US vs Russia: Ukraine fiasco

[boutons_deux]

Boo, there was a vague insinuation of eventual EU membership for Ukraine, but only after trade was opened up and they could meet the financial baseline for membership.

I'm sure USA/NATO/EU would bend over backwards to relax requirements in return for an ally with such a long border with Russia.

[boutons_deux]

Welcome to Satan’s Ball

The rise of criminal elites is global. Vladimir Putin is a megalomaniac and a thug who is filling his personal coffers while he is the leader of Russia, and Barack Obama, who has more polish and sophistication, will fill his own pockets, as did the Clintons, with tens of millions of dollars as soon as he leaves office. The banks and corporations for which Obama works are as criminal and corrupt as the Central Bank of Russia, which calculates that perhaps two-thirds of the $56 billion that left Russia in 2012 might have been from money laundering, drug trafficking, tax fraud or kickbacks. The circular system of patronage and crime that exists worldwide varies from region to region only by degrees and style.\

The Western political and financial elites, Putin knows, will not touch him. He and they are in the same decadent oligarchic class. They hold the same values. Europe depends on Russia for 40 percent of its natural gas, most of which passes through Ukraine. European bankers and corporations have no intention of jeopardizing that flow, or any current or potential trade deals. Corporate profit is the driving engine of foreign policy. Our elites do not care about human rights or civil liberties, not to mention the illegality of pre-emptive war, any more than Putin. Ask the people of Iraq, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen or Somalia how much moral authority the United States has to denounce the violation of the territorial integrity of a sovereign state. Ask those in our black sites and offshore penal colonies how much moral authority we have to denounce arbitrary detention and torture. Ask the 1.3 million people who lost their extended unemployment benefits in December or those who saw food stamp cutbacks reduce their spending by $90 a month how much moral authority there is left in our corporate state.

Our elites have established the most efficient system of mass surveillance in history. They have abolished most of our civil liberties. They have trashed our economy for their own personal gain. They have looted state treasuries and thrown working men and women aside. Satan is again holding a great ball. You are not invited. I am not invited. Only the gangsters will be there. Putin will be an honored guest. So will Obama.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/welcome_to_satans_ball_20140309

[boutons_deux]

London’s Laundry Business

The White House has imposed visa restrictions on some Russian officials, and President Obama has issued (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/06/us-visa-restrictions-officials-ukraine-russia) an executive order enabling further sanctions. But Britain has already undermined any unified action by putting profit first.

It boils down to this: Britain is ready to betray the United States to protect the City of London’s hold on dirty Russian money. And forget about Ukraine.

Britain, open for business, no longer has a “mission.” Any moralizing remnant of the British Empire is gone; it has turned back to the pirate England of Sir Walter Raleigh. Britain’s ruling class has decayed to the point where its first priority is protecting its cut of Russian money — even as Russian armored personnel carriers rumble around the streets of Sevastopol. But the establishment understands that, in the 21st century, what matters are banks, not tanks.

The Russians also understand this. They know that London is a center of Russian corruption, that their loot plunges into Britain’s empire of tax havens — from Gibraltar to Jersey, from the Cayman Islands to the British Virgin Islands — on which the sun never sets.

British residency is up for sale. “Investor visas” can be purchased, starting at £1 million ($1.6 million). London lawyers in the Commercial Court now get 60 percent (http://www.newrepublic.com/article/116857/british-sanctions-russia-would-be-bad-londons-economy) of their work from Russian and Eastern European clients. More than 50 Russia-based companies swell the trade at London’s Stock Exchange. The planning regulations have been scrapped, and along the Thames, up go spires of steel and glass for the hedge-funding class.

Britain’s bright young things now become consultants, art dealers, private banker and hedge funders. Or, to put it another way, the oligarchs’ valets.

Russia’s president, Vladimir V. Putin, gets it: you pay them, you own them. Mr. Putin was absolutely certain that Britain’s managers — shuttling through the revolving door between cabinet posts and financial boards — would never give up their fees and commissions from the oligarchs’ billions. He was right.

In the austerity years of zero growth that followed the 2008 financial crash, this new source of vast wealth could not be resisted. Tony Blair is the latter-day embodiment of pirate Britain’s Sir Walter Raleigh. The former prime minister now advises (http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2013/nov/08/tony-blair-kazakhstan-human-rights-role) the Kazakh ruler Nursultan Nazarbayev on his image in the West. Mr. Blair is handsomely paid to tutor his patron on how to be evasive about the crackdowns and the mine shootings that are facts of life in Kazakhstan.

This is Britain’s growth business today: laundering oligarchs’ (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/anne-applebaum-russias-western-enablers/2014/03/05/bcba2a88-a4a6-11e3-8466-d34c451760b9_story.html?tid=hpModule_6c539b02-b270-11e2-bbf2-a6f9e9d79e19&hpid=z10) dirty billions, laundering their dirty reputations.

It could be otherwise. Banking sanctions could turn off the financial pipelines through which corrupt officials channel Russian money. Visa restrictions could cut Kremlin ministers off from their mansions. The tax havens that rob the national budget of billions could be forced to be accountable. Britain has the power to bankrupt the Putin clique.

But London has changed. And the Shard — the Qatari-owned, 72-floor skyscraper above the grotty Southwark riverside — is a symbol of that change.

The Shard encapsulates the new hierarchy of the city. On the top floors, “ultra high net worth individuals” entertain escorts in luxury apartments. By day, on floors below, investment bankers trade incomprehensible derivatives.

Come nightfall, the elevators are full of African cleaners, paid next to nothing and treated as nonexistent. The acres of glass windows are scrubbed by Polish laborers, who sleep four to a room in bedsit slums. And near the Shard are the immigrants from Lithuania and Romania, who broke their backs on construction sites, but are now destitute and whiling away their hours along the banks of the Thames.

The Shard is London, a symbol of a city where oligarchs are celebrated and migrants are exploited but that pretends to be a multicultural utopia. Here, in their capital city, the English are no longer calling the shots. They are hirelings.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/08/opinion/londons-laundry-business.html?_r=0

[Winehole23]

Fred Kaplan identifies (http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/war_stories/2014/03/barack_obama_vladimir_putin_and_ukraine_the_presid ent_has_bungled_his_dealings.html) the contradictions in the Obama administration’s response to Russia:




At a press conference in Kiev, he proclaimed American solidarity with Ukraine’s aspiring democrats. But he also acknowledged that Russia has vital interests in Ukraine, waived any desire for confrontation, and called for mutual “de-escalation.”
But then, President Obama announced sanctions against Russia, banning travel of key officials, freezing assets, and suspending international forums. The question that no one appeared to acknowledge, much less ask or answer: How is it possible to do escalation and de-escalation at the same time?



Kaplan cites this as proof of the clumsiness of the U.S. response, and he has a point. That said, we all understand the reason for the confusion. The first part of the response–correctly emphasizing de-escalation–is attempting to avoid unnecessary conflict and reduce tensions, and that is a defensible and responsible way to handle the situation. Unfortunately, the administration seems to think that it can’t really defend this sort of response in the current climate, and so has to indulge in punitive measures to demonstrate just how “tough” it can be on Russia. The second, punitive part serves no constructive purpose, and it actively undermines the effort to reduce tensions. It is being done all the same to satisfy hawkish critics at home, and they are most interested in punishing Russia even if it makes things worse.


Dan Drezner has explained (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/03/07/bringing_the_pain_sanctions_putin_crimea) why U.S. economic sanctions would be of no use in compelling Russia to withdraw from Crimea, but goes on to say that they should be imposed nonetheless. While it’s possible that imposing sanctions could give U.S. and European leaders something to bargain with in the future, as Drezner says, there is clearly no appetite among most Western governments to pursue this course. Imposing sanctions now puts the U.S. at odds with the governments whose cooperation it most needs for a coordinated and unified response.

http://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/ukraine-and-the-futility-of-sanctions/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ukraine-and-the-futility-of-sanctions

[boutons_deux]

Of course, if Crimea wants to secede from Ukraine, the Texians, Confederates, bubbas will agree that it's nothing but "state rights", so what's the problem? (their position would be if a Repug were in the WH)

[CosmicCowboy]

Of course, if Crimea wants to secede from Ukraine, the Texians, Confederates, bubbas will agree that it's nothing but "state rights", so what's the problem? (their position would be if a Repug were in the WH)

I don't have a problem with Crimea seceding from Ukraine...It might even make it easier for Ukraine to lean west. Gotta remember Crimea has deep Russian roots and was the home to the Black Sea Fleet.

[Winehole23]

Just because they ask to join Russia, doesn't mean Putin has to agree. He's keeping his options open," says Sergei Strokan, foreign affairs columnist for the Moscow daily Kommersant. "It's a signal. Putin isn't being inconsistent. What he said still applies, he just wants a bargaining chip in what's getting to be a very tough game."

Mr. Strokan says Crimea would best serve Russian interests by remaining nominally within Ukraine while being under de facto Russian control (http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2014/0304/Ukraine-loses-its-hold-on-Crimea.-What-does-Russia-gain-video). Perpetually thorny issues like the status of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, based in Sevastopol (http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Europe/2014/0304/Ukraine-loses-its-hold-on-Crimea.-What-does-Russia-gain-video), could be greatly simplified for Moscow if they fell under the authority of a local pro-Russian government in Crimea.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/2014/0306/Does-Putin-really-want-Crimea-within-Russia-Maybe-not.-video?cmpid=editorpicks&google_editors_picks=true

[boutons_deux]

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Security-Watch/2014/0306/Does-Putin-really-want-Crimea-within-Russia-Maybe-not.-video?cmpid=editorpicks&google_editors_picks=true

Pootin could carve out the Black Sea Fleet base from Crimea like US carved out Guantanamo from Cuba

[CosmicCowboy]

Naaa....he will want the whole banana and will get it. It's just so more logistically convenient. Crimea being a part of Ukraine wasn't historical anyway...It's only been part of Ukraine for about 70 years.

[Wild Cobra]

You know, reading up on the corrupt history of the Ukraine, I'm surprised the EU is even entertaining the thought of bringing them in. the Ukrainian parliament was all for it in word, but never passed the legislation required to be accepted. The deposed president was for the integration into the EU until he saw tariffs from the Ukraine would become the same as the UE nations. Then they blame it all on him... And now... The Ukrainian police are rounding up and jailing Russian speaking Ukrainians. I wonder if it will be as bad as the Japanese internment camps we once had.

[CosmicCowboy]

I was in a high end strip club in Palm Beach last week and personally I think those Ukranian women are worth saving at any cost. They take hotness to a whole nother level.

[CosmicCowboy]

You know, reading up on the corrupt history of the Ukraine, I'm surprised the EU is even entertaining the thought of bringing them in. the Ukrainian parliament was all for it in word, but never passed the legislation required to be accepted. The deposed president was for the integration into the EU until he saw tariffs from the Ukraine would become the same as the UE nations. Then they blame it all on him... And now... The Ukrainian police are rounding up and jailing Russian speaking Ukrainians. I wonder if it will be as bad as the Japanese internment camps we once had.

Ukraine is just in a shitty geographical spot as far as global dynamics. They have never been anything long enough to establish an identity as a country. The culture of "get it while you can because it could change tomorrow" runs too deep.

[CosmicCowboy]

If the US had borders like the Ukraine there would have never been a USA.

[Wild Cobra]

If the US had borders like the Ukraine there would have never been a USA.
Yep.

The ocean separating us in those early days allowed us to secede.

[Winehole23]

Naaa....he will want the whole banana and will get it. It's just so more logistically convenient. Crimea being a part of Ukraine wasn't historical anyway...It's only been part of Ukraine for about 70 years.Crimea has the referendum, but Russia might not incorporate. might be better to keep a toehold in a nominally sovereign yet essentially Finlandized Ukraine than risk a European war and the scorn of the world. if Russia effected a schism -- i.e., a civil war -- it might alienate parts of Ukraine otherwise inclined to go along.

[pgardn]

Crimea has the referendum, but Russia might not incorporate. might be better to keep a toehold in a nominally sovereign yet essentially Finlandized Ukraine than risk a European war and the scorn of the world. if Russia effected a schism -- i.e., a civil war -- it might alienate parts of Ukraine otherwise inclined to go along.

From an economic point of view, Finlandization should be fine with Ukraine. Germany is the largest trading partner. They freely trade with the EU. Russia's proximity also allows for big trade.

[pgardn]

You know, reading up on the corrupt history of the Ukraine, I'm surprised the EU is even entertaining the thought of bringing them in. the Ukrainian parliament was all for it in word, but never passed the legislation required to be accepted. The deposed president was for the integration into the EU until he saw tariffs from the Ukraine would become the same as the UE nations. Then they blame it all on him... And now... The Ukrainian police are rounding up and jailing Russian speaking Ukrainians. I wonder if it will be as bad as the Japanese internment camps we once had.

The EU wants to trade with them. Bringing them in....

Heck yes they were corrupt, that's why the upcoming elections were so important. Their last president was more pro Europe but got voted out, the woman. She was accused of deep corruption. But I don't think she bought her own personal zoo.

[Wild Cobra]

Crimea has the referendum, but Russia might not incorporate. might be better to keep a toehold in a nominally sovereign yet essentially Finlandized Ukraine than risk a European war and the scorn of the world. if Russia effected a schism -- i.e., a civil war -- it might alienate parts of Ukraine otherwise inclined to go along.

I read someplace last night that Russia will accept them if they wish to join.

[Wild Cobra]

The EU wants to trade with them. Bringing them in....

Heck yes they were corrupt, that's why the upcoming elections were so important. Their last president was more pro Europe but got voted out, the woman. She was accused of deep corruption. But I don't think she bought her own personal zoo.
The UN doesn't want to trade bad enough. they set the conditions that the Ukrainian parliament wouldn't accept. I think both sides were holding out for a better deal. then when the president took the Russians offer, the parliament instigated a coup.

Do we really want to deal with these corrupt people?

They are not the legitimate government of the Ukraine. They violated their own constitution in the removal of their president.

Do we really want such crooks and liars?

[boutons_deux]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Ukraine

[pgardn]

The UN doesn't want to trade bad enough. they set the conditions that the Ukrainian parliament wouldn't accept. I think both sides were holding out for a better deal. then when the president took the Russians offer, the parliament instigated a coup.

Do we really want to deal with these corrupt people?

They are not the legitimate government of the Ukraine. They violated their own constitution in the removal of their president.

Do we really want such crooks and liars?

They vote.

Thats the first step. Free and fair, I'm sure they will have election officials from other countries on site after this mess.
But, they vote.

And the WE, this is economically small potatoes for the US directly. So I think about why we are involved. There are many reasons, and they are not all as cynical as most on this board believe.

[dbestpro]

Can't tell who the good guys and the bad guys are in this mess. We should steer clear of what is to follow. Perhaps only to posture that Russia takes no more than Crimea.

[boutons_deux]

http://www.thenation.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/main_node_view_image/tmw2014-03-12colorlarge.jpg

[Nbadan]

Crimea Declares Independence Ahead of Popular Vote on Secession
Source: RIA NOvosti


MOSCOW, March 11 (RIA Novosti) – The parliament of Crimea, a majority ethnic Russian region within Ukraine, declared independence Tuesday ahead of a popular vote on secession and annexation by Russia.

The declaration appeared to be the latest attempt to shore up the legal basis of the upcoming referendum, which is scheduled for Sunday but has been declared unconstitutional by the country’s central leadership in Kiev.

A representative of the regional parliament’s press office said that 78 of 100 deputies voted to declare independence.

The text of the declaration, published on the parliament’s website, claims that the action is in accordance with international law, specifically citing a 2010 ruling by the International Court of Justice that affirmed Kosovo had the right to declare independence from Serbia.

Read more: http://en.ria.ru/world/20140311/188317029/Crimea-Declares-Independence-Ahead-of-Popular-Vote-on-Secession.html

The international law dealing with self determination reads: "All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development."

In other words, people have a right to determine the nation they belong to. Ukraine signed that treaty.

International law recognizes the right of nations to defend their territory from outside invasions, but it does not recognize the right of nations to prevent their own people from lawfully seceding. In spite of the hot air bellowing from various politicians, there's never really been any question that, under international law, the Crimean's have the right to declare independence and hold a referendum on their future. Russia has no right to be there, but the Crimeans do.

