surface, the protests don’t make sense. The Ukrainian government made the correct decision to stay out of the EU. Ukraine’s economic interests lie with Russia, not with the EU. This is completely obvious.
The EU wants Ukraine to join so that Ukraine can be looted, like Latvia, Greece, Spain, Italy, Ireland, and Portugal. The situation is so bad in Greece, for example, that the World Health Organization reports that some Greeks are infecting themselves with HIV in order to receive the 700 euro monthly benefit for the HIV-infected.
The US wants Ukraine to join so it can become a location for more of Washington’s missile bases against Russia.
Why would Ukrainians want to be looted?
Why would Ukrainians want to become targets for Russia’s Iskander Missiles as a host country for Washington’s aggression against Russia?
Why would Ukrainians having gained their sovereignty from Russia want to lose it to the EU?
Obviously, an intelligent, aware, Ukrainian population would not accept these costs of joining the EU.
So, why the protests?
Part of the answer is Ukrainian nationalists’ hatred of Russia. With the Soviet collapse, Ukraine became a country independent of Russia. When empires break up, other interests can seize power. Various secessions occurred producing a collection of small states such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, the former central Asian Soviet Republics, Ukraine, the Baltics, and the pieces into which Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia were broken by “nationalism.” The governments of these weak states were easy for Washington to purchase. The governments of these powerless states are more responsive to Washington than to their own people. Much of the former Soviet Empire is now part of Washington’s Empire. Georgia, the birthplace of Joseph Stalin, now sends its sons to die for Washington in Afghanistan, just as Georgia did for the Soviet Union,
These former constituent elements of the Russian/Soviet Empire are being incorporated into Washington’s Empire. The gullible nationalists, naifs really, in these American colonies might think that they are free, but they simply have exchanged one master for another.
They are blind to their subservience, because they remember their subservience to Russia/Soviet Union and have not yet realized their subservience to Washington, which they see as a liberator with a checkbook. When these weak and powerless new countries, which have no protector, realize that their fate is not in their own hands, but in Washington’s hands, it will be too late for them.
With the collapse of the Soviet Union, Washington quickly stepped into the place of Russia. The new countries were all broke, as was Russia at the time and, thus, helpless. Washington used NGOs funded by Washington and its EU puppets to create anti-Russian, pro-American, pro-EU movements in the former constituent parts of Soviet Russia. The gullible peoples were so happy to have escaped the Soviet thumb that they did not realize that they now had new masters.
It is a good bet that the Ukrainian protests are a CIA organized event, using the Washington and EU funded NGOs and manipulating the hatred of Ukrainian nationalists for Russia. The protests are directed against Russia. If Ukraine can be realigned and brought into the fold of Washington’s Empire, Russia is further diminished as a world power.
To this effect NATO conducted war games against Russia last month in operation Steadfast Jazz 2013.http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2013/10/17/nato-steadfast-jazz-exercise-chill-of-cold-war.html Finland, Ukraine, Georgia, and neutral Sweden have offered their military participation in the next iteration of NATO war games close to Russia’s borders despite the fact that they are not NATO members.
The diminishment of Russia as a powerful state is critical to Washington’s agenda for world hegemony. If Russia can be rendered impotent, Washington’s only concern is China.
The Obama regime’s “Pivot to Asia” announced Washington’s plan to surround China with naval and air bases and to interject Washington into every dispute that China has with Asian neighbors. China has responded to Washington’s provocation by expanding its air space, an action that Washington calls destabilizing when in fact it is Washington that is destabilizing the region.
China is unlikely to be intimidated, but could undermine itself if its economic reform opens China’s economy to western manipulation. Once China frees its currency and embraces “free markets,” Washington can manipulate China’s currency and drive China’s currency into volatility that discourages its use as a rival to the dollar. China is disadvantaged by having so many university graduates from US universities, where they have been indoctrinated with Washington’s view of the world. When these American-programmed graduates return to China, some tend to become a fifth column whose influence will ally with Washington’s war on China.
So where does this leave us? Washington will prevail until the US dollar collapses.
Many support mechanisms are in place for the dollar. The Federal Reserve and its dependent bullion banks have driven down the price of gold and silver by short-selling in the paper futures market, allowing bullion to flow into Asia at bargain prices, but removing the pressure of a rising gold price on the exchange value of the US dollar.
