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Anyone who believes Washington is deeply enamored of `democracy' in Ukraine must hit eBay, where Saddam Hussein's WMDs have been found, and are on sale to the highest bidder. Or pay attention to the non-denial denials of the Obama administration, which swears on a daily basis there's no `proxy war' or Cold War redux in Ukraine. In a nutshell; Washington's bipartisan Ukraine policy has always been anti-Moscow. That implies regime change whenever necessary. As the European Union (EU), geopolitically, is nothing but an annex to NATO, what matters is NATO extending its borders to the Ukraine. Or at least Western Ukraine - which would be a valuable consolation prize. This is a purely military-centric game - the logic of the whole mechanism ultimately decided in Washington, not in Brussels. It's about NATO expansion, not `democracy'. When neo-con State Department functionary Victoria Nuland had her 15 seconds of fame recently, what she actually meant was "We're NATO, F**k the EU." No wonder there will be an urgent NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, centered on Ukraine. ...Every informed analyst knows the mastermind of this `policy', since the 1970s, is Zbigniew `The Grand Chessboard' Brzezinski. Dr. Zbig was US President Barack Obama's mentor at Columbia and is the Talleyrand of the Obama administration's foreign policy machine. ...As we're now on the road (again) of regime change in Ukraine, that seems not such a lousy deal for only $5 billion - the amount volunteered by neo-con Nuland herself. Compare it to other lavish Bush-Obama continuum foreign adventures, from Afghanistan and Iraq to Syria. Yet expect major bumps ahead. ... Most arguably progressive, as well as some rabidly right wing, Google generation denizens in Western Ukraine and in Kiev seem to entertain the notion that the country, under regime change, will be accepted as an EU member, they will get an EU passport, and will find a good job in Europe, just as Polish plumbers and Romanian restaurant managers did. Well, not really. If only they could board an EasyJet and see with their own eyes what's going on, job market-wise, in southern Europe or in London for that matter, now terrified of a horde of Eastern Europeans seizing English jobs. As for the ultra-nationalists and frankly neo-fascists - totally anti-EU - the only thing they care about is to get rid of the Russian Bear's embrace. And then what?
Or pay attention to the non-denial denials of the Obama administration, which swears on a daily basis there's no `proxy war' or Cold War redux in Ukraine.
In a nutshell; Washington's bipartisan Ukraine policy has always been anti-Moscow. That implies regime change whenever necessary. As the European Union (EU), geopolitically, is nothing but an annex to NATO, what matters is NATO extending its borders to the Ukraine. Or at least Western Ukraine - which would be a valuable consolation prize.
This is a purely military-centric game - the logic of the whole mechanism ultimately decided in Washington, not in Brussels. It's about NATO expansion, not `democracy'. When neo-con State Department functionary Victoria Nuland had her 15 seconds of fame recently, what she actually meant was "We're NATO, F**k the EU." No wonder there will be an urgent NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels on Wednesday, centered on Ukraine. ...Every informed analyst knows the mastermind of this `policy', since the 1970s, is Zbigniew `The Grand Chessboard' Brzezinski. Dr. Zbig was US President Barack Obama's mentor at Columbia and is the Talleyrand of the Obama administration's foreign policy machine. ...As we're now on the road (again) of regime change in Ukraine, that seems not such a lousy deal for only $5 billion - the amount volunteered by neo-con Nuland herself. Compare it to other lavish Bush-Obama continuum foreign adventures, from Afghanistan and Iraq to Syria. Yet expect major bumps ahead. ... Most arguably progressive, as well as some rabidly right wing, Google generation denizens in Western Ukraine and in Kiev seem to entertain the notion that the country, under regime change, will be accepted as an EU member, they will get an EU passport, and will find a good job in Europe, just as Polish plumbers and Romanian restaurant managers did.
Well, not really. If only they could board an EasyJet and see with their own eyes what's going on, job market-wise, in southern Europe or in London for that matter, now terrified of a horde of Eastern Europeans seizing English jobs.
As for the ultra-nationalists and frankly neo-fascists - totally anti-EU - the only thing they care about is to get rid of the Russian Bear's embrace. And then what?
The country's GDP is roughly $157 billion. That's one fifth of Turkey (which may become the new Pakistan). As it is, Ukraine holds no economic value whatsoever to the West (even less if it becomes the new Syria). The only `positive' would be NATO's warped strategic advance. ...Back to hard facts: Ukraine cannot survive without Russian gas, and the Ukrainian industry cannot survive without the Russian market. One can mix all shades of Orange, Tangerine, Campari or Tequila Sunrise revolution, and throw in the requisite IMF `structural adjustment' correction - these facts are not going to change. And forget about the EU `buying Ukrainian'. ...Here's a very possible scenario. Eastern and southern Ukraine become part of Russia again; Moscow would arguably accept it. Western Ukraine is plundered, disaster capitalism-style, by the Western corporate-financial mafia - while nobody gets a single EU passport. As for NATO, they get their bases, `annexing' Ukraine, but also get myriads of hyper-accurate Russian Iskander missiles locked in their new abode. So much for Washington's `strategic advance'.
i) America is seeking to exploit the situation
ii) EU will leave the people of Ukraine twisting in the wind as the locusts feast
iii) Russia's negotiating position keep to the Fen Causeway
Pepe Escobar is the roving correspondent for Asia Times/Hong Kong, an analyst for RT and TomDispatch, and a frequent contributor to websites and radio shows ranging from the US to East Asia.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/24/opinion/what-the-west-must-do-for-ukraine.html?ref=opinion&_r= 0
More explanation here
http://www.moonofalabama.org/
Interesting how the "west" is now reduced to Berlin paying up - and nothing else is meant here. And notice that little threat if "Eastern Europe becomes unstable, Germany will be affected too"? "Nice house you have there. Too bad if something would happen to it."
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