The ICJ ruling on Kosovo simply reaffirmed a principle of international law that has been recognized since the 1950's.

[pgardn]

[B]Crimea Declares Independence Ahead of Popular Vote on Secession
Source: RIA NOvosti



Read more: http://en.ria.ru/world/20140311/188317029/Crimea-Declares-Independence-Ahead-of-Popular-Vote-on-Secession.html

The international law dealing with self determination reads: "All peoples have the right of self-determination. By virtue of that right they freely determine their political status and freely pursue their economic, social and cultural development."

In other words, people have a right to determine the nation they belong to. Ukraine signed that treaty.

International law recognizes the right of nations to defend their territory from outside invasions, but it does not recognize the right of nations to prevent their own people from lawfully seceding. In spite of the hot air bellowing from various politicians, there's never really been any question that, under international law, the Crimean's have the right to declare independence and hold a referendum on their future. Russia has no right to be there, but the Crimeans do.

The ICJ ruling on Kosovo simply reaffirmed a principle of international law that has been recognized since the 1950's.

So when the neighborhood you live in decides to secede and you don't want to tough titties... Leave your families land or become a part of Mouses pinhead Chemtrail movement.

[Winehole23]

Financial markets were on high alert last night over the Ukraine (http://www.theguardian.com/world/ukraine) crisis amid speculation that the Kremlin had pulled its vast US treasury bill holdings out of New York.


News that more than $100bn had been shifted out of the US in the past week – at least three times more than at any time since the financial crisis – prompted fears that Russia (http://www.theguardian.com/world/russia) is preparing for a western backlash in the form of sanctions and is moving its funds to safe havens beyond US influence.


The bills were transferred out of the US central bank's deposit vaults last week, as the Obama administration increased the threat of sanctions in response to the growing crisis in east Ukraine. Last year the most moved in a week was $32bn. Analysts said that if the switch can be credited to Russia, it represents about 80% of the country's holdings in US Treasury bonds (http://www.theguardian.com/business/bonds).

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/14/russia-us-treasury-bill-bonds-ukraine-sanctions

[Wild Cobra]

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/mar/14/russia-us-treasury-bill-bonds-ukraine-sanctions
Your point?

Is it that we are stupid for allowing excessive debt?

[pgardn]

Your point?

Is it that we are stupid for allowing excessive debt?

The Russians expect the US to start freezing their money. As far as T bills go the Russian pullout is a very small %. But with that move some of our debt was paid, yes?
Read this as the Russians expect to get hurt financially.

So WC, why do you think Russians bought US T bills in the first place?

[Wild Cobra]

The Russians expect the US to start freezing their money. As far as T bills go the Russian pullout is a very small %.
Read the Russians expect to get hurt financially.

So WC, why do you think Russians bought US T bills in the first place?
taking the bills, so Obama wouldn't confiscate them.

Buying them how ever long ago they were bought? Diversification.

[pgardn]

taking the bills, so Obama wouldn't confiscate them.

Buying them how ever long ago they were bought? Diversification.

Our government will not confiscate them. If given time we would probably freeze them thereby not allowing Russia to pay for stuff, like invading another country.

The bills are not bought at one time.

If you as an individual had as much money as a country and wanted to earn interest off it without fear of losing some of it where would you put that money. Your first choice?

[DMX7]

What this situation really needs is Jared Leto.

[boutons_deux]

Corporate Interests Behind Ukraine Putsch

Behind the U.S.-backed coup that ousted the democratically elected president of Ukraine are the economic interests of giant corporations – from Cargill to Chevron – which see the country as a potential “gold mine” of profits from agricultural and energy exploitation

On Jan. 12, a reported 50,000 “pro-Western” Ukrainians (http://www.voanews.com/content/reu-ukraine-anti-government-protesters-stage-first-mass-rally-of-2014/1828480.html) descended upon Kiev’s Independence Square to protest against the government of President Viktor Yanukovych. Stoked in part by an attack on opposition leader Yuriy Lutsenko (http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/europe/140112/ukraine-protests-swell-after-prominent-opposition-leaders-beatin), the protest marked the beginning of the end of Yanukovych’s four year-long government.

That same day, the Financial Times reported (http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/8dde553c-7b92-11e3-84af-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk#axzz2vmwKJHNH) a major deal for U.S. agribusiness titan Cargill.



Despite the turmoil within Ukrainian politics after Yanukovych rejected a major trade deal with the European Union
just seven weeks earlier (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/21/us-ukraine-eu-idUSBRE9AK0S220131121)
, Cargill was confident enough about the future to fork over $200 million to buy a stake in Ukraine’s UkrLandFarming. According to Financial Times, UkrLandFarming is the world’s eighth-largest land cultivator and second biggest egg producer


. And those aren’t the only eggs in Cargill’s increasingly-ample basket.
(http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/591e3156-3d8e-11e3-9928-00144feab7de.html)

On Dec. 13, Cargill announced the purchase of a stake in a Black Sea port (http://www.themoscowtimes.com/business/article/cargill-buys-stake-in-novorossiysk-port-to-boost-black-sea-presence/491486.html). Cargill’s port at Novorossiysk — to the east of Russia’s strategically significant and historically important Crimean naval base — gives them a major entry-point to Russian markets and adds them to the list of Big Ag companies investing in ports around the Black Sea (http://www.agrimoney.com/news/cargill-extends-spree-of-black-sea-port-deals--6589.html), both in Russia and Ukraine.

Cargill has been in Ukraine for over two decades (http://www.cargill.com/worldwide/ukraine/), investing in grain elevators and acquiring a major Ukrainian animal feed company (http://www.cargill.com/feed/brands/provimi/) in 2011. And, based on its investment in UkrLandFarming, Cargill was decidedly confident amidst the post-EU deal chaos (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/27/world/europe/protests-continue-as-ukraine-leader-defends-stance-on-europe.html). It’s a stark juxtaposition to the alarm bells ringing out from the U.S. media, bellicose politicians on Capitol Hill and perplexed policymakers in the White House.

Big Ag Luminaries

And what a committee it is — it’s a veritable who’s who of Big Ag. Among the luminaries working tirelessly and no doubt selflessly for a better, freer Ukraine are:

–Melissa Agustin, Director, International Government Affairs & Trade for Monsanto

–Brigitte Dias Ferreira, Counsel, International Affairs for John Deere

–Steven Nadherny, Director, Institutional Relations for agriculture equipment-maker CNH Industrial

–Jeff Rowe, Regional Director for DuPont Pioneer

–John F. Steele, Director, International Affairs for Eli Lilly & Company

And, of course, Cargill’s Van A. Yeutter. But Cargill isn’t alone in their warm feelings toward Ukraine. As Reuters reported (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/05/24/monsanto-ukraine-idUSL5N0E51CM20130524) in May 2013, Monsanto — the largest seed company in the world — plans to build a $140 million “non-GM (genetically modified) corn seed plant in Ukraine.”

And right after the decision on the EU trade deal, Jesus Madrazo, Monsanto’s Vice President for Corporate Engagement, reaffirmed (http://monsantoblog.com/2013/12/19/monsanto-and-its-commitment-to-ukraine/) his company’s “commitment to Ukraine” and “the importance of creating a favorable environment that encourages innovation and fosters the continued development of agriculture.”

Just two days after Cargill bought into UkrLandFarming, Global Meat News (yes, “Global Meat News” is a thing) reported a huge forecasted spike (http://www.globalmeatnews.com/Industry-Markets/Ukraine-forecasts-significant-rise-in-meat-exports) in “all kinds” of Ukrainian meat exports, with an increase of 8.1% overall and staggering 71.4% spike in pork exports. No wonder Eli Lilly is represented on the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council’s Executive Committee. Its Elanco Animal Health unit (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/13/usa-elanco-price-increase-idUSL2N0IY23320131113) is a major manufacturer of feed supplements.

... etc, etc, including Mrs. Victoria "Fuck the EU" Nuland

http://consortiumnews.com/2014/03/16/corporate-interests-behind-ukraine-putsch/

[boutons_deux]

Mainstream US Media Is Lost in Ukraine

Exclusive: The U.S. mainstream news media is reaching a new professional low point as it covers the Ukraine crisis by brazenly touting Official Washington’s propaganda themes, blatantly ignoring contrary facts and leading the American public into another geopolitical blind alley, writes Robert Parry.

By Robert Parry

As the Ukraine crisis continues to deepen, the mainstream U.S. news media is sinking to new lows of propaganda and incompetence. Somehow, a violent neo-Nazi-spearheaded putsch overthrowing a democratically elected president was refashioned into a “legitimate” regime, then the “interim” government and now simply “Ukraine.”

The Washington Post’s screaming headline on Sunday is “Ukraine decries Russian ‘invasion,’” treating the coup regime in Kiev as if it speaks for the entire country when it clearly speaks for only a subset of the population, mostly from western Ukraine. The regime’s “legitimacy” comes not from a democratic election but from a coup that was quickly embraced by the U.S. government and the European Union.



Objective U.S. journalists would insist on a truthful narrative that conveys these nuances to the American people, not simply behave as clumsy propagandists determined to glue “white hats” on the side favored by the State Department and “black hats” on everyone that the U.S. government disdains. But virtually the entire mainstream press corps has opted for the propaganda role, much as it has in the past.

Think Iraq 2002-03.

http://consortiumnews.com/2014/03/16/mainstream-us-media-is-lost-in-ukraine/

[pgardn]

Yeah boots, it was all perfectly planned.

Ukraine presents a gigantic headache for everyone involved. You can't be serious with your rubbish. It will most likely end up making almost every nation involved poorer. You got the Putin boner as well.

The Washington post has made it very clear there is a huge difference in ethnic makeup in different parts of Ukraine and explained it well, both sides. Rubbish.

Do you cry for the Tartars, what should happen to them? Can they get their own State as well. Will the Russians come to their help?

[boutons_deux]

Yeah boots, it was all perfectly planned.

Ukraine presents a gigantic headache for everyone involved. You can't be serious with your rubbish. It will most likely end up making almost every nation involved poorer. You got the Putin boner as well.

:lol

[pgardn]

:lol

You laugh at the displacement of the Tartars. A real humanitarian... You laugh when a Sheriff accidentally kills his wife,yet you pretend to show sympathy for the poor. You are sick.

[boutons_deux]

You laugh at the displacement of the Tartars. A real humanitarian... You laugh when a Sheriff accidentally kills his wife,yet you pretend to show sympathy for the poor. You are sick.

I laugh at YOU jerkoff.

Where's your EVIDENCE that I support Putin invading Crimea and probably Ukraine?

[pgardn]

I laugh at YOU jerkoff.

Where's your EVIDENCE that I support Putin invading Crimea and probably Ukraine?

Corporate interests behind Ukraine coup... Sure. Monsanto representatives aided the demonstrations supplying stones to throw at the riot police?

[boutons_deux]

Corporate interests behind Ukraine coup... Sure. Monsanto representatives aided the demonstrations supplying stones to throw at the riot police?

US Corporate interests are already in Ukraine, right since USSR collapsed. Ukraine aligned, allied with EU/NATO would ensure deep US corporate penetration, and probably takeover. Did you hear the US govt lady say in open mic "fuck the EU"? US (corporate interests, neocons) have been messing in Ukraine politics for years.

[angrydude]

Crimea votes overwhelming to join Russia.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/crimeans-begin-vote-on-russia-referendum/2014/03/16/ccec2132-acd4-11e3-a06a-e3230a43d6cb_print.html

Self-determination bitches...... lol.

Situation is fucked up. Nothing but bad players everywhere.

[angrydude]

Situation really backfired into Obama's face.

Honestly, I don't know what's worse. Being an imperialist or being an incompetent imperialist.

[boutons_deux]

Situation really backfired into Obama's face.

any details on your fantasy?

Obama wisely, and with support of majority of US people seen in recent polls, didn't stick his face in beyond diplomacy "officially", but US and US corps (the US govt works for the US corps) have been dicking around in Ukraine since the USSR fell (under Pappy, Clinton, dubya, Obama), trying to get make Ukraine yet another colony of US corporate predators wanting to extract wealth from Ukraine.

[pgardn]

US Corporate interests are already in Ukraine, right since USSR collapsed. Ukraine aligned, allied with EU/NATO would ensure deep US corporate penetration, and probably takeover. Did you hear the US govt lady say in open mic "fuck the EU"? US (corporate interests, neocons) have been messing in Ukraine politics for years.

So corporate interests in the EU and US aided in the demonstrations that led to the Ukrainian president fleeing?

[boutons_deux]

So corporate interests in the EU and US aided in the demonstrations that led to the Ukrainian president fleeing?

that's your straw man, you deal with it.

US is also lying that it's not dicking around in socialist petro-state Venezuela. :lol

[pgardn]

So corporate interests in the EU and US aided in the demonstrations that led to the Ukrainian president fleeing?

Its a question, if it's a straw man just say, I have no idea.

So your answer?

[pgardn]

US is also lying that it's not dicking around in socialist petro-state Venezuela. :lol

Go ask the Cubans, they sent troops requested. They are on the ground and have a highly trusted press. I can't help it if governments are not very innovative in getting petrochemicals out of the ground. Maybe people in Govt. should ask Norway how their government and country deals with oil companies and still is able to create wealth for its citizens.

[boutons_deux]

Go ask the Cubans, they sent troops requested. They are on the ground and have a highly trusted press. I can't help it if governments are not very innovative in getting petrochemicals out of the ground. Maybe people in Govt. should ask Norway how their government and country deals with oil companies and still is able to create wealth for its citizens.

:lol

[pgardn]

:lol

Thats what I thought.
you've nary a clue

[boutons_deux]

Thats what I thought.
you've nary a clue

... says the guy who says the Cuban press is highly trusted! :lol

[pgardn]

... says the guy who says the Cuban press is highly trusted! :lol

Sarcasm line drive over Boots playing Right Field...

Christ...

[pgardn]

“We do not want to go to war, but if the Russians knew that the West would stand behind us, they would not have taken Crimea,” said Oleksandr Kress, a 29-year-old engineer who was also in line to sign up for the national guard. The government is taking men as young as 15 and as old as 45. The first training sessions for the new force began last week.

“But we know now that they don’t stand behind us,” Kress said. “We know now that we must help ourselves.”

Near Independence Square, where the hundreds of activists who challenged Yanukovych are still living in a makeshift tent city, walls were adorned Sunday with posters and signs calling for peace, as well as several railing against Russian President Vladimir Putin. Accountants Irina Prischepa, 28, and Svetlana Chernykh, 34, stood in the square holding a sign that said: “Putin, hands off our Motherland.”

Both women thanked the West for its support thus far and praised the cool heads that have avoided a military clash.



See how easy it all is Boots? Conflicting views of what the West should do within Kiev. But the neocon Western industrialists are the problem helps you make all the complexity go away...

[Capt Bringdown]

Jeffrey Sommers/Michael Hudson: Russia, Crimea and the Consequences of NATO Policy -->> (http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/03/jeffrey-sommersmichael-hudson-russia-crimea-consequences-nato-policy.html)

The Crimea has been part of Russia for three hundred years. It is populated overwhelmingly by Russian speakers, who watch with alarm the rightwing nationalist violence in Kiev, all the more as many of its leaders are establishing symbolic and outright ideological ties with the old German Nazis. Viktor Yanunkovych was as much a crook as Ukraine’s previous kleptocratic leaders who wielded political power to rob the state and its public domain, neoliberal style. The Crimean population has reason to fear that their elected President was illegally deposed not for his kleptocracy, but as part of a regional and ethnic identity politics of the sort that the Americans are sponsoring throughout the world, from the Shite/Sunni split to similar splits in countries they seek to control. The only protection available is from Russia. That is the gift that Obama has given Putin, making him a defender of Ukraine rather than the aggressor. more -->> (http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/03/jeffrey-sommersmichael-hudson-russia-crimea-consequences-nato-policy.html)

[boutons_deux]

"But the neocon Western industrialists are the problem helps you make all the complexity go away"

:lol you're hilariously out of your depth.