Washington has prevailed on Japan and, apparently, the European Central Bank, to print money in order to prevent the rise of the yen and euro to the dollar.
The Trans-Pacific and Trans-Atlantic Partnerships are designed to keep countries in the US dollar payments system, thus supporting the dollar’s value in currency markets.
Eastern European members of the EU that still have their own currencies have been told that they must print their own currencies in order to prevent a rise in their currency’s value relative to the US dollar that would curtail their exports.
The financial world is under Washington’s thumb. And Washington is printing money for the sake of 4 or 5 mega-banks.
That should tell the protestors in Ukraine all they need to know.
Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He was columnist for Business Week, Scripps Howard News Service, and Creators Syndicate. He has had many university appointments. His internet columns have attracted a worldwide following. His latest book, The Failure of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Economic Dissolution of the Westis now available.
What's your response? - Scroll down to add / read comments
 | Support Information Clearing House |
| |||||||||||||||
| Please read our Comment Policy before posting -We ask readers to play a proactive role and click the "Report link [at the base of each comment] when in your opinion, comments cross the line and become purely offensive, racist or disrespectful to others. |
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article37032.htm
getting ukraine onside would a huge scoop for them.
James Morgan
Olympia, WA
death throes...unfortunate that most people
in the world do not equate that with the
foreign banks of its board promoting that
Ponzi Scheme...by definition the " US Dollar"
is one ounce of silver....
Nor can we expect the peoples of countries who had to suffer through decades of authoritarian and banana republican autocrats just to stand up for US foreign policy to keep accepting the austere national budgets they'll be suffering through for the next several years.
Sooner or later, push will have to come to shove. Like it now is in Ukraine.
Our bad gambling debts were of our own making. It's time American banks and brokerage houses paid for theirs themselves. And stop rewarding US CEOs and CFOs with golden parachutes for their own, damned poor performance.
America -- once again -- will defend Wall Street and K Street down to the last (fill in the blank with your favorite country's people). Just like it wanted to do in the Balkans of the 1990s, and in the Persian Gulf post-9/11 under PNAC and AIPAC.
There is, needless to say, nothing good that outside interference can bring to this problem. They have to sort it out for themselves. Roberts is right. Becoming a chess piece on the board for someone else to push around is not a good idea.
I recommend Connor O'Clery's Moscow, December 25, 1991: The Last Day of the Soviet Union. I found it a riveting read. Kiev is a great city too, by the way!
I got more than an earful fo what ails the Ukraine from Rui Antoniac while working for his uncle Gearge many years back in Philly near Girard College, Gearge a silver and metals trader then was making fat monet seeling silver krugerands for 235 an once and Gold at 395, it was at what he thought then to be a near peak high, needless to say he should have sold the solver and kept the gold, which in some measure he did, That George, quite a shrewd guy.
The Ukriane, Georgia and Poland all saw colored revolutions via stratfor and WINEP through the years some kind of neocon mentality now pervades all of these nations, save for the half of the Ukraine which still has a beating heart for itself irregardless of who might be interested in plundering it;s many vital resources.
Making sense of John Kerrys recent foray into Latin American OAS hat wearing and his calling out of European colonialism as a thing which would be met with OAS guns, my sense that NATO was dissolving aloing uncertain lines has been reiterated with more simplicity now that the Ukraine is bucking the EU, or at least some of it is...
The neocon in the Ukraine want to be a bud of NATO aligned EU and the nationalist side is that element in one way but in another way there is the Tymosheko brand of commercialism which does show much better return for Ukrainians as a national front of their own grass roots which was a more conscilliatory way forward which used old Russian ties like Roberts sees them developing along some of the paths of the New Silk Road, which of course the US still sees red when contemplating this Balkans, Netherlands, Russian Asian thing so close to the EU's eastern parts. so close that a energy hub dream for Damascus after the US and Israel and Saudi Arabia taking over there, which didnt happen, yet, and may not, none the less it isnt hard to see whom sees green and who is turning green with envy and why. No We dont split the Ukraine in half and yes, The EU trusts Russia and the Ukraine as suplyers a hell of a lot more than they trys the Suadis and Israel with the US as their gurantor and Camerons crown lords and ladies as their bankers. What goes up must come down, thank you very much Sir Isaac Newton, now for William Tell to shoot that apple off of Newtons head, my guess is that both halves fall to the left lol, I made a funny...