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Hotdog

Lies and Spin: Vladimir Putin tightens grip on Crimea

Ian Traynor, Shaun Walker and Jon Swaine
The Guardian
Sun, 02 Mar 2014 15:16 UTC
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Yulia Tymoshenko and Arseniy Yatsenyuk
The fledgling government in Kiev put the country on a war footing on Sunday as the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, tightened his grip on the Ukrainian Black Sea peninsula of Crimea and western powers were left scrambling to find a response to the escalating crisis.

"We are on the brink of disaster," said Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Ukraine's acting prime minister, as Kiev called for help from Washington and London, co-signatories of a 1994 pact with Russia guaranteeing Ukraine's security and its borders.

"This is actually a declaration of war on my country," he said. "We urge Putin to pull back his troops from this country and honour bilateral agreements. If he wants to be the president who started a war between two neighbouring and friendly countries, he has reached his target within a few inches."

As John Kerry, the US secretary of state, described Russia's gambit as "an incredible act of aggression", western powers pondered their limited options. Nato ambassadors met in Brussels, with Lithuania and Poland arguing that Russia's actions threatened them as Nato members bordering Russia and Ukraine, and pushing for appropriate action.

Comment: The Nuland Eavesdrop redux: Anybody that tells you that the U.S. is not running the "revolution" from behind the scenes is blowing smoke

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Wall Street

The crisis in Ukraine hits stock markets

Graeme Wearden
The Guardian
Mon, 03 Mar 2014 13:21 UTC
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© Alexander Zemlianichenko/APA currency exchange office in downtown Moscow, as the ruble hits new record lows against the US dollar.
Escalating tensions over Crimea push shares down; drive oil, gold and wheat prices up

Closing summary

Russian MICEX tumbles 10.7%, wiping off more than cost of Sochi

Markets close: Big falls across Europe; DAX slides 3.3%; FTSE 100 down 101 points

Earlier: Russian central bank hikes rates as ruble hits record low
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Snakes in Suits

Business as usual: UK seeking to ensure Russia sanctions do not harm City of London

Nicholas Watt
The Guardian
Mon, 03 Mar 2014 12:50 UTC
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The secret document carried by an official in Downing Street.
Government document photographed outside No 10 states that 'London's financial centre' should not be closed to Russians

Britain is drawing up plans to ensure that any EU action against Russia over Ukraine will exempt the City of London, according to a secret government document photographed in Downing Street.

As David Cameron said Britain and its EU partners would put pressure on Moscow after it assumed control of Crimea, a government document drawn up for a meeting of senior ministers said that "London's financial centre" should not be closed to Russians. It did say that visa restrictions and travel bans could be imposed on Russian officials.

The picture of the document was taken by the freelance photographer Steve Back, who specialises in spotting secret documents carried openly by officials entering Downing Street. The document was in the hands of an unnamed official attending a meeting of the national security council (NSC) called by the prime minister to discuss the Ukrainian crisis.
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Cards

Former German chancellor Schroeder: EU facilitates Ukrainian conflict, attempts to isolate Russia wrong

Gerhard Schroeder
Voice of Russia
Tue, 04 Mar 2014 11:53 UTC
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The European Union "only facilitated the conflict in Ukraine" when it announced that "the Association Agreement is incompatible with the Customs Union agreement between Kiev and Moscow", said former Chancellor of Germany Gerhard Schroeder in an interview with the radio station Europe-1.

Schroeder also criticized NATO, as "this alliance does not have a political purpose, and its actions do not help to build trust, but on the contrary, create more and more concerns". Measures to solve the Ukrainian crisis "should be solely diplomatic", he stressed.

Schroeder spoke against attempts to isolate Russia, particularly by rejecting to attend the G8 summit in Sochi. "In such critical conditions, any measures that block further discussions are wrong," Schroeder noted.

When asked about whether Germany could take a tougher position on the issue, he emphasized that "boycotts should be used in a way that does not harm your own interests."
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Dollar

US prepares $1B aid package for new non democratic Ukraine government

Lara Jakes
Yahoo! News
Tue, 04 Mar 2014 00:00 UTC
In a somber show of U.S. support for Ukraine's new leadership, Secretary of State John Kerry walked the streets Tuesday where nearly 100 anti-government protesters were gunned down by police last month, and promised beseeching crowds that American aid is on the way.