[boutons_deux]

The West wanted Putin's puppet out of power, for financial and/or geo-political reasons.

It doesn't matter that Putin's puppet was democratically elected, just like it didn't matter that Allende and Mossadegh were democratically elected. For the USA, democracy in other countries is a priority when it serves USA's interests. If it doesn't, democracy counts for nothing.

[pgardn]

The West wanted Putin's puppet out of power, for financial and/or geo-political reasons.

It doesn't matter that Putin's puppet was democratically elected, just like it didn't matter that Allende and Mossadegh were democratically elected. For the USA, democracy in other countries is a priority when it serves USA's interests. If it doesn't, democracy counts for nothing.

How does it serve US interests to have the Ukraine in turmoil?

Fool...

[pgardn]

"But the neocon Western industrialists are the problem helps you make all the complexity go away"

:lol you're hilariously out of your depth.

You have one argument to cover all international conflicts.
Just like the anti evolution folks who always fall back on some form of disguised creation.
Hypocrite...

[boutons_deux]

How does it serve US interests to have the Ukraine in turmoil?

Fool...

The expectation, if you were clever enough to see past this week, of course is that the turmoil will result in a pro-Western colony, ally, weatlh-extraction target of US/EU corporate interests.

[EVAY]

To try to get back to the original point…

Who among us wants to go to war over the Crimea? I honestly don't care what the right wing is saying about this. But regardless of whether or not Obama is weak or strong, why the hell should the U.S. do anything at all about it?

[boutons_deux]

To try to get back to the original point…

Who among us wants to go to war over the Crimea? I honestly don't care what the right wing is saying about this. But regardless of whether or not Obama is weak or strong, why the hell should the U.S. do anything at all about it?

I think a huge majority of Americans don't want any more wars. I don't know what the Repugs want to do about Ukraine, other that slander Obama as weak, without saying what a Repug President would do as "strong".

I don't think we can anything about Ukraine at all. US/EU has done enough damage already. Let it roll to the finish now.

[EVAY]

I think a huge majority of Americans don't want any more wars. I don't know what the Repugs want to do about Ukraine, other that slander Obama as weak, without saying what a Repug President would do as "strong".

I don't think we can anything about Ukraine at all. US/EU has done enough damage already. Let it roll to the finish now.

Well, agreed completely that most Americans don't want any more wars anywhere right now. Re: republicans…obviously McCain would put American troops on the ground in the Ukraine, but then he would also have put American troops on the ground in Egypt and Libya and Syria and…..

And of course Palin is on record as saying that the U.S. should "nuke" Russia over this. Brilliance personified, eh?

However, the republicans cannot pretend that W. did anything when Russia invaded Georgia, so that pretty much leaves them just posturing for political gain.

And so, political posturing aside, there is nothing that we will do, nothing that we should do, and nothing that republicans in office have done in the past in similar situations.

After Iraq, the U.S. has zero credibility criticizing anyone else for invading a sovereign nation.

We should all just shut up about it and be on our way.

[TSA]

http://www.kyivpost.com/content/ukraine/ukrainian-government-refuses-to-remove-troops-from-crimea-prepares-for-war-339724.html







Isaac Webb


SEE ALSO


Gorbachev: People of Crimea amend Soviet-era mistake



In the wake of a March 16 referendum in which Crimeans voted to join the Russian Federation, Ukrainian leaders refused to cede any part of the peninsula, calling on their troops to prepare for war.

“Crimea was, is, and will be our territory,” said Defense Minister Ihor Tenyukh in a statement delivered at the Ukrainian Crisis Media Center on March 17.

Former heavyweight boxing champion and leader of the Ukrainian Democratic Alliance for Reform Vitali Klitschko announced that Ukrainian troops would remain at their bases, even after March 21, the end of a peace treaty signed by the interior ministries of Ukraine and Russia.

In accordance with the March 16 peace treaty, the Russian Interior Ministry promised to allow Ukrainian soldiers to pass freely into and out of their bases, which Russian troops had surrounded for more than two weeks. Tenyukh said that the Russian military had thus far respected the terms of the treaty.

Although tensions have de-escalated around military bases in Crimea since the signing of the treaty, neither side is prepared to back down. The Russian government expects that Ukrainian troops will surrender their military bases before the conclusion of the treaty. The Ukrainian government has said that it will not withdraw forces from Crimea, using the peace as an opportunity to replenish supplies for Ukrainian troops stationed on Crimean bases.

When asked whether Ukrainian troops would fight to defend Crimea, Tenyukh replied tersely, “The armed forces will execute their tasks, ” later adding, “Ukrainian forces will stay [in Crimea] until all their tasks have been completed.”

Earlier on March 17, the Ukrainian parliament voted to allot 6.7 billion hryvnia (more than $600 million) to bolster the country’s defenses over the next three months, and to partially mobilize the armed forces.

Tenyukh said that the mobilization was intended to bring the military to “full readiness.” The Verkhovna Rada called for 40,000 troops to be mobilized, calling on reservists to prepare for active duty.

As the Ukrainian economy teeters on the verge of default, the country’s top leaders have been forced to devote resources to bolstering Ukraine’s military, which many believe former President Victor Yanukovich intentionally undermined over the course of his three and a half year reign.

Klitschko said Ukrainian parliamentarians were prepared to send 25 percent of their salaries to “support patriots in Crimea.”

Pavlo Petrenko, Ukraine’s Justice Minister, said that the “the most important issue is to restore the military might of Ukraine.”

“Our army should be ready for combat,” said Petrenko.

Klitschko reiterated that the March 16 referendum in Crimea was conducted illegally, and that the peninsula remains “part and parcel” of Ukraine. As such, the Ukrainian government will continue to provide services to Crimea, including electricity, gas, and water.

In another indication of deteriorating relations between Ukraine and Russia, Klitschko announced that Volodymyr Yelchenko, the Ukrainian ambassador to Russia, would be recalled from Moscow for consultations with the newly formed government in Kyiv.

The escalation in rhetoric comes as pro-Kremlin Crimean leaders took the first steps towards integration into the Russian Federation.

The Crimean Supreme Council voted on March 17 to introduce Moscow time to Crimea on March 30. On the same day, Crimean leaders announced that the Russian ruble would begin circulating alongside the Ukrainian hryvnia and would become the only currency in Crimea by Jan. 1.

[HI-FI]

I think a huge majority of Americans don't want any more wars. I don't know what the Repugs want to do about Ukraine, other that slander Obama as weak, without saying what a Repug President would do as "strong".

I don't think we can anything about Ukraine at all. US/EU has done enough damage already. Let it roll to the finish now.

i don't want any wars, so I'm not critical of Obama on this, though I don't think he's come across as a competent or confident leader. But avoiding any WW3 shit is fine with me. Though while the boutons and other astroturfers get boners from the idea of Russia and CHina growing in power, that aspect does bother me.

[angrydude]

Things are escalating. In response to Obama sanctioning 11 Russians, it looks like Russia is about to counter sanction John McCain.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/17/russia-will-sanction-u-s-officials.html

lol

[Wild Cobra]

I guess Obama wants to hurt our grain exports farmers again...

[TSA]

I guess Obama wants to hurt our grain exports farmers again...

Get back in here you stupid fuck.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230153&page=3

[Wild Cobra]

Get back in here you stupid fuck.

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=230153&page=3
Who is the stupid fuck who can only link material instead of specifying his stupid concern?

What good will sanctions do? This is a done deal. Unless we are going to go to war, or harm innocent people to get at Putin.

Obama's a self centered stupid fuck, but is he really that immoral?

The problem is. I think he is that immoral.

[Jacob1983]

If it's gonna happen, bring it on. Stop with the whole "will they, won't they" bullshit and let's either see this shit go down or move the fuck on.

[rascal]

Why does the United states care so much that Russian people want to join back with motherland Russia? What is the big fuss over this about?

[Jacob1983]

Let Russia and Ukraine duke it out.

[pgardn]

The expectation, if you were clever enough to see past this week, of course is that the turmoil will result in a pro-Western colony, ally, weatlh-extraction target of US/EU corporate interests.

And the people of Ukraine don't see this? How trade with other countries always harm economies and never helps.
Boots economics 101.

Wealth extraction. Idiot. You wanna talk about how to ruin an economy, annex Crimea. Watch the tourism dry up.

[TSA]

Who is the stupid fuck who can only link material instead of specifying his stupid concern?

What good will sanctions do? This is a done deal. Unless we are going to go to war, or harm innocent people to get at Putin.

Obama's a self centered stupid fuck, but is he really that immoral?

The problem is. I think he is that immoral.

I'm concerned with your inability to grasp the situation at hand.

[Winehole23]

How Bad Might It Get In Ukraine? (http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/03/17/how-bad-might-it-get-in-ukraine/)

Mar 17 2014 @ 2:20pm


by Jonah Shepp

Very bad, says Paul Hockenos, who compares (http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/03/15/avoiding_srebrenica_redux_us_europe_bosnia_ukraine ) the situation today to the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s:



[A]nyone who followed the unfolding of the wars in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, and Kosovo is surely horrified today by the dynamics between Russia’s Vladimir Putin, the Ukrainian leadership, the people of Crimea, and citizens in the rest of Ukraine. The similarities to the Balkans of the 1990s are, in many ways, striking: Just as Serbia and Croatia cynically exploited the presence of their compatriots outside the borders of their republics, so too is Putin manipulating the welfare of the Russophone Crimeans as justification for cross-border military operations, the seizure of territory, and a phoney referendum. As in the Balkans, the media has been turned into the mouthpiece of extreme nationalists. Once again, there’s inadequate security architecture to defuse tensions; and then there’s the radicalization of nationalism which, when fanned so fiercely, becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and, in the Balkans, led to Europe’s worst bloodshed since World War II.



Alexander Motyl fears (http://www.worldaffairsjournal.org/blog/alexander-j-motyl/putin%E2%80%99s-terrifying-warmongering) ethnic strife in Crimea:


Unsurprisingly, Ukrainians are terrified by Putin’s warmongering. A friend in Lviv, which is as far as one can be from Ukraine’s eastern border (or is it front?) with Russia, tells me that “people are petrified and believe war is inevitable.” So are Crimean Tatars, whose ancestral land has already been occupied by Putin’s troops and who remember Stalin’s genocidal policies in 1944, when the entire Tatar population was deported to Central Asia and half died.


http://dish.andrewsullivan.com/2014/03/17/how-bad-might-it-get-in-ukraine/

[Wild Cobra]

I'm concerned with your inability to grasp the situation at hand.
All I see is people jumping to unfounded conclusions. Crimea has not been treated well by the Ukrainians. Funny how the people voted over 95% to join Russia.

[Winehole23]

WC endorses the plebiscite

[boutons_deux]

And the people of Ukraine don't see this? How trade with other counties always harm economies and never helps.
Boots economics 101.

Wealth extraction. Idiot. You wanna talk about how to ruin an economy, annex Crimea. Watch the tourism dry up.

Ukraine sheeple are probably less informed, less engaged than USA sheeple

US/EU corps would not be pulling Ukraine away from Russia and towards the West if the corps losers in trade.

Crimea is an econmic blackhole for Ukraine. Good riddance. Now it's Putin problem to prop up.

[TSA]

Funny how the people voted over 95% to join Russia.:lol

[Wild Cobra]

:lol
Laugh it up all you want fuzzball.

[boutons_deux]

Tourism Dollars Dry Up, Alongside Crimea’s Bank Funds

Many A.T.M.s in this sun-dappled seaside resort city in Crimea, and across the region, have been empty in recent days, with little white “transaction denied” slips piling up around them. Banks that do have cash have been imposing severe restrictions on withdrawals.

All flights, other than those to or from Moscow, remain canceled in what could become the norm if the dispute over Crimea’s political status drags on, a chilling prospect just a month before tourist season begins in a place beloved as a vacation playground since czarist times.

Even with the West imposing sanctions to punish Russia’s invasion of Crimea (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/18/world/europe/us-imposes-new-sanctions-on-russian-officials.html), President Vladimir V. Putin faces a far steeper financial liability as he pushes to annex the peninsula, which lacks a self-sustaining economy and depends heavily on mainland Ukraine for vital services, including electricity and fresh water.

“Ukraine can quite easily cut off Crimea,” said Oleksandr Zholud, an economist with the International Center for Policy Studies (http://icps.com.ua/eng/index.html) in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital. “From an economic point of view it looks like a sinkhole.”

(http://mobile.nytimes.com/video/world/europe/100000002774438/putin-announces-crimea-annexation.html?from=homepage)In January, the Crimean Parliament adopted a 2014 budget of about $540 million, of which about $300 million was expected to come from the central government in Kiev. Crimean officials in recent days have said they now expect Moscow to fill the gap.

The potentially large price tag has arisen at a time when Russia itself is bracing for a severe economic slowdown, making annexation a far more complicated calculation for Mr. Putin and his advisers despite huge public support for reclaiming primacy over Crimea.

Crimea and Russia have deep linguistic, historic and cultural ties, and the peninsula holds a nostalgic place in the minds of many Russians as a summer destination and popular retirement spot, where czars and Politburo chairmen kept vacation homes — including the last Soviet president, Mikhail S. Gorbachev, who was briefly exiled to his dacha in the Crimean town of Foros, overlooking the Black Sea, during a coup attempt in 1991.

Russia’s regional development minister, Igor N. Slyunayev, has offered a sobering assessment of the peninsula’s infrastructure needs.

“The peninsula is not self-sufficient when it comes to the entire group of vitally important resources — first of all, electricity and water,” Mr. Slyunayev said in a question-and-answer interview with the Russian newspaper Kommersant. “About 80 percent of water comes to its territory through the northern Crimean canal from the Dnieper River. Also, 80 percent of Crimea depends on imports of electricity.”

In a bleak bottom-line assessment that many residents here would dispute, Mr. Slyunayev said, “Today, our Crimea looks no better than Palestine.”

The authorities here have waved aside concerns about public salaries, pensions and other costs, saying Moscow will cover them. But while Mr. Putin and Russian lawmakers have made reassuring statements, including some promises of more than $1 billion in immediate aid, there are no guarantees.

Russia is facing its own fiscal challenges in the months and years ahead, as revenue growth from oil and natural gas is projected to slow precipitously and the Kremlin confronts big bills from salary increases for the police, the military and other public workers that preceded Mr. Putin’s return to the presidency in 2012.

The financial costs are just one reason that annexation is easier said than done.

Fully absorbing Crimea is a potentially herculean undertaking, which would require issuing new passports, changing the currency to rubles from Ukrainian hryvnias, and integrating completely distinct systems for property records, taxes, legal disputes and more.

The process is also fraught with risks, including the possibility that the Ukrainian government could move to further isolate the geographically remote peninsula by shutting vital transportation lines.
There is no overland transportation link between Russia and Crimea, and building a bridge across the shortest waterway, near the Crimean city of Kerch, would take years and cost an estimated $3 billion to $5 billion.

The costs for Russia — and for Crimeans — could also rise sharply, experts said, if political instability disrupts the peninsula’s major industries, particularly tourism and banking, which are already suffering.

A.T.M.'s have been empty as banks, most based in mainland Ukraine, face obstacles delivering currency, and grapple with mounting concerns about long-term business risks. If world leaders refuse to recognize Russia’s annexation of Crimea, flights could be restricted for years, as they are in northern Cyprus, which has direct air links only with Turkey.

At a minimum, Kiev’s strong leverage over utilities and other vital services stands to force the Kremlin into negotiations with the new Ukrainian leaders whom Mr. Putin has denounced as illegitimate and has so far refused to meet.

Last week, in a meeting with the country’s top economic officials, including the ministers of finance and economics and the head of the central bank, Mr. Putin expressed his own concerns about Russia’s financial prospects.

“Let me say that the current and forecast growth rates the government has given cannot satisfy us in any way,” he said, according to a Kremlin transcript. “We must step up the pace of development.
“Above all, we need to maintain the existing general macroeconomic stability,” Mr. Putin said. “We need to be ready to respond rapidly to both internal and external risks — and they are not getting any fewer — ensure that the budgets at all levels are executed and keep inflation at an acceptably low level.”

