\u201cIn the latest debacle for the US State Department and the Obama Administration, US Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland was caught on tape micro-managing Ukraine opposition party strategies with US Ambassador to Ukraine, Geoffrey Pyatt. That the Ukraine regime-change operation is to some degree being directed from Washington can no longer be denied\u2026.The taped conversation demonstrates in clear detail that while Secretary of State John Kerry decries any foreign meddling in Ukraine\u2019s internal affairs, his State Department is virtually managing the entire process.\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n
\u2013 Daniel McAdams, \u201c\u2018F**k the EU\u2019: Tape Reveals US Runs Ukraine Opposition<\/a>\u201c, Ron Paul Institute<\/p>\n Washington is at it again, up to its old tricks. You\u2019d think that after the Afghanistan and Iraq fiascos someone on the policymaking team would tell the fantasists to dial-it-down a bit. But, no. The Obama claque is just as eager to try their hand at regime change as their predecessors, the Bushies. This time the bullseye is on Ukraine, the home of the failed Orange Revolution, where US NGOs fomented a populist coup that brought down the government and paved the way for years of social instability, economic hardship and, eventually, a stronger alliance with Moscow.<\/p>\n That sure worked out well, didn\u2019t it? One can only wonder what Obama has in mind for an encore.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s cut to the chase: The US still clings to the idea that it can dominate the world with its ham-fisted military (that hasn\u2019t won a war in 60 years) its scandalized Intel agencies, its comical Rambo-style \u201cSpecial Ops\u201d teams, and its oh-so-brilliant global strategists who think the days of the nation-state will soon be over hastening the onset of the glorious New World Order. Right. Ukraine is a critical part of that pipe dream, er, strategy which is why the US media puts demonstrations in Kiev in the headlines while similar protests in the US are consigned to the back pages just below the dog food ads. In any event, the crisis is likely to intensify in the months ahead as Washington engages in a no-holds-barred tug-o-war with Moscow over the future of civilization.<\/p>\n For bigwig strategists, like Zbigniew Brzezinski, Ukraine is a war that Washington must win to maintain its position as the world\u2019s only superpower. As he sees it, the US must establish outposts throughout Eurasia to diminish Russia\u2019s influence, control China, and capitalize off the new century\u2019s fastest growing region. Here\u2019s how Brzezinski sums it up in Foreign Affairs in an article titled \u201cA Geostrategy for Eurasia\u201d:<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica\u2019s emergence as the sole global superpower now makes an integrated and comprehensive strategy for Eurasia imperative\u2026Eurasia is home to most of the world\u2019s politically assertive and dynamic states. All the historical pretenders to global power originated in Eurasia. The world\u2019s most populous aspirants to regional hegemony, China and India, are in Eurasia, as are all the potential political or economic challengers to American primacy\u2026<\/p>\n Eurasia is the world\u2019s axial supercontinent. A power that dominated Eurasia would exercise decisive influence over two of the world\u2019s three most economically productive regions, Western Europe and East Asia. A glance at the map also suggests that a country dominant in Eurasia would almost automatically control the Middle East and Africa\u2026<\/p>\n What happens with the distribution of power on the Eurasian landmass will be of decisive importance to America\u2019s global primacy and historical legacy.\u201d ( \u201cA Geostrategy for Eurasia<\/a>\u201d, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Foreign Affairs, 1997)<\/p>\n Okay, so the not-so-subtle Brzezinski is telling US policymakers that if they want to rule the world, they\u2019ve got to take over Eurasia. That\u2019s pretty clear. It\u2019s the Great Game all over again and Ukraine is one of the biggest trophies, which is why the US has allied itself to all kinds crackpot, rightwing groups that are stirring up trouble in Kiev. It\u2019s because Washington will stop at nothing to achieve its objectives. Of course, there\u2019s nothing new about any of this. The US frequently supports violent, far-right organizations if their interests coincide. Here\u2019s a little background on the topic from Eric Draitser in an article in CounterPunch titled \u201cUkraine and the Rebirth of Fascism\u201d:<\/p>\n \u201cIn an attempt to pry Ukraine out of the Russian sphere of influence, the US-EU-NATO alliance has, not for the first time, allied itself with fascists. Of course, for decades, millions in Latin America were disappeared or murdered by fascist paramilitary forces armed and supported by the United States. The mujahideen of Afghanistan, which later transmogrified into Al Qaeda, also extreme ideological reactionaries, were created and financed by the United States for the purposes of destabilizing Russia. And of course, there is the painful reality of Libya and, most recently Syria, where the United States and its allies finance and support extremist jihadis against a government that has refused to align with the US and Israel. There is a disturbing pattern here that has never been lost on keen political observers: the United States always makes common cause with right wing extremists and fascists for geopolitical gain.\u201d (Ukraine and the rebirth of Fascism<\/a>\u201c, Eric Draitser, CounterPunch)<\/p>\n Death squads here, jihadis there; what difference does it make to the big shots in Washington?<\/p>\n Not much, apparently.<\/p>\n But, wait, what\u2019s all this talk about the US being on the side of anti-Semites and fascists in Ukraine? Is that true?<\/p>\n It sure looks that way. In fact, there was a funny story in the World Socialist Web Site about Assistant Secretary of State Victoria \u201cFuck the EU\u201d Nuland which shows how far these people will go to achieve their objectives. In this case, Nuland, who \u2014 according to the WSWS \u2014 is \u201cthe grand-daughter of Jewish immigrants who fled to America to escape pogroms in Tsarist Russia\u201d\u2026was seen \u201chanding out cookies in Maidan square to Svoboda thugs who venerate the mass murderers of Hitler\u2019s SS.