The Obama administration announced a $1 billion energy subsidy package in Washington as Kerry was arriving in Kiev. The fast-moving developments came as the United States readied economic sanctions amid worries that Moscow was ready to stretch its military reach further into the mainland of the former Soviet republic.

Kerry headed straight to Institutska Street at the start of an hours-long visit intended to bolster the new government that took over just a week ago when Ukraine President Viktor Yanukovych fled. He lay a bouquet of red roses, and twice the Roman Catholic secretary of state made the sign of the cross at a shrine set up to memorialize protesters who were killed during mid-February riots.

Comment: Reader may want to read this article to understand the motivation behind the $1 billion dollar energy subsidy aid.
IMF sponsored "Democracy" in the Ukraine

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Bullseye

The Nuland Eavesdrop redux: Anybody that tells you that the U.S. is not running the "revolution" from behind the scenes is blowing smoke

Michael Snyder
Investment Watch Blog
Mon, 03 Mar 2014 00:00 UTC
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© NBC/Andrew KravchenkoAssistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland and Ambassador Geoff Pyatt walk inside the protester's tent camp in Kiev, Ukraine, in December 2013.
When the Obama administration was plotting to overthrow the democratically-elected government of Ukraine, what in the world did they expect to happen in the aftermath? Did they just expect Russia to roll over and play dead as the U.S. and the EU installed a rabidly anti-Russian government in Kiev? Over the past few years, the U.S. government has chosen to foment violent political revolutions all over the globe. We have seen violent revolutions overthrow governments all across the Middle East and Africa, but when the U.S. government decided to do the same thing in Ukraine they went way too far. When you mess with Ukraine, and when you mess with Crimea in particular, you are crossing a huge red line as far as the Russians are concerned. By crossing that red line, the Obama administration has ensured that the relationship between the United States and Russia will never be friendly again.

If you have not listened to the conversation between Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland and Ambassador to the Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt that was leaked a little over a month ago on YouTube, please click on the video posted below. As Robert Wenzel recently discussed, this video is solid proof that Obama administration officials were plotting who the new leaders of Ukraine would be several weeks before a violent revolution ousted President Viktor Yanukovych from power...
During the clip, Nuland and Pyatt discuss their desired outcome for the crisis in Ukraine. Now that 3 weeks have passed since the leak and events have developed, it is instructive to listen to the recording once again. (See below.) Keep in mind that this leak was made on February 2, which means the conversation occurred before that date. Viktor Yanukovych did not lose power over the Ukrainian government until more than three weeks later February 24th.

The recording reveals Nuland and Pyatt discussing whether Vitali Klitschko, sometimes referred to as "Klitsch" in the recording, should be named the deputy prime minister and seems to assume that Arseniy Yatseniuk, sometimes referred to in the recording as "Yats," will become prime minister. Since that conversation, Yatseniuk has, indeed, become prime minister. Anybody that tells you that the US is not running the "revolution" from behind the scenes is blowing smoke.
Here is the video:

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Attention

Best of the Web: Billionaire eBay founder Pierre Omidyar funding 'independent media' critical of U.S. government AND co-funding 'Ukrainian revolution' with U.S. government

Mark Ames
pandodaily
Fri, 28 Feb 2014 07:28 UTC
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Click to enlarge
Just hours after last weekend's ouster of Ukrainian president Viktor Yanukovych, one of Pierre Omidyar's newest hires at national security blog "The Intercept," was already digging for the truth.

Marcy Wheeler, who is the new site's "senior policy analyst," speculated that the Ukraine revolution was likely a "coup" engineered by "deep" forces on behalf of "Pax Americana":
"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.
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War Whore

John Kerry and NATO must calm down and back off

Jonathan Steele
The Guardian
Sun, 02 Mar 2014 14:29 UTC
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© Ivan Sekretarev/APSimferopol, Crimea, on 2 March. ‘Underlying the crisis in Crimea and Russia’s fierce resistance to potential changes is Nato’s undisguised ambition to continue two decades of expansion.'
Both John Kerry's threats to expel Russia from the G8 and the Ukrainian government's plea for Nato aid mark a dangerous escalation of a crisis that can easily be contained if cool heads prevail. Hysteria seems to be the mood in Washington and Kiev, with the new Ukrainian prime minister claiming, "We are on the brink of disaster" as he calls up army reserves in response to Russian military movements in Crimea.