Mr. Slyunayev, the regional development minister, said he believed that the government in Kiev would be reasonable and not cut off essential services but might begin charging for water and electric service. “Ukrainian authorities will not provoke a humanitarian crisis,” he told Kommersant.

While financial markets reacted with tentative calm to the Crimean secession vote, the economic sanctions announced by the United States and Europe, and the prospect of a renewed cold war with the West, present just the type of external risk that could destabilize the Russian economy at a moment of vulnerability, experts said.

One immediate risk is a continued decline in foreign investment, though the fear of sanctions may result in a positive effect for Russia by driving home assets that Russian citizens and businesses had stockpiled overseas.

“Private sector capital flight may have been partially neutralized by the return of official assets,” Timothy Ash, an analyst with Standard Bank, wrote in a note to clients on Monday offering analysis in the aftermath of the referendum here.

Some Crimeans said they were already feeling the financial sting from political instability.

As crowds in the cities of Simferopol and Sevastopol held raucous celebrations well into Monday morning after the vote, here in Yalta, Ihor B., the owner of a small travel business, went to bed with a growing sense of dread: The roughly two dozen bookings that he had received since the start of the year had all disappeared.

“I got 10 requests from Germany, and 10 assignments from Ukrainian agencies for Western tourists; a couple of requests from Dutch tourists and cruise ships,” said Mr. B, who asked that his last name not be used for fear of reprisal by the new Russian government. “At the moment, all of them, absolutely all of them, are canceled.”

Mr. B., whose two grown children live and work in Kiev, said the majority of tourists who visited Crimea came from mainland Ukraine. They are likely to go to Odessa or other destinations this year, because of fear over the political unrest, he said.

Boris Perederko, the deputy director of the Bristol Hotel here, said he supported the outcome of the referendum, even though guest bookings were down.

“This year will be a very complicated, very unclear year,” Mr. Perederko said. “A revolution has happened, figuratively speaking.”

As for Crimea’s future as a resort destination, he said: “People come here to spend their money and we try to earn this money. That’s normal. Now, it is just a moment of high suspicion.”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/19/world/europe/crimea-economy.html?from=homepage

[angrydude]

Putin says "Us guided by rule of the Gun".

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/18/us-ukraine-crisis-putin-usa-idUSBREA2H0TE20140318

Just trolling Obama now.

[boutons_deux]

looks like Ukraine losing Crimea is big positive for the shithole Ukrainean economy.

[angrydude]

Don't worry guys. I'm sure Obama will be sure to fill out his NCAA bracket this week.

[TSA]

Laugh it up all you want fuzzball.

Do you think the vote was legit?

And why do you keep calling me fuzzy?

[TSA]

looks like Ukraine losing Crimea is big positive for the shithole Ukrainean economy.

Yeah the Ukrainians seem very excited.

[Winehole23]

Crimea qualifies as a peninsula on the slightest of technicalities, dangling from the Ukrainian mainland by an isthmus (Perekop, on the left side of the map) that, at its widest point, is just 4.3 miles wide. The rest looks like Greece, or lightly melted Swiss cheese.


http://www.newrepublic.com/sites/default/files/u35543/crimea1.png


What’s Crimea’s physical connection to Russia? Well, there isn’t one. There is just the bay just off of Kerch. No bridge there, nothing to connect it to Russia’s Krasnodar region just across the water (on the right side of the map).


http://www.newrepublic.com/sites/default/files/u35543/crimea3.png


(Now you can start to see Khrushchev’s logic a bit in transferring Crimea to Ukraine, no?)


So let’s say the inevitable happens today and Crimea votes to enfold itself in the Russian Federation’s embrace. But what happens next? And what happens if, as is quite likely, Kiev cuts newly-Russian Crimea off from gas, electricity, and water, which Crimea has none of on its own? How will Moscow, the new owner, supply its latest acquisition with the necessities?

http://www.newrepublic.com/article/117040/after-crimea-putin-going-take-eastern-ukraine

[Winehole23]

PJB's take: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2014/03/18/is_putin_the_irrational_one_121960.html

[TSA]

Looks like it's starting....

TWEET via Myroslava Petsa, Channel 5: After killing of soldier in Simferopol by armed men in Russian uniforms, Defense Ministry lets Ukraine's troops use firearms in Crimea. /u/NewsCrowd

[Chomag]

So it begins...

[SnakeBoy]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/17/russian-leader-mocks-obama-after-getting-sanctioned.html

:lol

[Chomag]

As for the US ya I don't see them doing anything other then running their mouths with empty threats without showing any real balls. Sadly with the current administration at the helm right now, If we got involved in a real conflict Obama would just assume the fetal postilion.

Just another event that will make the US leaders look weak, but this is almost becoming a daily occurrence lately so I don't think most of the world is even paying attention as to what the US says anymore.

Honestly, do people here really think the US still has world credibility right now?

[Technique]

Looks like it's starting....

TWEET via Myroslava Petsa, Channel 5: After killing of soldier in Simferopol by armed men in Russian uniforms, Defense Ministry lets Ukraine's troops use firearms in Crimea. /u/NewsCrowd

It was the same snipers that shot Riot police as well as the protestors in Maidan. This is a sabotage and a provocation. Not Russian aggression.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

As for the US ya I don't see them doing anything other then running their mouths with empty threats without showing any real balls. Sadly with the current administration at the helm right now, If we got involved in a real conflict Obama would just assume the fetal postilion.

Just another event that will make the US leaders look weak, but this is almost becoming a daily occurrence lately so I don't think most of the world is even paying attention as to what the US says anymore.

Honestly, do people here really think the US still has world credibility right now?

Way to regurgitate the GOP narrative. Way to think for yourself!

[Wild Cobra]

Do you think the vote was legit?

More so than ours ever is.



And why do you keep calling me fuzzy?
LOL...

It's as if he's your clone.

[SnakeBoy]

Vladimir Putin Aide Mocks Crimea Sanctions, Saying Tupac Shakur Is The Only Interesting Thing About The US
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/03/18/vladimir-putin-aide-mocks_n_4984254.html

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/1683837/thumbs/n-US-RUSSIAN-SANCTIONS-large570.jpg

:lol Our world image

[TSA]

It's as if he's your clone.
This should be fun. Care to explain?

[FuzzyLumpkins]

This should be fun. Care to explain?

It gets you to respond and much like a 5 year old that is all that matters.

[Drachen]

Isn't TSA the other account for "The Sanity Annex"? IIRC, TSA and Fuzzy are about as far away from each other as possible.

[TSA]

It gets you to respond and much like a 5 year old that is all that matters.

This isn't the first time he's claimed this and I know he's too stupid to be trolling, he's serious.

[TSA]

Isn't TSA the other account for "The Sanity Annex"? IIRC, TSA and Fuzzy are about as far away from each other as possible.

Yes and yes.

[boutons_deux]

Putin says "Us guided by rule of the Gun".

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/18/us-ukraine-crisis-putin-usa-idUSBREA2H0TE20140318

Just trolling Obama now.

Absolutely not. Don't have to have Putin's intelligence service to know that The Military/Corporate Imperial America rules the planet by military occupation, intimidation, murder, invasions, propping up any old nasty UNdemocratic regime, and snooping everybody's internet and phone calls.

[pgardn]

Absolutely not. Don't have to have Putin's intelligence service to know that The Military/Corporate Imperial America rules the planet by military occupation, intimidation, murder, invasions, propping up any old nasty UNdemocratic regime, and snooping everybody's internet and phone calls.

Says the Democrat who will have held office for 8 years.

Why do you even bother talking US politics and worrying about elections if the above is just the way it is?
What democrat has ever tried to change the big bad corporate run US? just turn the whole economy over to the government, get rid of privately run companies... since this is obviously the prescription. What Democrat has issued this platform?

I guarantee Boots owns stock and is fully participating in his big bad corporation's welfare.

[rascal]

Putin says "Us guided by rule of the Gun".

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/18/us-ukraine-crisis-putin-usa-idUSBREA2H0TE20140318

Just trolling Obama now.

Agree with Putin. The US would be doing the same thing as Russia claiming they voted to go back with Russia.

[pgardn]

Agree with Putin. The US would be doing the same thing as Russia claiming they voted to go back with Russia.

So why have we not invaded Puerto Rico?

[rascal]

So why have we not invaded Puerto Rico?

They already have.

In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was invaded and subsequently became a possession of the United States. The first years of the 20th century were marked by the struggle to obtain greater democratic rights from the United States. The Foraker Act of 1900, which established a civil government, and the Jones Act of 1917, which made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens, paved the way for the drafting of Puerto Rico's Constitution and its approval by Congress and Puerto Rican voters in 1952. However, the political status of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth controlled by the United States, remains an anomaly.

[boutons_deux]

Says the Democrat who will have held office for 8 years.

Why do you even bother talking US politics and worrying about elections if the above is just the way it is?
What democrat has ever tried to change the big bad corporate run US? just turn the whole economy over to the government, get rid of privately run companies... since this is obviously the prescription. What Democrat has issued this platform?

I guarantee Boots owns stock and is fully participating in his big bad corporation's welfare.

so you agree, unintentionally, that America is fucked and unfuckable

I only think about elections because I know the Repugs will fuck up America harder and deeper and quicker than it already is, like they fucked up the states they control. the Repug fuckups will be irreversible

[FuzzyLumpkins]

There isn't a difference but there is!

Doublethink at it's finest. Must be nice not having to worry about logical consistency.

[TSA]

Sucks to be a Tatar

http://en.ria.ru/world/20140319/188544777/Crimean-Tatars-Will-Have-to-Vacate-Land--Official.html

MOSCOW, March 18 (RIA Novosti) – Ukraine’s breakaway region of Crimea will ask Tatars to vacate part of the land where they now live in exchange for new territory elsewhere in the region, a top Crimean government official said Tuesday.

Crimean Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliyev said in an interview with RIA Novosti on Tuesday the new government in Crimea, where residents voted Sunday to become part of Russia, wants to regularize the land unofficially taken over by Crimean Tatar squatters following the collapse of the Soviet Union.

“We have asked the Crimean Tatars to vacate part of their land, which is required for social needs,” Temirgaliyev said. “But we are ready to allocate and legalize many other plots of land to ensure a normal life for the Crimean Tatars,” he said.

Temirgaliyev emphasized that members of the Tatar community could receive senior political positions in the new government, in an apparent move to ease ethnic tensions in the region.

“I think that Crimean Tatars will be well represented in the government and parliament,” he said.

The Crimean Tatars, a historic people of the region, were deported en masse to Central Asia by Soviet leader Joseph Stalin 70 years ago. Although many of them returned in the early 1990s, they were unable to reclaim the land they had possessed before their deportation.

Many Crimean Tatars have taken over unclaimed land as squatters by building houses, farms and mosques. Ukrainian authorities have in the past failed to settle the land disputes.

The Tatars, who make up 15 percent of Crimea’s population, remain amongst the staunchest supporters of the new government in Kiev that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych last month.

Crimea, a largely Russian-speaking autonomous republic within Ukraine, was part of Russia until it was gifted to Ukraine by Soviet leaders in 1954.

Putin signed a decree Monday recognizing Crimea as an independent state, following a referendum Sunday that saw voters on the peninsula overwhelmingly support secession and reunification with Russia.

Nearly 30 percent of Crimean Tatars voted in favor of reunification with Russia at Sunday’s referendum, Temirgaliyev said.

[boutons_deux]

"Nearly 30 percent of Crimean Tatars voted in favor of reunification with Russia at Sunday’s referendum"

sounds like US rednecks and bubbas voting Repug. Some people NEVER learn.

[TSA]

And off we go

Moscow signals concerns for Russians in Estonia

http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBREA2I1J620140319?irpc=932


GENEVA (Reuters) - Russia signaled concern on Wednesday at Estonia's treatment of its large ethnic Russian minority, comparing language policy in the Baltic state with what it said was a call in Ukraine to prevent the use of Russian.

Russia has defended its annexation of Ukraine's Crimea peninsula by arguing it has the right to protect Russian-speakers outside its borders, so the reference to linguistic tensions in another former Soviet republic comes at a highly sensitive moment.

[TSA]

Russia trolling hard now ie: Iran nuke talks.

In no way do I want the US involved, but damn Putin is making Obama look like his whipping boy.

[DarrinS]

Russia trolling hard now ie: Iran nuke talks.

In no way do I want the US involved, but damn Putin is making Obama look like his whipping boy.


http://thegearedlife.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/OH-NO-YOU-DI-INT-MICHELLE-OBAMA.jpg

[boutons_deux]

All I see is people jumping to unfounded conclusions. Crimea has not been treated well by the Ukrainians. Funny how the people voted over 95% to join Russia.

Wait til the Crimeans, Tartars see how "well" they are treated by Russians, esp seeing how screwed up Crimea's economy is. They should go ask the ex-Georgia Ossetians.

[Wild Cobra]

Wait til the Crimeans, Tartars see how "well" they are treated by Russians, esp seeing how screwed up Crimea's economy is. They should go ask the ex-Georgia Ossetians.
They are probably treated equally bad by both.

[pgardn]

They already have.

In 1898, during the Spanish–American War, Puerto Rico was invaded and subsequently became a possession of the United States. The first years of the 20th century were marked by the struggle to obtain greater democratic rights from the United States. The Foraker Act of 1900, which established a civil government, and the Jones Act of 1917, which made Puerto Ricans U.S. citizens, paved the way for the drafting of Puerto Rico's Constitution and its approval by Congress and Puerto Rican voters in 1952. However, the political status of Puerto Rico, a Commonwealth controlled by the United States, remains an anomaly.

So it's really Spanish ...

So is a good deal of Texas, how far back do you wish to go?

Puerto Rico VOTED not to be a State of the US.
Then the US did what?

[boutons_deux]

Ukraine facing loss of its navy as Russian forces in Crimea dig in


http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/08/us-ukraine-crisis-naval-fleet-idUSBREA270M920140308

I think I heard the Russians commandeered 20 ships, leaving only the flagship.

that's gonna hurt.

[boutons_deux]

The last U.S. ambassador to the Soviet Union argues that Russian President Vladimir Putin’s actions in Ukraine are a response to years of hostility from the United States, including the eastward expansion of NATO, the bombing of Serbia and the expansion of American military bases in Eastern Europe.

“I think that what we have seen is a reaction, in many respects, to a long history of what the Russian government, the Russian president and many of the Russian people—most of them—feel has been a pattern of American activity that has been hostile to Russia and has simply disregarded their national interests,” former ambassador Jack Matlock told (http://www.democracynow.org/2014/3/20/fmr_us_ambassador_behind_crimea_crisis?autostart=t rue)“Democracy Now!” on Thursday.

“They feel that having thrown off communism, having dispensed with the Soviet Empire, that the U.S. systematically, from the time it started expanding NATO to the east, without them, and then using NATO to carry out what they consider offensive actions about an—against another country—in this case, Serbia—a country which had not attacked any NATO member, and then detached territory from it—this is very relevant now to what we’re seeing happening in Crimea—and then continued to place bases in these countries, to move closer and closer to borders, and then to talk of taking Ukraine, most of whose people didn’t want to be a member of NATO, into NATO, and Georgia. Now, this began an intrusion into an area which the Russians are very sensitive.

“Now, how would Americans feel if some Russian or Chinese or even West European started putting bases in Mexico or in the Caribbean, or trying to form governments that were hostile to us? You know, we saw how we virtually went ballistic over Cuba. And I think that we have not been very attentive to what it takes to have a harmonious relationship with Russia.”

http://www.truthdig.com/avbooth/item/former_ambassador_russia_responding_to_years_of_us _hostility_20140320

[Nbadan]

Gee...I wonder why Putin reallllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly took Crimea.....

Exxon Mobil puts Ukraine gas prospect on hold


Rex Tillerson, Exxon Mobil’s chairman and CEO, said the company’s Russian projects were moving ahead.

“As for the current situation, obviously it’s early days,” he said. “There’s been no impact on any activities or plans at this point, nor would we expect there to be any, barring governments taking steps beyond our control.

“In terms of our view of country risk, geopolitical risk, other than things like sanctions, we don’t see any new challenges out of the current situation,” he said.