\u201d (\u201cLeaked phone call on Ukraine lays bare Washington\u2019s gangsterism<\/a>\u201c, Bill Van Auken, World Socialist Web Site)<\/p>\n Nice, eh? So Vickie was having a little snacktime with guys who\u2019d probably shove a knife in her back if they were given half a chance. That\u2019s what you call dedication. By the way, Nuland\u2019s \u201chusband is Robert Kagan, the right-wing foreign policy pundit who served as the founding chairman of the Project for a New American Century, the neo-conservative Washington think tank that played a key role in the political and ideological preparation for the wars against Iraq and Afghanistan.\u201d<\/p>\n The fact that Obama and Co. are directly involved in this latest would-be coup, doesn\u2019t surprise anyone. According to a recent poll conducted by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center, \u201calmost a half (45%) of Russian citizens think that protests in Ukraine have been provoked by Western special services.\u201d By \u201cspecial services\u201d we presume the survey\u2019s authors mean US Intel agencies and US-funded NGOs which have a long history of poking their noses in other country\u2019s affairs. Here\u2019s a statement by Rep Ron Paul in 2004 to the US House International Relations Committee which helps to throw a little light on the issue:<\/p>\n \u201cIt is clear that a significant amount of US taxpayer dollars went to support one candidate in Ukraine. \u2026. What we do not know, however, is just how much US government money was spent to influence the outcome of the Ukrainian election.<\/p>\n Dozens of organizations are granted funds under the PAUCI program alone, (Poland-America-Ukraine Cooperation Initiative, which is administered by the US-based Freedom House.) and this is only one of many programs that funneled dollars into Ukraine. We do not know how many millions of US taxpayer dollars the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) sent to Ukraine through NED\u2019s National Democratic Institute and International Republican Institute. Nor do we know how many other efforts, overt or covert, have been made to support one candidate over the other in Ukraine.<\/p>\n That is what I find so disturbing: there are so many cut-out organizations and sub-grantees that we have no idea how much US government money was really spent on Ukraine, and most importantly how it was spent.\u201d (\u201cWhat has the NED done in Ukraine?<\/a>\u201c, Ron Paul, Lew Rockwell)<\/p>\n The fact is, the USG gives away tons of money to all types of shady groups who carry out their agenda. As far as Ukraine is concerned, we actually have a better idea of the money that\u2019s been spent than Paul thinks. Check out this video of Nuland addressing various industry groups and admitting that, \u201cSince the declaration of Ukrainian independence in 1991, the United States supported the Ukrainians in the development of democratic institutions and skills in promoting civil society and a good form of government\u2026We have invested more than 5 billion dollars to help Ukraine to achieve these and other goals.\u201d (\u201cWashington\u2019s cloned female warmongers<\/a>\u201c, Finian Cunningham, Information Clearinghouse)<\/p>\n 5 billion smackers to topple a democratically-elected government in Ukraine while 8 million Americans still can\u2019t find a damn job in the US. That tells you a lot about Obama\u2019s priorities, doesn\u2019t it?<\/p>\n Last week\u2019s fiasco surrounding Nuland\u2019s leaked phone conversation has clarified what\u2019s really going on behind the scenes. While the media has focused on Nuland\u2019s obscenity, (\u201cFuck the EU\u201d) it\u2019s the other parts of the conversation that grabbed our attention. Here\u2019s a brief summary by the WSWS\u2019s Bill Van Auken:<\/p>\n \u201cThe call (exposes) the criminal and imperialist character of US policy in Ukraine \u2026What the tape makes clear, is that Washington is employing methods of international gangsterism, including violence, to effect a political coup aimed at installing a regime that is fully subordinate to US geo-strategic interests\u2026<\/p>\n The precise goal of US efforts is to shift political power into the hands of a collection of Western-aligned Ukrainian oligarchs who enriched themselves off of the private appropriation\u2014theft\u2014of state property carried out as part of the Stalinist bureaucracy\u2019s dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. In doing so, it aims to turn Ukraine into a US imperialist beachhead on the very border of Russia, whose territory it also wants to divide and subjugate to neocolonial status as part of its drive to assert American hegemony throughout the strategic landmass of Eurasia\u2026<\/p>\n Nuland makes clear that behind the scenes, Washington is dictating which leaders of the opposition\u2026should enter the government to swing it behind Washington and what role the others will play\u2026\u201d(\u201cLeaked phone call on Ukraine lays bare Washington\u2019s gangsterism<\/a>\u201c, Bill Van Auken, World socialist Web Site)<\/p>\n Same old, same old. Like we said earlier, there\u2019s nothing new here, nothing at all. All the blabber about \u201cdemocracy\u201d is just public relations crappola. It means nothing. US elites want to trim Moscow\u2019s wings, set up shop in Eurasia, control China\u2019s growth, be a bigger player in the continent\u2019s oil and natural gas markets, export its financial services model, and make as much money as possible in the 21st century\u2019s hottest market, Asia. It\u2019s all about profits. Profits and power.<\/p>\n But then, you probably knew that already.<\/p>\n ________________________<\/p>\n Mike Whitney<\/i>\u00a0<\/b>lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to\u00a0Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion<\/a>\u00a0(AK Press).\u00a0Hopeless is also available in a\u00a0Kindle edition<\/a>.\u00a0He can be reached at\u00a0fergiewhitney@msn.com<\/a>.<\/i><\/p>\n