Were he talking about the country's economic plight he would have a point. Instead, along with much of the US and European media, he was over-dramatising developments in the east, where Russian speakers are understandably alarmed after the new Kiev authorities scrapped a law allowing Russian as an official language in their areas. They see it as proof that the anti-Russian ultra-nationalists from western Ukraine who were the dominant force in last month's insurrection still control it. Eastern Ukrainians fear similar tactics of storming public buildings could be used against their elected officials.

Kerry's rush to punish Russia and Nato's decision to respond to Kiev's call by holding a meeting of member states' ambassadors in Brussels today were mistakes. Ukraine is not part of the alliance, so none of the obligations of common defence come into play. Nato should refrain from interfering in Ukraine by word or deed. The fact that it insists on getting engaged reveals the elephant in the room: underlying the crisis in Crimea and Russia's fierce resistance to potential changes is Nato's undisguised ambition to continue two decades of expansion into what used to be called "post-Soviet space", led by Bill Clinton and taken up by successive administrations in Washington. At the back of Pentagon minds, no doubt, is the dream that a US navy will one day replace the Russian Black Sea fleet in the Crimean ports of Sevastopol and Balaclava.
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Vader

No world leader has done more to undermine international law than Barack Obama

Normal Soloman
AntiWar.com
Mon, 03 Mar 2014 00:00 UTC
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© Amnesty InternationalNabeela, eight-year-old granddaughter of Mamana Bibi. Mamana was killed by an illegal U.S. drone strike in Pakistan. The U.S. is exploiting the lawless and remote nature of the region to evade accountability for its drone program, including killings that may constitute extrajudicial executions or war crimes.
International law is suddenly very popular in Washington. President Obama responded to Russian military intervention in the Crimea by accusing Russia of a "breach of international law." Secretary of State John Kerry followed up by declaring that Russia is "in direct, overt violation of international law."

Unfortunately, during the last five years, no world leader has done more to undermine international law than Barack Obama. He treats it with rhetorical adulation and behavioral contempt, helping to further normalize a might-makes-right approach to global affairs that is the antithesis of international law.

Fifty years ago, another former law professor, Senator Wayne Morse, condemned such arrogance of power. "I don't know why we think, just because we're mighty, that we have the right to try to substitute might for right," Morse said on national TV in 1964. "And that's the American policy in Southeast Asia - just as unsound when we do it as when Russia does it."

Today, Uncle Sam continues to preen as the globe's big sheriff on the side of international law even while functioning as the world's biggest outlaw.

Rather than striving for an evenhanded assessment of how "international law" has become so much coin of the hypocrisy realm, mainline U.S. media are now transfixed with Kremlin villainy.
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MIB

Ukraine: This isn't a revolution - It's USA induced regime change

Brendan O'Neill
Spiked
Tue, 25 Feb 2014 07:00 UTC
Let's call a spade a spade: Western politicians have usurped an elected leader.
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© UnknownThe truth of what has happened in Ukraine is this: the EU and Washington have effectively brought about regime change, replacing an elected pro-Russian regime with an unelected, still-being-formed new government that is more amenable to the institutions of the West.
Even in this era of rampant political spin and platitudes, where George Orwell's claim that political language is used and abused to 'make lies sound truthful and murder respectable' has never been truer, the commentary on Ukraine stands out for its dishonesty. Western observers tell us there has been a revolution in that benighted nation. They claim revolutionaries have overthrown a dictator. They say the people of Ukraine have risen up and deposed their despot, and are now 'experiencing the intense emotions expressed so eloquently by Thomas Paine in 1776 [in his writings on the American War of Independence]'. It is hard to remember the last time political language was so thoroughly used to obfuscate reality, to impose inappropriate historical narratives on to a messy modern-day event. For what we have in Ukraine is not revolution, but regime change, set in motion far more by the machinations of Western politicians than by the stone-throwing of Ukrainians.
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