Exxon Mobil signed a giant joint venture agreement with Russia’s Rosneft in 2011 that opened the way for exploration in seven Russian Arctic Sea areas, parts of Western Siberia and a strip along the Russian Black Sea near Crimea.

http://www.dallasnews.com/business/energy/20140305-exxon-mobil-puts-ukraine-gas-prospect-on-hold.ece

Exxon Mobil teams up with Russian company in Arctic deal


MOSCOW -- Russia's state-owned Rosneft teamed up with U.S. company Exxon Mobil on Tuesday in a multibillion deal to develop offshore oil fields in the Russian Arctic -- one of the last regions with immense and untapped hydrocarbon deposits -- in return for access to resources in the Gulf of Mexico.

]Exxon Mobil said in a statement that Tuesday's agreement includes $3.2 billion to be spent on exploring three giant undeveloped oil and gas fields in the Kara Sea -- between the northeastern corner of continental Russia and the Arctic archipelago of Novaya Zemlya -- in the Arctic as well as a sector in the Black Sea.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, right, and Rex Tillerson, ExxonMobil's chief executive smile during a signing ceremony in the Black Sea resort of Sochi, Russia Tuesday. Russia's state-owned Rosneft teamed up with U.S. company ExxonMobil on Tuesday to develop huge offshore oil fields in the Russian Arctic in return for access to resources in the Gulf of Mexico.

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2011/08/exxon_mobil_teams_up_with_russ.html


Only one company made more than ExxonMobils $45 Billion in 2013, Russian State Oil Company Rosneft. Oil and Greed gave the Bush Administration Crazy power to invade Iraq for more oil, Russians new found money in oil is giving crazed Putin God like enthusiasm for war ExxonMobils backing in money, power and advise.

Big Oil has bought much of Washington and states politicians across the country one way or another with oil money from ExxonMobil to Koch Bros. Will the Evil Greed keep winning like Bush scam election? It looks like many people love money more then truth or even God himself, anything Goes with the GOP’s price tag on everything imbolding plutocrats like Russians Putin knowing whom to buy in Washington and corporations that run politics without conscious, scruples or ethics of any kind.

Despite the badgering on the by the right to nuke Russia over Crimea, it looks like it's business as usual for the big boys club..

[Nbadan]

yep....


The 300 wealthiest people on Earth added $25.6 billion to their collective net worth this week as the U.S. government imposed economic sanctions on several Russian billionaires.

Amancio Ortega was the week’s biggest gainer, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The 77-year-old co-founder of Inditex SA, the world’s largest clothing retailer, added $2.8 billion to his fortune as the company rallied 2 percent to a one-month high. The company, which owns the Zara chain, said March 19 it plans to open more than 450 new stores this year. Ortega, the world’s fourth-wealthiest person, has a $63.1 billion net worth.

Russia richest people staged a comeback after losing more than $20 billion since the start of the Crimean crisis on Feb. 28, according to the Bloomberg ranking. The country’s 20 wealthiest citizens added $6.4 billion during the week.

“We didn’t see a shooting war break out over Ukraine, which means the stock market has come back as a result,” Walter “Bucky” Hellwig, a senior vice president at BB&T Wealth Management, said by phone from his office in Birmingham, Alabama. “The sanctions were probably less than what was expected.”

Moscow’s Micex Index was up 6 percent for the week. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose 1.4 percent to close at 1,866.52 in New York.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-03-21/world-s-richest-gain-26-billion-as-sanctions-hit-russia.html

Big business has spoken...no war for you..

[Wild Cobra]

There you go with your jealous bigoted rage against a class of citizens again.

[Nbadan]

There you go with your jealous bigoted rage against a class of citizens again.

My apologies to Putin..

[boutons_deux]

EU Seals Closer Ties With Ukraine, Sanctions Russia

The EU welcomed Ukraine into the Western fold on Friday, signing the political provisions of a landmark accord as a defiant Russia formally completed its takeover of Crimea.

Seeking some leverage over a newly-assertive Moscow, European Union leaders agreed sanctions against top Russian politicians and stepped up efforts to cut the bloc’s energy dependence on Russia.

Signing the Association Accord “symbolizes the importance both sides attach to this relationship… and the joint will to take it further,” EU president Hermann Van Rompuy told Ukraine interim premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

The EU was offering Ukraine its “steadfast support,” Van Rompuy said, promising help to get the country’s struggling economy back on track.

“We are sure that together we will succeed,” Yatsenyuk said after the European Union’s 28 heads of state and government signed the document.
http://www.nationalmemo.com/eu-seals-closer-ties-ukraine-sanctions-russia/

[Wild Cobra]

EU Seals Closer Ties With Ukraine, Sanctions Russia

The EU welcomed Ukraine into the Western fold on Friday, signing the political provisions of a landmark accord as a defiant Russia formally completed its takeover of Crimea.

Seeking some leverage over a newly-assertive Moscow, European Union leaders agreed sanctions against top Russian politicians and stepped up efforts to cut the bloc’s energy dependence on Russia.

Signing the Association Accord “symbolizes the importance both sides attach to this relationship… and the joint will to take it further,” EU president Hermann Van Rompuy told Ukraine interim premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk.

The EU was offering Ukraine its “steadfast support,” Van Rompuy said, promising help to get the country’s struggling economy back on track.

“We are sure that together we will succeed,” Yatsenyuk said after the European Union’s 28 heads of state and government signed the document.
http://www.nationalmemo.com/eu-seals-closer-ties-ukraine-sanctions-russia/



No mention of why the EU stopped the talks with the Ukraine about membership.

Why?

[boutons_deux]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Union_Association_Agreement

one step at a time.

Maybe the EU isn't ready to carry another Greece-level, or worse, basket case.

[Wild Cobra]

Maybe not, but the EU stopped negotiations when the parliament refused to pass their requirement. This is why the president went to the Russians for the help they offered. He saw it as the parliament and EU turning their backs on the people of the Ukraine. His reward was being treated as a traitor.

[boutons_deux]

Ukranian natural resources to be nationalized by Crimea and given to Russia

Russia Eyes Crimea’s Oil and Gas Reserves (http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/03/russia-eyes-crimeas-oil-gas-reserves.html)

According to Reuters (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/ukraine-crisis-crimea-privatisation-idUSL6N0M92GE20140314), Crimea may nationalize oil and gas assets within its borders belonging to Ukraine, and sell them off to Russia. Crimea’s Deputy Prime Minister hinted at the possibility that it would take control of Chornomorneftegaz, a Ukrainian state-owned enterprise, and then “privatize” it by selling it to Gazprom. “After nationalisation of the company we would openly take a decision – if a large investor, like Gazprom or others emerges – to carry out (privatisation),” Deputy Prime Minister Rustam Temirgaliev said.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/03/russia-eyes-crimeas-oil-gas-reserves.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capi talism%29

[pgardn]

Maybe not, but the EU stopped negotiations when the parliament refused to pass their requirement. This is why the president went to the Russians for the help they offered. He saw it as the parliament and EU turning their backs on the people of the Ukraine. His reward was being treated as a traitor.

BS

He was totally corrupt, swimming in personal wealth. The EU and the Russians both knew he was so deep in it he had zero leverage with his people.

Did Angela Merkel buy her own personal Zoo using the economic assistance of both the EU and Russia ?
You need to do some reading on the crap this guy bought with money meant for the country.

[Winehole23]

Any Russian coercive moves against the Baltic republics would create an ugly choice for Washington between a bad outcome and worse one. The bad outcome would be to back down in the face of a Crimea-style action against a NATO member. That would be a humiliation for the United States and raise serious doubts about Washington’s other security commitments. A worse outcome, though, would be to try to fulfill the article 5 pledge and risk a catastrophic war against a nuclear-armed adversary over meager geopolitical stakes.


It was appallingly bad judgment for U.S. policymakers to put their country in such a position. Military allies are supposed to augment American power and improve the security position of the United States. The goal should not be to collect allies simply for the sake of collecting allies, regardless of the costs and risks involved. Acquiring an assortment of weak, vulnerable security clients masquerading as useful allies is the height of folly. They are dangerous strategic liabilities, not assets. Yet that is what Washington has done by pushing NATO’s expansion into Russia’s traditional sphere of influence.

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/are-the-baltic-states-next-10103?page=1

[boutons_deux]

How Cold War-Hungry Neocons Stage Managed RT Anchor Liz Wahl’s Resignation

For her public act of protest against Russia Today’s coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukrainian territory and supposedly advancing the agenda of Vladimir Putin in Washington, D.C., previously unknown news anchor Liz Wahl has suddenly become one of the most famous unemployed people in America. After her on-air resignation from the cable news channel, Wahl appeared on the three major American cable news outlets—CNN, Fox News, MSNBC—to denounce the heavy-handed editorial line she claims her bosses imposed on her and other staffers.

“What’s clear is what’s happening right now amid this crisis is that RT is not about the truth,” she told CNN’s Anderson Cooper. “It’s about promoting a Putinist agenda. And I can tell you firsthand, it’s also about bashing America.”

Wahl’s act of defiance eventually earned her invitations from “The View” and “The Colbert Report,” offering her the opportunity to introduce millions of Americans to a Russian government-funded network whose Nielsen ratings have been too low to measure, but which commands a massive following on YouTube. Wahl was the toast of Washington, winning plaudits from a variety of prime-time pundits, from MSNBC’s Chris Hayes (https://twitter.com/chrislhayes/status/441344230170980354) (“remarkably badass”) to the conservative Amanda Carpenter (http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/erik-wemple/wp/2014/03/05/former-rt-anchor-liz-wahl-to-cnn-outlet-was-promoting-a-putinist-agenda/) (“Liz Wahl is proud to be an American and in the last five minutes I think she made everyone else proud to be one, too.”)


The celebration of Wahl fed directly into a BuzzFeed expose (http://www.buzzfeed.com/rosiegray/how-the-truth-is-made-at-russia-today) on “How The Truth Is Made at Russia Today,” with writer Rosie Gray painting a portrait of an “atmosphere of censorship and pressure” on American staffers toiling in RT’s D.C. offices. RT had long been the subject of criticism and ridicule for its promotion of Zeitgeist-style trutherism and libertarian paranoia, but Wahl now placed RT under unprecedented scrutiny, with mainstream U.S. media sounding the alarm about a bulwark of soft Russian power situated just blocks from the White House.

Behind the coverage of Wahl’s dramatic protest, a cadre of neoconservatives was celebrating a public relations coup. Desperate to revive the Cold War, head off further cuts to the defense budget and restore the legitimacy they lost in the ruins of Iraq, the tightknit group of neoconservative writers and stewards had opened up a new PR front through Wahl’s resignation.

And they succeeded with no shortage of help from an ossified media establishment struggling to maintain credibility in an increasingly anarchic online news environment. With isolated skeptics branded as useful idiots for Putin, the scene has been kept clean of neoconservative fingerprints, obscuring their interest in Wahl’s resignation and the broader push to deepen tensions with Russia.Through interviews with six current RT employees—all Americans with no particular affection for Russian President Vladimir Putin or his policies—and an investigation into the political forces managing the spectacle, a story has emerged that stands in stark contrast to the one advanced by Wahl, her supporters and the mainstream American press.

It is the story, according to former colleagues, of an apolitical, deeply disgruntled employee seeking an exit strategy from a job where, sources say, she was disciplined for unprofessional behavior and had been demoted. Wahl did not return several voice and text messages sent to her cellphone.

At the center of the intrigue is a young neoconservative writer and activist who helped craft Wahl’s strategy and exploit her resignation to propel the agenda of a powerful pro-war lobby in Washington.

The story began at 5:07 p.m. Eastern time on March 5.

PR From PNAC 2.0

It was a full 19 minutes before Wahl resigned. Inside the offices of the Foreign Policy Initiative, a neoconservative think tank in Washington D.C., a staffer logged on to the group’s Twitter account to announce (https://twitter.com/ForeignPolicyI/status/441334090298437634) the following:

“#WordOnTheStreet says that something big might happen on RT in about 20-25 minutes.”

Then, at 5:16, exactly 10 minutes before Wahl would quit on air, FPI tweeted: (https://twitter.com/ForeignPolicyI/status/441336436235587584)

“#WordOnTheStreet says you’re really going to want to tune in to RT: http://rt.com/on-air/rt-america-air/

#SomethinBigMayBeGoingDown”

Up until two minutes before Wahl’s resignation, FPI took to Twitter again (https://twitter.com/ForeignPolicyI/status/441338530875179009) to urge its followers to tune in to RT.

And finally, at 5:26 p.m., (https://twitter.com/ForeignPolicyI/status/441338898375905280) at the very moment Wahl quit, FPI’s Twitter account broke the news:

“RT Anchor RESIGNS ON AIR. She ‘cannot be part of a network that whitewashes the actions of Putin.’ ”

The tweets from FPI suggested a direct level of coordination between Wahl and the neoconservative think tank. Several calls to FPI for this story were not answered.

Just over an hour later, an exclusive (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/05/exclusive-rt-today-anchor-liz-wahl-explains-why-she-quit.html) interview with Wahl appeared at The Daily Beast. It was authored by James Kirchick, a 31-year-old writer whose work has appeared in publications from the neoconservative Commentary to the liberal Israeli paper Haaretz.

Kirchick acknowledged having been in contact with Wahl since August, but cast himself as a passive bystander to the spectacle, claiming that they merely “stayed in touch periodically over the past 6 months, and I always encouraged her to follow her conscience in making a decision about her professional future.”

Kirchick wrote that by quitting, Wahl paid “the price real reporters—not Russian-government funded propagandists—have to pay if they are concerned with quaint notions like objectivity and the truth.”

Later that evening, Kirchick tweeted a photo (https://twitter.com/jkirchick/status/441720034873081856) of himself with Wahl, calling it a “Freedom selfie.” The two had apparently gathered to celebrate.

On March 7, Kirchick and a camera person stationed themselves (http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/03/07/watch-rt-putin-s-tv-network-call-the-cops-on-me.html) outside the office building on D.C.’s G Street housing RT America’s headquarters. On a self-proclaimed mission “to find out more about RT,” he badgered dozens of random passers-by with questions like the following: “What is a more appropriate punishment for the women of Pussy Riot: two years in a Siberian labor camp or public whipping by Cossacks?”

Kirchick says RT staffers called the D.C. police department to remove him from the premises. However, several RT staffers told us that a security guard notified the police because Kirchick had mistaken employees at two adjacent law firms for employees of RT—“the wannabe thugs at 1325 G St,” he called them—and began harassing them. (An update inserted at the bottom of The Daily Beast summary of the incident noted that it was building security and not RT staffers who called the D.C. police.)

So who was Kirchick, and what sort of commitment did he maintain to “objectivity and the truth?”

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/how_cold_war-hungry_neocons_stage_managed_liz_wahls_resignation _20140319

[boutons_deux]

Pierce love letter to Kristol:

Blow me, you monstrous, bloodthirsty fraud, you silly, stupid chickenhawk motherfker who plays army man with the children of people who are so much better than you are, and who would feed innocent civilians in lands you will never visit into your own personal meatgrinder to service your semi-annual martial erection.You and the rest of your cowardly cohort helped prepare the ground for the worst geopolitical mistake the country has made in 30 years. You fought the battle of the Green Rooms and the think tanks while other people's sons and daughters died for your fantasy of how the world would work if you really were the pimply, adolescent Zeus you see when you look in the mirror every morning.

The country does not need your lectures any more. The country does not need your counsel. The country does not need your advice. And, as sure as human beings have become dead because of your lectures, and counsel, and advice, human beings about whom you otherwise care nothing, the country does not need your hectoring that it has become insufficiently bellicose to fulfill your newest, blood-drenched fantasies.

Even here, even now, you hide behind the skirts of a woman from Indiana who, while I believe her to be wrong, seems to be genuine in her beliefs. You are unworthy of her intellectual camouflage. You should be driven from polite society, consigned to an ideological Molokai so you can no longer infect the rest of us.
People should shun you. You should wear the bell for the rest of your miserable days.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/21/1286421/-Charlie-Pierce-s-rant-to-the-odious-Bill-Kristol-is-a-thing-of-awesome-beauty?detail=email

[pgardn]

Pierce love letter to Kristol:

Blow me, you monstrous, bloodthirsty fraud, you silly, stupid chickenhawk motherfker who plays army man with the children of people who are so much better than you are, and who would feed innocent civilians in lands you will never visit into your own personal meatgrinder to service your semi-annual martial erection.You and the rest of your cowardly cohort helped prepare the ground for the worst geopolitical mistake the country has made in 30 years. You fought the battle of the Green Rooms and the think tanks while other people's sons and daughters died for your fantasy of how the world would work if you really were the pimply, adolescent Zeus you see when you look in the mirror every morning.

The country does not need your lectures any more. The country does not need your counsel. The country does not need your advice. And, as sure as human beings have become dead because of your lectures, and counsel, and advice, human beings about whom you otherwise care nothing, the country does not need your hectoring that it has become insufficiently bellicose to fulfill your newest, blood-drenched fantasies.

Even here, even now, you hide behind the skirts of a woman from Indiana who, while I believe her to be wrong, seems to be genuine in her beliefs. You are unworthy of her intellectual camouflage. You should be driven from polite society, consigned to an ideological Molokai so you can no longer infect the rest of us.
People should shun you. You should wear the bell for the rest of your miserable days.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/21/1286421/-Charlie-Pierce-s-rant-to-the-odious-Bill-Kristol-is-a-thing-of-awesome-beauty?detail=email




Luckily for Kristol he used his words carefully.

I presume they will not be having tea together this afternoon.

[boutons_deux]

In Crimea, Russia Moved to Throw Off the Cloak of Defeat

But is it possible that the Sevastopol base is just the most concrete manifestation of Russia’s deep interests in Ukraine that the United States and its NATO allies either ignored or forgot as they tried to bind it more tightly with the West?

For years, Mr. Putin has complained about the West moving unilaterally to reorder the Continental balance of power — promoting Western capitalism and democracy — with little indication anyone was heeding his concerns. Its courting of Ukraine, apparently, was a step too far, prompting Mr. Putin to risk sanctions and the worst conflict since the Cold War to make clear that Washington and its friends do not call all of the shots anymore.

The annexation here, and the Russian troops still massed on the border of eastern Ukraine, seem a clear and sharp message from Mr. Putin that the future of Ukraine and the broader region, especially Moldova and Georgia, which are also being courted by Europe, will not be decided by the West alone.

“For 23 years after 1991, Russia has been treated consciously or subconsciously as defeated in the Cold War,” said Dmitry Kosyrev, a writer and political commentator with the RIA Novosti news agency in Moscow. “Russia has not accepted this mentality. We have something to say. We have not only interest, but experience. We are not a defeated country in the Cold War;

“Not talking to us, not accepting our point of view, that’s exactly what brought Europe and the United States to the crisis in Ukraine.”

Mr. Putin’s actions were logical, even if not compatible with Western interests, in seeking to destabilize Ukraine rather than allowing it to fall into Europe’s sphere of influence.

“There is a very straight line rational strategy at work here,”

“In some ways the E.U. has taken maximalist positions with the Russians and acted as if they were surprised that Russia took offense or got angry,”

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/25/world/europe/ukraine.html?from=homepage

So the Repugs whining "I told you so that Putin was a danger" are, as always, full of bullshit lies. The West provoked Russia by removing his puppet in Ukraine.

[Winehole23]

A Russian billionaire said on Monday he planned to relocate his company that runs the Brooklyn Nets basketball team to Russia (http://www.reuters.com/places/russia?lc=int_mb_1001), in keeping with the Kremlin's call on Russian businessmen to repatriate their assets to help combat new U.S. sanctions.


The United States and European Union have imposed visa bans and asset freezes on officials and businessmen believed to be close to Russian President Vladimir Putin in protest at Moscow's annexation of Ukraine's Crimea region.
Mikhail Prokhorov, owner of the Brooklyn Nets, had said previously that he planned to relocate the company that runs the NBA team to Russia (http://www.reuters.com/places/russia?lc=int_mb_1001), but his comments to reporters in the Kremlin underlined his support for Putin.


"A Russian company will own the basketball club," Prokhorov said before receiving a medal for services to Russia along with other national sports officials.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/24/us-russia-tycoon-nba-idUSBREA2N11Z20140324

[boutons_deux]

Petition to allow Alaska to rejoin Russia garners 17,000 signatures (http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/24/1287052/-Petition-to-allow-Alaska-to-rejoin-Russia-garners-17-000-signatures)

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/alaska-back-russia/SFG1ppfN

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/03/24/1287052/-Petition-to-allow-Alaska-to-rejoin-Russia-garners-17-000-signatures?detail=email

[Winehole23]

Stratfor foresees the return of a containment-style strategy: http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2014/03/25/american_strategy_after_ukraine-2.html

[boutons_deux]

Stratfor foresees the return of a containment-style strategy: http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2014/03/25/american_strategy_after_ukraine-2.html

the US/EU encroachment strategy, up against Russia's borders, is what forced Putin to react.

[pgardn]

the US/EU encroachment strategy, up against Russia's borders, is what forced Putin to react.

Yes. They encroached right in enough to make Russia a part of the G8.
Encroached enough to make Russia and Germany huge trading partners before this mess... Indeed.

[Winehole23]

you're both full of it. The bombing of Yugoslavia wasn't containment and NATO expansion into the Baltics plus the color-coded revolutions amounted to encirclement/encroachment into the Russian sphere of influence.

[boutons_deux]

encirclement/encroachment into the Russian sphere of influence.

... is what I said.

[pgardn]

you're both full of it. The bombing of Yugoslavia wasn't containment and NATO expansion into the Baltics plus the color-coded revolutions amounted to encirclement/encroachment into the Russian sphere of influence.

I did not even read your post Winehole. I was referring to Boutons made Putin react.

So there is nothing to be full of...

[Winehole23]

... is what I said.you said it was the strategy of containment. read Kennan -- you're wrong.

[Winehole23]

what we've been doing post 1989 isn't containment. NATO has been expanding. it's no longer a defensive alliance.

[boutons_deux]

you said it was the strategy of containment. read Kennan -- you're wrong.

I said US/NATO/EU expansion eastward was encroachment into ex-USSR countries, into Russia's (defensive) sphere of influence.

US missile defense complex in Poland
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/US_missile_defense_complex_in_Poland

[Winehole23]

you also suggested in your riposte to me that the strategy of containment is more of the same. it isn't.

[boutons_deux]

war criminal, BigOil stooge, and geopolitical murderer, the incompetent Rummy piles on, Obama as worse than an ape:

Donald Rumsfeld: 'A Trained Ape' Would Be Better At Foreign Policy Than Obama

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/25/donald-rumsfeld-trained-ape_n_5027750.html?utm_hp_ref=mostpopular

from the article's comments:

Rumsfeld was behind the deal to train, supply and finance al Qaeda and what evolved into the Taliban so they could fight a proxy war for the US with Russia, the same al Qaeda that launched an attack on America on 9/11, is that clever foreign policy?

He was also the architect behind the invasion of Iraq and the filter that stopped the true status of the alleged WMD status with concern to Iraq coming out before the US went to war on fabricated intelligence costing the economy trillions, thousands of American lives, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi lives and diverting the mission away from Afghanistan. Therefore creating 2 of the longest wars in US history, is that also intelligent foreign policy? seeing that the US didn’t even get the oil which was the real reason for that war and all the US got was the bill, while war profiteer contractors looted the treasury and then were paid on the national credit card.

Rumsfeld was one of the architects of the Bush doctrine that sealed the fate of legitimizing Putin’s actions in both Georgia and the Crimea by eliminating any moral authority the US once had. He was also the prime motivator in Putin harboring resentment and malice towards the US by supplying weapons to the Taliban along with al Qaeda that were used to kill thousands of Russians in Afghanistan a nation that directly borders onto Russia. He created an animosity there and then that drives the anti US sentiment across Russia and the sheer disregard towards the US held by Putin, was that clever foreign policy?

The decider in chief was the dullest witted person to ever hold the office of the president of the US and him castigating long term allies because they wouldn’t go blindly into a dumb war for greed caused our allies to lose all respect for the US and the office of president, the US popularity plummeted worldwide during the Bush nightmare and the world was so happy when it ended that all the current president had to do was not be a Republican to win the Nobel Peace Prize, while the current president has kept us out of several ground wars that were being pushed for by Republicans, would the total collapse of the US economy by fighting never ending wars be classed as intelligent foreign policy?

He was also behind the outing of Valerie Plame as a field CIA agent and had her entire field operatives compromised, while foreign nationals were rounded up never to be seen again, people who were working for US interests, just so he could discredit her husband because he went to Niger and found out that Iraq wasn’t trying to secure yellowcake to weaponize. Is that how a patriotic American exercises foreign power?

Rumsfeld is the embodiment of the worst of the US when it comes to foreign affairs, a clear and present danger to world peace.

[boutons_deux]

Meet the Americans Who Put Together the Coup in Kiev

Harder for some people to grasp, Ambassador Pyatt and his team did not create the foreign policy, which was – and is – only minimally about overthrowing Ukraine's duly elected government to "promote democracy." Ever since Bill Clinton sat in the Oval Office, Washington and its European allies have worked openly and covertly to extend NATO to the Russian border and Black Sea Fleet, provoking a badly wounded Russian bear.

They have also worked to bring Ukraine and its Eastern European neighbors into the neoliberal economy of the West, isolating the Russians rather than trying to bring them into the fold. Except for sporadic resets, anti-Russian has become the new anti-Soviet, and "strategic containment" has been the wonky word for encircling Russia with our military and economic power.

Western provocations in Ukraine proved more immediately counterproductive. They gave Vladimir Putin the perfect opportunity for a pro-Russian putsch in Crimea, which he had certainly thought of before, but never as a priority. The provocations encouraged him to stand up as a true Russian nationalist, which will only make him more difficult to deal with. And they gave him cover to get away with that age-old tool of tyrants, a quickie plebiscite with an unnecessary return to Joseph Stalin's old dictum (http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2004-01-23/news/0401220743_1_voting-machines-electronic-voting-paper-record) once popular in my homestate of Florida: "It's not the votes that count, but who counts the votes."

Revolution on Demand

Arriving in the Ukrainian capital on August 3, Pyatt almost immediately authorized a grant for an online television outlet called Hromadske.TV, which would prove essential to building the Euromaidan street demonstrations against Yanukovych. The grant was only $43,737 (http://issuu.com/andriibashtovyi/docs/interim_fin_report_-_eng/3?e=10130715/5899200), with an additional $4,796 by November 13. Just enough to buy the modest equipment the project needed.

Many of Hromadske's journalists had worked in the past with American benefactors. Editor-in-chief Roman Skrypin was a frequent contributor to Washington's Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty (http://www.radiosvoboda.org/search/?k=%22%D0%A0%D0%BE%D0%BC%D0%B0%D0%BD%20%D0%A1%D0%B A%D1%80%D0%B8%D0%BF%D1%96%D0%BD%22#article)and the US-funded Ukrayinska Pravda (http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2005/11/hellraiser-olena-prytula). In 2004, he had helped create Channel 5 television, which played a major role in the Orange Revolution (http://www.truth-out.org/archive/item/51256:steve-weissman--uncle-santa-and-ukraines-orangecolored-elves) that the US and its European allies masterminded in 2004.

Skrypin had already gotten $10,560 (http://www.irf.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=40544&Itemid=423) from George Soros's International Renaissance Foundation (IRF), which came as a recommendation to Pyatt. Sometime between December and the following April, IRF would give Hromadske another $19,183 (http://www.irf.ua/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=41686&Itemid=423).

Hromadske's biggest funding in that period came from the Embassy of the Netherlands, which gave a generous $95,168 (http://issuu.com/andriibashtovyi/docs/interim_fin_report_-_eng/3?e=10130715/5899200). As a departing US envoy to the Hague said in a secret cable (http://www.theguardian.com/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/38987) that Wikileaks later made public, "Dutch pragmatism and our similar world-views make the Netherlands fertile ground for initiatives others in Europe might be reluctant, at least initially, to embrace."

For Pyatt, the payoff came on November 21, when President Yanukovych pulled back (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/21/ukraine-suspends-preparations-eu-trade-pact) from an Association Agreement with the European Union. Within hours Hromadske.TV went online and one of its journalists set the spark that brought Yanukovych down.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/22758-meet-the-americans-who-put-together-the-coup-in-kiev

[Wild Cobra]

For Pyatt, the payoff came on November 21, when President Yanukovych pulled back (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/21/ukraine-suspends-preparations-eu-trade-pact) from an Association Agreement with the European Union. Within hours Hromadske.TV went online and one of its journalists set the spark that brought Yanukovych down.

http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/277-75/22758-meet-the-americans-who-put-together-the-coup-in-kiev

My God.

Why do you post these lies?

The president didn't pull back. He was an advocate of joining the EU. The EU did. They required the Ukraine to release two political prisoners. The parliament wouldn't. Six attempted votes resulted in failure, so the EU suspended negotiations. Because of this, the president accepted the help Russia offered.

My god you fool. Stop repeating lies from your favored stupid sources.

[boutons_deux]

Thousands of people have staged fresh protests in Ukraine's capital, Kiev, at President Viktor Yanukovych's refusal to sign an EU association agreement.

etc,etc,etc.

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-25162563

[Wild Cobra]

Like I said before. Propaganda wars are effective. However, if you actually research the facts, he didn't refuse to sign any agreement with the EU. The EU walked away from the talks because the parliament wouldn't vote to release the two political prisoners. Now later, they did release one or both, but this was after the EU walked away from the table. placing the president in the position of taking the Russians offer.

Please boutons. For once in your life, search various sources.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

what we've been doing post 1989 isn't containment. NATO has been expanding. it's no longer a defensive alliance.

The articles for mutual protection still exist. If Poland gets invaded we will go to war.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Like I said before. Propaganda wars are effective. However, if you actually research the facts, he didn't refuse to sign any agreement with the EU. The EU walked away from the talks because the parliament wouldn't vote to release the two political prisoners. Now later, they did release one or both, but this was after the EU walked away from the table. placing the president in the position of taking the Russians offer.

Please boutons. For once in your life, search various sources.

You are one dumb motherfucker incapable of grasping nuance. Here is one particular nuance stupidity seemed to have lost: he rejected the EU's proposal which included release of the opposition party.

[boutons_deux]

I.M.F. Prepares $18 Billion in Loans for Ukraine

After three weeks of urgent negotiations with the interim government of Ukraine and in an atmosphere of great power competition, the International Monetary Fund announced on Thursday an agreement to provide up to $18 billion in loans over two years to prevent the country’s default.

The agreement, announced in Kiev, the Ukrainian capital, will hinge on the country taking steps to let the value of its currency float downward, to cut corruption :lol :lol and red tape, and, crucially, to reduce huge state subsidies for the consumption of natural gas. The energy subsidies alone represent roughly 8 percent of Ukraine’s gross domestic product, and Russia has said that it intends to raise on April 1 the price of natural gas to Ukraine, which is largely dependent on Russian supplies and which already owes the Russian energy company Gazprom well over $1 billion.

The deal, which is subject to the approval of the fund’s board next month, is intended to get the new government over a big hurdle of coming debt obligations when its hard-currency accounts have been sharply diminished by months of unrest that led to the overthrow of former President Viktor F. Yanukovych.

The two-year loan package, the I.M.F. said in a statement, is expected to unlock more loans, including from the United States and the European Union, that should bring the total over two years to $27 billion. The loans will be more spread out and less onerous than the $15 billion Russia had promised Mr. Yanukovych before he fled the country.

http://mobile.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/world/europe/ukraine-bailout.html?from=homepage

$100Ms if not $Bs of this will be stolen.

[TSA]

“I think he’s been willing to show a deeply held grievance about what he considers to be the loss of the Soviet Union,” Obama said. “You would have thought that, after a couple of decades, that there’d be an awareness on the part of any Russian leader that the path forward is not to revert back to the kinds of practices that, you know, were so prevalent during the Cold War.”

The president continued, saying Putin must believe that the West has somehow “taken advantage” of post-Soviet Union Russia.

“He wants to, in some fashion, make up for that,” Obama said. “He may be entirely misreading the West. He’s certainly misreading American foreign policy. We have no interest in circling Russia and we have no interest in Ukraine beyond letting Ukrainian people make their own decisions about their own lives.”


:lmao When we he just learn to keep his mouth shut.

[Th'Pusher]

POLITICO Breaking News

03/28/14 05:15PM EDT (expires: 03/28/14 06:15PM)
RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — Russian President Vladimir Putin called President Barack Obama to discuss the U.S. proposal for a diplomatic resolution to the crisis in Ukraine, the White House said in a statement Friday.

Obama suggested that Russia “put a concrete response in writing,” and agreed that Secretary of State John Kerry would meet with his Russian counterpart, Sergey Lavrov to discuss it, the statement said.

Obama also told Putin that the U.S. supports a diplomatic path in close consultation with Ukraine. “President Obama made clear that this remains possible only if Russia pulls back its troops and does not take any steps to further violate Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the statement read.

[Wild Cobra]

Only possible if Russia leaves...

They aren't going to do that!

[Nbadan]

Obama also told Putin that the U.S. supports a diplomatic path in close consultation with Ukraine. “President Obama made clear that this remains possible only if Russia pulls back its troops and does not take any steps to further violate Ukraine’s territorial integrity and sovereignty,” the statement read.

Give Putin an inch he'll take a mile....Like he tried in Georgia and Croatia....I would not be surprised to see Putin attempt to gain a land bridge to Crimea...this may not be over...

[TSA]

Give Putin an inch he'll take a mile....Like he tried in Georgia and Croatia....I would not be surprised to see Putin attempt to gain a land bridge to Crimea...this may not be over...
Of course it's over, Obama told him to stop.

[Wild Cobra]

Of course it's over, Obama told him to stop.
Obama should stop trying to intervene. He looks like a fool every time he does.

[pgardn]

Obama should stop trying to intervene. He looks like a fool every time he does.

What exactly has he done wrong since the Russians took Crimea before the election?


He basically stated that the response would be economic and ramped up as events unfold. He stated this was not a good economic situation for any country, especially Russia and the EU, no one would benefit.

We start with a tiny pinch and then start twisting pubic hairs. The tricky part will be getting the EU to get tougher as time goes by. Putin cannot possibly turn back the clock without severely damaging the Russian economy. If Putin continues the land grab he might end up having missiles in Poland which is part of his reasoning to try and negotiate on Iran going nuclear. Russia has Crimea. From a pure power play point of view it was already Russian. The economic and political subtleties of taking it made it a mistake, but it may make Russia feel like a big player after the Obama administration was making so much noise about China.

As we look to the future the Europeans are going to look for other sources of energy, the one huge economic advantage the Russians have/had. There have to be people in the Kremlin who understand this. And if Putin has totally shut them off, and just listens to the Nationalists, the Russian people are going to feel the old times, drinking AfterShave when they can't even distribute Vodka.

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Obama isn't going to do anything without the Europeans walking in step. This is afterall their prospective member.

[Th'Pusher]

What exactly has he done wrong since the Russians took Crimea before the election?


He basically stated that the response would be economic and ramped up as events unfold. He stated this was not a good economic situation for any country, especially Russia and the EU, no one would benefit.

We start with a tiny pinch and then start twisting pubic hairs. The tricky part will be getting the EU to get tougher as time goes by. Putin cannot possibly turn back the clock without severely damaging the Russian economy. If Putin continues the land grab he might end up having missiles in Poland which is part of his reasoning to try and negotiate on Iran going nuclear. Russia has Crimea. From a pure power play point of view it was already Russian. The economic and political subtleties of taking it made it a mistake, but it may make Russia feel like a big player after the Obama administration was making so much noise about China.

As we look to the future the Europeans are going to look for other sources of energy, the one huge economic advantage the Russians have/had. There have to be people in the Kremlin who understand this. And if Putin has totally shut them off, and just listens to the Nationalists, the Russian people are going to feel the old times, drinking AfterShave when they can't even distribute Vodka.

Jokers like wild cobra and TSA aren't interested in understanding the complexity of foreign policy.

Obama bad!

[boutons_deux]

Obama should stop trying to intervene. He looks like a fool every time he does.

the bigger fools are assholes like you and other right wingers, right-wing hate media, neo-conmen whining that "Obama should do some (unknown) thing" to man up vs Putin, since dubya and dickhead invading/losing Iraq-for-oil and Afghanistan are such stellar examples of manning up.

Looks like Putin is going to takeover the ethnically Russian eastern sliver of Ukraine. whatchagonnadoaboutit?

the US/EU oil, gas companies are controlling the US/EU (in(actions, since they would get hurt the most by severe sanctions, and they run the planet.

[boutons_deux]

go ahead, take Ned Nugent and simliar garbage with you, but your shitty movies for adolescent boys will be unfortunately left behind

(heavily girdled) Steven Seagal favors Putin over Obama and says he may emigrate to Russia


http://www.rawstory.com/rs/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Actor-Steven-Seagal-via-Shutterstock-615x345.png

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/29/steven-seagal-favors-putin-over-obama-and-says-he-may-emigrate-to-russia/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheRawStory+%28The+Raw+Story% 29

[Winehole23]

The articles for mutual protection still exist. If Poland gets invaded we will go to war.no longer purely defensive, I ought to have said.

[Winehole23]

NATO has gone way beyond its raison d'etre.

[boutons_deux]

Why It's Going to Be Impossible to Isolate Russia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel could teach U.S. President Barack Obama one or two things about how to establish a dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As if Obama would listen. He'd rather boost his constitutional law professor self, and pompously lecture an elite Eurocrat audience in the glittering Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, like he did this Wednesday, on how Putin is the greatest threat to the U.S.-administered global order since World War II. Well, it didn't go that well; most Eurocrats were busy taking selfies or twittering.

Putin, meanwhile, met with the CEO of German engineering and electrical conglomerate Siemens, Joe Kaeser, at his official residence outside Moscow. Siemens invested more than U.S. $1.1 billion in Russia over the past two years, and that, Kaeser said, is bound to continue. Angela was certainly taking notes.

Obama couldn't behave otherwise. The constitutional law expert knows nothing about Russia, in his (meager) political career never had to understand how Russia works, and may even fear Russia — surrounded as he is by a coterie of spectacularly mediocre aids. His Brussels rhetorical tour de force yielded absolutely nothing — apart from the threat that if Putin persisted in his "aggression" against eastern Ukraine or even NATO members-countries the president of the United States would unroll a much stiffer sanction package.

What else is new, considering this (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303725404579460183854574284?mg=ren o64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB1000 1424052702303725404579460183854574284.html) [3] by supreme CIA asset and former Pentagon head in the first Obama administration, Bob Gates, is what passes for political analysis in the U.S. :lol

The $1 trillion game-changer

Demonized 24/7 by the sprawling Western propaganda machine as a ruthless aggressor, Putin and his Kremlin advisers just need to play Sun Tzu. The regime changers in Kiev are already mired in a vicious catfight. [1] And even Ukraine's acting Prime Minister Arseniy Petrovych "Yats" Yatsenyuk has identified the gloomy times ahead, stressing that the signature of the economic part of the association agreement between Ukraine and the E.U. has been postponed — so there will be no "negative consequences" for industrialized eastern Ukraine.

Translation: he knows this will be the kiss of death for Ukrainian industry, on top of it coupled with an imminent structural adjustment by the International Monetary Fund linked to the E.U. (maybe) bailing out a bankrupt Ukraine.

Asia Times Online's Spengler coined a formulation: "A specter is haunting Europe, and that is the specter of a Russian-Chinese alliance at the expense of Europe." The alliance is already on — manifested in the G-20, the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. There are military technology synergies on the horizon — the ultra-sophisticated S-500 air defense system is to be unveiled by Moscow, and Beijing would absolutely love to have it. But for the real fireworks, just wait a few weeks, when Putin visits Beijing in May.

That's when he will sign the famous $1 trillion gas deal according to which Gazprom will supply China's CNPC with 3.75 billion cubic feet of gas a day for 30 years, starting in 2018 (China's current daily gas demand is around 16 billion cubic feet).

Gazprom may still collect most of its profits from Europe, but Asia is its privileged future. On the competition front, the hyper-hyped U.S. shale "revolution" is a myth — as much as the notion the U.S. will be suddenly increasing exports of gas to the rest of the world any time soon.

Gazprom will use this mega-deal to boost investment in eastern Siberia — which sooner rather than later will be configured as the privileged hub for gas shipments to both Japan and South Korea. That's the ultimate (substantial) reason why Asia won't "isolate" Russia. (See Asia will not 'isolate' Russia (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/CEN-01-250314.html) [4], Asia Times Online, March 25, 2014.)

Not to mention the much-anticipated "thermonuclear" (for the petrodollar) possibility that Russia and China will agree payment for the Gazprom-CNPC deal may be in yuan or rubles. That will be the dawn of a basket of currencies as the new international reserve currency — a key BRICS objective and the ultimate, incendiary, new (economic) fact on the ground.

Time to invest in Pipelineistan

Even though its centrality pales compared to Asia, Europe, of course, is not "expendable" for Russia. There have been rumbles in Brussels by some poodles about canceling the South Stream pipeline — pumping Russian gas underneath the Black Sea (and bypassing Ukraine) to Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Italy and Austria. The Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister, Dragomir Stoynev, said no way. Same for the Czech Republic, because it badly needs Russian investment, and Hungary, which recently signed a nuclear energy deal with Moscow.

The only other possibility for the E.U. would be Caspian gas, from Azerbaijan — following on the trail of the Zbig Brzezinski-negotiated Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, which was conceived expressly to bypass both Russia and Iran. As if the E.U. would have the will, the speed and funds to spend billions of dollars to build yet another pipeline virtually tomorrow, and assuming Azerbaijan had enough supply capacity (it doesn't; other actors, like Kazakhstan or ultra-unreliable Turkmenistan, which prefers to sell its gas to China, would have to be part of the picture).

Well, nobody ever lost money betting on the cluelessness of Brussels' Eurocrats. South Stream and other energy projects will create a lot of jobs and investment in many of the most troubled E.U. nations. Extra sanctions? No less than 91 percent of Poland's energy, and 86 percent of Hungary's, come from Russia. Over 20 percent of the foreign lending of French banks is to Russian companies. No less than 68 Russian companies trade at the London Stock Exchange. For the Club Med nations, Russian tourism is now a lifeline (1 million went to Italy last year, for instance.)

U.S. Think Tankland is trying to fool American public opinion into believing what the Obama administration should be applying is a replay of the "containment" policy of 1945-1989 to "limit the development of Russia as a hegemonic power.” The "recipe": weaponize everybody and his neighbor, from the Baltic nations to Azerbaijan, to "contain" Russia. The New Cold War is on because, from the point of view of U.S. so-called "elites,” it never really left.

Meanwhile, Gazprom's stock price is up. Buy now. You won't regret it.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/why-its-going-be-impossible-isolate-russia?page=0%2C1&akid=11658.187590.Ycguwi&rd=1&src=newsletter976470&t=21

[Wild Cobra]

Just because we wore on opposite sines with Russia during the cold war, doesn't mean we are always right. We were wrong supporting those against Russia in the Afghanistan war, and we are wrong being against them on this issue.

[Winehole23]

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ym5eQFockL8/URUDwxMSuoI/AAAAAAAAFmg/2xMd4o18SPA/s400/blazing-saddles-gabby-sherrif-is.jpg

[Winehole23]

https://news.vice.com/articles/russia-has-taken-control-of-ukraines-military-attack-dolphins

[Winehole23]

Baltic states seek NATO boots on the ground: http://www.dw.de/baltic-states-seek-nato-boots-on-the-ground/a-17528935

[Wild Cobra]

Baltic states seek NATO boots on the ground: http://www.dw.de/baltic-states-seek-nato-boots-on-the-ground/a-17528935
Do they have regions that they mistreat their Russian citizens in? That would be the only cause for concern.

[Winehole23]

sidebar:


Just hours after last weekend’s ouster (http://pando.com/2014/02/24/everything-you-know-about-ukraine-is-wrong/) of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, one of Pierre Omidyar’s newest hires at national security blog “The Intercept (https://firstlook.org/theintercept/),” was already digging for the truth. Marcy Wheeler, who is the new site’s “senior policy analyst,” speculated (https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/437636287516782593) that the Ukraine revolution was likely a “coup” engineered by “deep” forces on behalf of “Pax Americana” (https://twitter.com/emptywheel/status/437661307605508096):



“There’s quite a bit of evidence of coup-ness. Q is how many levels deep interference from both sides is.”


These are serious claims. So serious that I decided to investigate them. And what I found was shocking.


Wheeler is partly correct. Pando has confirmed that the American government – in the form of the US Agency for International Development (USAID) – played a major role in funding opposition groups prior to the revolution. Moreover, a large percentage of the rest of the funding to those same groups came from a US billionaire who has previously worked closely with US government agencies to further his own business interests. This was by no means a US-backed “coup,” but clear evidence shows that US investment was a force multiplier for many of the groups involved in overthrowing Yanukovych.


But that’s not the shocking part.


What’s shocking is the name of the billionaire who co-invested with the US government (or as Wheeler put it: the “dark deep force” acting on behalf of “Pax Americana”).
Step out of the shadows…. Wheeler’s boss, Pierre Omidyar.


Yes, in the annals of independent media, this might be the strangest twist ever: According to financial disclosures and reports seen by Pando, the founder and publisher of Glenn Greenwald’s government-bashing blog,“The Intercept,” co-invested with the US government to help fund regime change in Ukraine.

http://pando.com/2014/02/28/pierre-omidyar-co-funded-ukraine-revolution-groups-with-us-government-documents-show/

[Wild Cobra]

sidebar:

http://pando.com/2014/02/28/pierre-omidyar-co-funded-ukraine-revolution-groups-with-us-government-documents-show/
How dirty does that make Obama's hands?

[pgardn]

Why It's Going to Be Impossible to Isolate Russia

German Chancellor Angela Merkel could teach U.S. President Barack Obama one or two things about how to establish a dialogue with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

As if Obama would listen. He'd rather boost his constitutional law professor self, and pompously lecture an elite Eurocrat audience in the glittering Palais des Beaux-Arts in Brussels, like he did this Wednesday, on how Putin is the greatest threat to the U.S.-administered global order since World War II. Well, it didn't go that well; most Eurocrats were busy taking selfies or twittering.

Putin, meanwhile, met with the CEO of German engineering and electrical conglomerate Siemens, Joe Kaeser, at his official residence outside Moscow. Siemens invested more than U.S. $1.1 billion in Russia over the past two years, and that, Kaeser said, is bound to continue. Angela was certainly taking notes.

Obama couldn't behave otherwise. The constitutional law expert knows nothing about Russia, in his (meager) political career never had to understand how Russia works, and may even fear Russia — surrounded as he is by a coterie of spectacularly mediocre aids. His Brussels rhetorical tour de force yielded absolutely nothing — apart from the threat that if Putin persisted in his "aggression" against eastern Ukraine or even NATO members-countries the president of the United States would unroll a much stiffer sanction package.

What else is new, considering this (http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303725404579460183854574284?mg=ren o64-wsj&url=http%3A%2F%2Fonline.wsj.com%2Farticle%2FSB1000 1424052702303725404579460183854574284.html) [3] by supreme CIA asset and former Pentagon head in the first Obama administration, Bob Gates, is what passes for political analysis in the U.S. :lol

The $1 trillion game-changer

Demonized 24/7 by the sprawling Western propaganda machine as a ruthless aggressor, Putin and his Kremlin advisers just need to play Sun Tzu. The regime changers in Kiev are already mired in a vicious catfight. [1] And even Ukraine's acting Prime Minister Arseniy Petrovych "Yats" Yatsenyuk has identified the gloomy times ahead, stressing that the signature of the economic part of the association agreement between Ukraine and the E.U. has been postponed — so there will be no "negative consequences" for industrialized eastern Ukraine.

Translation: he knows this will be the kiss of death for Ukrainian industry, on top of it coupled with an imminent structural adjustment by the International Monetary Fund linked to the E.U. (maybe) bailing out a bankrupt Ukraine.

Asia Times Online's Spengler coined a formulation: "A specter is haunting Europe, and that is the specter of a Russian-Chinese alliance at the expense of Europe." The alliance is already on — manifested in the G-20, the BRICS and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. There are military technology synergies on the horizon — the ultra-sophisticated S-500 air defense system is to be unveiled by Moscow, and Beijing would absolutely love to have it. But for the real fireworks, just wait a few weeks, when Putin visits Beijing in May.

That's when he will sign the famous $1 trillion gas deal according to which Gazprom will supply China's CNPC with 3.75 billion cubic feet of gas a day for 30 years, starting in 2018 (China's current daily gas demand is around 16 billion cubic feet).

Gazprom may still collect most of its profits from Europe, but Asia is its privileged future. On the competition front, the hyper-hyped U.S. shale "revolution" is a myth — as much as the notion the U.S. will be suddenly increasing exports of gas to the rest of the world any time soon.

Gazprom will use this mega-deal to boost investment in eastern Siberia — which sooner rather than later will be configured as the privileged hub for gas shipments to both Japan and South Korea. That's the ultimate (substantial) reason why Asia won't "isolate" Russia. (See Asia will not 'isolate' Russia (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/CEN-01-250314.html) [4], Asia Times Online, March 25, 2014.)

Not to mention the much-anticipated "thermonuclear" (for the petrodollar) possibility that Russia and China will agree payment for the Gazprom-CNPC deal may be in yuan or rubles. That will be the dawn of a basket of currencies as the new international reserve currency — a key BRICS objective and the ultimate, incendiary, new (economic) fact on the ground.

Time to invest in Pipelineistan

Even though its centrality pales compared to Asia, Europe, of course, is not "expendable" for Russia. There have been rumbles in Brussels by some poodles about canceling the South Stream pipeline — pumping Russian gas underneath the Black Sea (and bypassing Ukraine) to Bulgaria, Hungary, Slovenia, Serbia, Croatia, Greece, Italy and Austria. The Bulgarian Economy and Energy Minister, Dragomir Stoynev, said no way. Same for the Czech Republic, because it badly needs Russian investment, and Hungary, which recently signed a nuclear energy deal with Moscow.

The only other possibility for the E.U. would be Caspian gas, from Azerbaijan — following on the trail of the Zbig Brzezinski-negotiated Baku-Tblisi-Ceyhan (BTC) oil pipeline, which was conceived expressly to bypass both Russia and Iran. As if the E.U. would have the will, the speed and funds to spend billions of dollars to build yet another pipeline virtually tomorrow, and assuming Azerbaijan had enough supply capacity (it doesn't; other actors, like Kazakhstan or ultra-unreliable Turkmenistan, which prefers to sell its gas to China, would have to be part of the picture).

Well, nobody ever lost money betting on the cluelessness of Brussels' Eurocrats. South Stream and other energy projects will create a lot of jobs and investment in many of the most troubled E.U. nations. Extra sanctions? No less than 91 percent of Poland's energy, and 86 percent of Hungary's, come from Russia. Over 20 percent of the foreign lending of French banks is to Russian companies. No less than 68 Russian companies trade at the London Stock Exchange. For the Club Med nations, Russian tourism is now a lifeline (1 million went to Italy last year, for instance.)

U.S. Think Tankland is trying to fool American public opinion into believing what the Obama administration should be applying is a replay of the "containment" policy of 1945-1989 to "limit the development of Russia as a hegemonic power.” The "recipe": weaponize everybody and his neighbor, from the Baltic nations to Azerbaijan, to "contain" Russia. The New Cold War is on because, from the point of view of U.S. so-called "elites,” it never really left.

Meanwhile, Gazprom's stock price is up. Buy now. You won't regret it.

http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/why-its-going-be-impossible-isolate-russia?page=0%2C1&akid=11658.187590.Ycguwi&rd=1&src=newsletter976470&t=21

Like Russia holds all the cards, BS.

They stand to get hurt worse than anyone. A country with basically a vulnerable petro based economy. Can't even grow enough food for their own people yet they have so much farmland.

Gazprom up, up from when? And you can BUY that stock. This in itself shows why Russia can't turn back.
Putin is playing a dangerous economic game.

[boutons_deux]

Like Russia holds all the cards, BS.

They stand to get hurt worse than anyone. A country with basically a vulnerable petro based economy. Can't even grow enough food for their own people yet they have so much farmland.

Gazprom up, up from when? And you can BUY that stock. This in itself shows why Russia can't turn back.
Putin is playing a dangerous economic game.

Russia has Europe by the balls, and can dump all its gas in Asia, if you can read.

[Winehole23]

How dirty does that make Obama's hands?not at all, that I can tell. can you fill in the blanks? USAID is an NGO.

[boutons_deux]

not at all, that I can tell. can you fill in the blanks? USAID is an NGO.

... implementing US State Dept policies

[pgardn]

Russia has Europe by the balls, and can dump all its gas in Asia, if you can read.

Yes. They basically showed Europe and other investors that you CANNOT count on Gazprom or any Russian company because Putin can make dumbass moves at any moment.

If Putin has Europe by the balls, the West has already neutered The Russian economy. Long term you buy that Gazprom stock and hold it. You don't think Europe has already determined it shall look to OTHER sources? Yeah that's what a Russia will do, dump that energy for no profit in Asia. You buy that Gazprom stock as China slows down and starts to cut down on petroleum due to the inability to breathe... Buy that Gazprom stock and hold it, I dare you.

Totally retarded play by Putin for Russia's economy.

[boutons_deux]

Yes. They basically showed Europe and other investors that you CANNOT count on Gazprom or any Russian company because Putin can make dumbass moves at any moment.

If Putin has Europe by the balls, the West has already neutered The Russian economy. Long term you buy that Gazprom stock and hold it. You don't think Europe has already determined it shall look to OTHER sources? Yeah that's what a Russia will do, dump that energy for no profit in Asia. You buy that Gazprom stock as China slows down and starts to cut down on petroleum due to the inability to breathe... Buy ithat Gazprom stock and hold it, I dare you.

Totally retarded play by Putin for Russia's economy.

:lol

[pgardn]

:lol

Emoticon = Boots has nada...

[Winehole23]

... implementing US State Dept policiesshush, you. was talking to WC.

[boutons_deux]

shush, you. was talking to WC.

GFY

[Winehole23]

with pleasure, but I work on my own schedule. busy posting right now.

[Winehole23]

53 Apr 14, 2014 2:08 PM EDT
By Leonid Bershidsky

(http://www.bloombergview.com/contributors/leonid-bershidsky)



There's one ploy Russian President Vladimir Putin has mastered and perfected in his 14 years in power: If something appears to threaten your power, create its evil twin.

When radical young Russians started organizing against him, he responded by generously funding a cluster of pro-Kremlin youth movements. When the Russian blogosphere turned hostile, pro-Kremlin resources sprang up and hundreds of active Putin-friendly commentators emerged from nowhere. When, in 2011, the Moscow middle class protested a rigged parliamentary election by holding mass rallies, Putin's staff sought to organize bigger gatherings by ordering public sector workers out on the streets with preprinted signs. Recently, even the anti-corruption agenda of blogger Alexei Navalny, who has been banned from posting while under house arrest, has been replicated (http://www.vz.ru/news/2014/4/10/681348.html) by the Putin-created All-Russian People's Front as mild criticism of the government auction system. Putin's fake civil society dwarfs the genuine one, because it is a more efficient social ladder.


Now the same sort of mimicry is happening in eastern Ukraine. Anyone who watched the Ukrainian protests that led to the overthrow of President Viktor Yanukovych must be feeling a sense of deja vu. People are seizing government buildings, erecting barricades, burning tires and waving flags, only the flags are Russian and the people waving them are vehemently opposed to the post-Yanukovych regime in Kiev.


There's one notable difference: The anti-Kiev forces include heavily armed paramilitaries. Their unmarked uniforms are different from those worn by Russian occupying troops in Crimea last month, but the forces appear well-organized (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qmxBjsU2rig&feature=youtu.be), and in numerous videos of the attacks they do not sound Ukrainian (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEZ5SjkroNQ&feature=youtube_gdata). In fact, they often freely admit that they are Russian. In one video (http://goo.gl/RnaDz2), the man assuming command of local policemen in Gorlovka says he is a lieutenant colonel in the Russian army, and in Slavyansk, the commander of the group that seized the mayor's office told (http://echo.msk.ru/blog/azar_i/1299196-echo/) a reporter for Echo Moskvy radio that he was an entrepreneur from a Moscow suburb.

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-04-14/putin-s-costume-drama-in-ukraine

[Winehole23]

getting hairy: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/ukrainian-troop-defections-escalate-tensions-in-eastern-ukraine/2014/04/16/4d36b1b6-c532-11e3-b574-f8748871856a_story.html

[boutons_deux]

why is this Putin putsch even phrased as USA vs Russia? Obama vs Putin? Sounds like adolescents in the schoolyard playing "my dick is bigger" games.

Russia didn't stop (Repug) USA from invading Grenada, Panama Canal, Iraq, Afghanistan, so why would USA stop Russia from taking over ethnically Russian parts of Ukraine?

USA pushed out the pro-Russian Ukraine president, initiating the crisis.

[Winehole23]

thread title is obnoxious, but it's the happening thread so far ...

[boutons_deux]

thread title is obnoxious, but it's the happening thread so far ...

it's not only the thread title, it's the murderous, war-mongering right wing calling Obama a wimp, chicken for not manning up personally to Putin, going back to the Syria mess.

[Winehole23]

beg pardon, but so what? the mess in Ukraine isn't primarily about GOP name-calling.

[Winehole23]

well, maybe for you it is.

[boutons_deux]

Beneath the Ukraine Crisis: Shale Gas


Moscow’s alleged meddling in eastern Ukraine and its earlier annexation of Crimea spurred worldwide rebukes and much international commentary regarding the growing East-West divide. But one aspect that we have heard less about is the corporate struggle for Ukraine’s oil and natural gas. By some accounts, it is this struggle that is as much to blame for the current crisis as any geopolitical tug-of-war between East and West.

http://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/nulandchevron-300x225.jpg (http://consortiumnews.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/nulandchevron.jpg)
Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland ("fuck the EU" :lol), speaking to Ukrainian and other business leaders at the National Press Club in Washington on Dec. 13, 2013, at a meeting sponsored by Chevron.


Ukraine has Europe’s third-largest shale gas reserves at 42 trillion cubic feet,according (http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/03/14/europe-shale-ukraine-idUSL6N0MB1WI20140314) to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. While for years U.S. oil companies have been pressing for shale gas development in countries such as Britain, Poland, France and Bulgaria only to be rebuffed by significant opposition from citizens and local legislators concerned about the environmental impacts of shale gas extraction – including earthquakes (https://stateimpact.npr.org/texas/tag/earthquake/) and groundwater contamination (http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/groundwater-contamination-may-end-the-gas-fracking-boom/) caused by hydraulic fracturing or “fracking” – there has been considerably less opposition in Ukraine, a country that has been embroiled in numerous gas disputes with the Russian Federation in recent years.

Russia’s state-owned Gazprom, controlling (http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/mar/03/europes-gas-supply-ukraine-crisis-russsia-pipelines) nearly one-fifth of the world’s gas reserves, supplies more than half of Ukraine’s gas annually, and about 30 percent of Europe’s. It has often used this as political and economic leverage over Kiev and Brussels, cutting gas supplies repeatedly over the past decade (in the winters of 2005-2006, 2007-2008, and again in 2008-2009), leading to energy shortages not only in Ukraine, but Western European countries as well. This leverage, however, came under challenge in 2013 as Ukraine took steps towards breaking its dependence on Russian gas.

On Nov. 5, 2013 (just a few weeks before the Maidan demonstrations began in Kiev), Chevron signed a 50-year agreement with the Ukrainian government to develop oil and gas in western Ukraine. According to the New York Times (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/06/business/international/chevron-and-ukraine-sign-deal-on-shale-gas.html?_r=0), “The government said that Chevron would spend $350 million on the exploratory phase of the project and that the total investment could reach $10 billion.”

In announcing the deal, President Viktor Yanukovych said that it “will let Ukraine satisfy its gas needs completely and, under the optimistic scenario, export energy resources by 2020.”

Reuters characterized (http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/05/us-ukraine-chevron-idUSBRE9A40ML20131105)the deal as ”another step in a drive for more energy independence from Russia.”

The United States offered its diplomatic support, with Geoffrey Pyatt, the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, saying (http://www.ibtimes.com/shale-gas-development-us-ukraine-can-help-promote-energy-security-1407944), “I’m very determined to cooperate with the Ukrainian government in strengthening Ukraine’s energy independence.”

U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Europe Victoria Nuland spoke at an international business conference sponsored by Chevron on Dec. 13, 2013, after just returning from Kiev where she handed out cookies (http://ruptly.tv/site/vod/view/6876/ukraine-nuland-feeds-hungry-maidan-protesters-and-police) and sandwiches to demonstrators on the Maidan (US "foreign aid!" :lol ).

In her speech, she urged Ukraine to sign a new deal with the IMF which would “send a positive signal to private markets and would increase foreign direct investment that is so urgently needed in Ukraine.” This is important for putting Ukraine “on the path to strengthening the sort of stable and predictable business environment that (Big US Oil) investors require,” she said.

http://consortiumnews.com/2014/04/24/beneath-the-ukraine-crisis-shale-gas/
.

[boutons_deux]

http://sm62.ms1.hctc.net:7080/surgeweb?cmd=msgpart&sid=386824384&ident=1&fld_id=INBOX&msg_id=698447697&part_id=2&static=private&[email protected]

[Winehole23]

Around 300 U.S. troops from the 173rd Airborne Brigade arrived in the western Ukrainian city of Lviv last week to begin training Ukrainian National Guard forces. Part of what is being called Operation Fearless Guardian-2015, the U.S. forces were dispatched under the auspices of the Global Contingency Security Fund, created to provide security sector assistance to partner countries to help them address challenges important to U.S. security interests.http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2015/04/24/us_boots_hit_the_ground_in_lviv_111143.html

[m>s]

They're just going to keep on until they get something that they don't want

[Winehole23]

They?

[m>s]

U.S. Govt

[Winehole23]

what is it "they" don't want?

[m>s]

War with Russia and its allies

[Winehole23]

the article suggests the presence of US troops even in very small numbers could be a lever for negotiations short of war.

is war inevitable, in your opinion?

[Winehole23]

also, what allies? who else wants a hot war with the US?

[m>s]

its kind of hard to explain, you won't see a bunch of countries simultaneously declare war all at once. It'll start out against Russia and conventional but if they lose even the slightest ground they'll let tactical nukes fly. Not on the American mainland but in Europe. There are a growing number of people in the EU who are sick of our shit. Germany secretly hates us but is still occupied so they won't speak out directly at this time. You see it with merkels relationship with Putin and their reluctance to go along with sanctions. Let us start another major European war and see the masks drop. Brezinski said in his book that the number one goal of American foreign policy over the past 100 years has been separating and dividing the German and Russian people because if allied they are the only ones capable of defeating the U.S. The Russians have always known that the Americanswere not friendly and the Germans are just now starting to realize it. Let's not forget the outrage in Germany just last year over NSA spying. The moment we're tied up in Europe the Shia-Sunni conflict will erupt and China will jump Japan. Whether we go to war with China will depend on whether or not we choose to open up a third front.(the second being Iran and the Middle East) Also India does not like us and will be aiding Russia in the very least passively with aid and supplies.

[Winehole23]

U.S. troops will begin training regular Ukrainian military forces later this year in an expansion of their current mission, which so far has been limited to instructing Interior Ministry national guard units, the State Department said on Friday.

"This training is part of our long-running defense cooperation with Ukraine and is taking place at the invitation of the Ukraine government. This additional program brings our total security assistance committed to Ukraine since 2014 to over $244 million," State Department Mark Toner said.


Lieutenant General Ben Hodges, head of U.S. Army forces in Europe, said earlier this month that U.S. officials were discussing expanding the military training to include regular Ukrainian troops under the Defense Ministry.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/07/24/us-ukraine-crisis-usa-idUSKCN0PY28A20150724