Sunday, April 13, 2014

Making Ukraine Safe for Corporate Vultures


Victoria "Fuck the EU" Nuland Promises Ukraine Loot to Corporate Vultures

The corrupt US state-corporate media has been making hay out of the ongoing vilification of Russian president Vladimir Putin, particularly to firmly affix the devil horns to his head in presenting a false narrative on events in Ukraine. While there is no reference or actual history of events presented to offer perspective the selling of the looming Russian invasion as well as Putin’s restoration of the old Soviet Empire is as much a con job as that restoration of the Islamic Caliphate in pushing the phony war on terror. Not only is the fact that the problems in Ukraine were started by a US backed putsch of the sitting democratically elected president Viktor Yanukovych in which the assistance of some of the most vile elements of European fascists and neo-Nazis was critical but that the entire hostile takeover of the “Yats” austerity government has ample US corporate backing and billions of dollars in plunder in play.
The narrative continued on the Sunday morning masturbatory festival of the so-called ‘news’ shows that are in reality establishment forums where lickspittles playing journalists participate in the launching of the weekly talking points.  Appearing on ABC’s This Week, the network that incredibly retained the services of the Joseph Goebbels of the neocon global domination cult William Kristol was UN Ambassador and arch warmonger Samantha Power. Power should be more appropriately known as Mrs. Cass Sunstein, the authoritarian Obama intimate whose animosity towards free speech and association knows no bounds. Sunstein is the co-author of the position paper “Conspiracy Theories” in which he called for operatives of the US government to “cognitively infiltrate” so-called “anti-government” groups which as we have seen in the post September 11, 2001, post democracy country known as The Homeland pretty much is a blanket definition to encompass any and all who oppose the corrupt state, both the Deep State elements as well as the visible exo-skeleton that is the political realm. Not that it is anything original, COINTELPRO already did it as did such inspirations for neocon ideology as Stalin and Hitler. The larger point is that Samantha Power and Cass Sunstein are yet another example of the incestuous intermarrying of the establishment political class. Other examples would be NBC’s prominent ‘news’ correspondent Andrea Mitchell and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan and Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Victoria “Fuck the EU” Nuland and Robert Kagan, a co-founder of the neocon Project For the New American Century (PNAC). There is neither sufficient time nor space to provide a more detailed accounting of such relationships.
But I digress.
Power delivered the goods to a national television audience as would be expected in continuing to push the official bullshit narrative of Ukraine. Specifically that Putin is behind the growing anti-austerity protests in the eastern portion of the country, historically pro-Russian which serves the talking points to perfection in painting the resistance as “pro-Russian” separatists. What is always omitted though, and it was again during the Sunday morning bloviation circuit is any discussion or mention that any dissent that exists against the illegally installed puppet government of the interim  Prime Minister Arseniy “Yats” Yatsenyuk is really that which is being waged against an unelected government that was put into place through western chicanery and subterfuge and what may or not be a false flag sniper attack. The sniper incident served as the catalyst for the violent uprising in the streets of Kiev among snowflakes and flames that the US propaganda machine ensured would be transmitted for maximum effect – who it was that actually murdered those people, protesters and police alike is a mystery that seems to exist in order to remain unsolved – just like the Ghouta gassings that were used to push a war on Syria late last summer.
The following is excerpted from the transcript:
Let's bring in the UN ambassador Samantha Power. Thank you for joining us this morning.
You know, we heard Secretary Kerry say that there will be consequences if the Russians don't stand down.
Also, our GMA anchor Bianna Golodryga just spoke with Ukrainian foreign minister saying there is no question that Russian agents are behind this. That's what the U.S. believes.
SAMANTHA POWER, US AMBASSADOR TO THE UN: Well, it has all the tell-tale signs of what we saw in Crimea. It's professional, it's coordinated. There's nothing grass roots seeming about it. That forces are doing in each of the six or seven cities that they've been active in exactly the same thing, so certainly it bears the tell-tale signs of Moscow's involvement.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Martha also talked about the possibility of raising sanctions. But can the United States actually do anything that would really stop Russia at this point?
POWER: Well, George, already the sanctions that we put in place have brought the ruble to an all-time low in terms of its value. The Russian stock market has depreciated by 20 percent. Investors are fleeing. And that's just on the basis of the sanctions that we put in place up to this point.
The President has made clear that depending on Russian behavior, sectoral sanctions against energy, banking, mining could be on the table. And there's a lot in between.
So, I think we've seen that the sanctions can bite. And if actions like the kind that we've seen over the last few days continue, you're going to see a ramping up of those sanctions.
STEPHANOPOULOS: Those threats -- or initial sanctions have not stopped Russia from going in to Crimea. Do we believe that Vladimir Putin wants the eastern Ukraine?
POWER: I think the actions that he is undertaking certainly give credence to that idea. But I will say in the conversations that we have, of course, they keep insisting, no, that's not what we want, that's not what we want. But everything they're doing suggests the opposite.
STEPHANOPOULOS: And will they have control over the eastern Ukraine no matter what?
POWER: I think there are elections coming up. The leadership in Ukraine have made very clear that they're prepared to have a conversation about autonomy and decentralization. And that's what makes, again, this action so outrageous and so ironic, because just at the very time the prime minister was going to the regions to talk about how the legitimate interests of Russian speakers could be tended to, this kind of action takes place. And it makes you think that they -- that a military solution is what...
STEPHANOPOULOS: If they continue, will the peace talks still go forward?
POWER: Unclear. Again, we're going to see how events transpire today and in the next few days.
Powers’ statement on the anti-austerity protests in East Ukraine that “It’s professional, it’s co-ordinated, there is nothing grass-roots-seeming about it” which belongs in the pantheon of mockery of US foreign policy statements right next to Skull and Bones alumni John Kerry’s asinine enduring classic statement that: "You just don't in the 21st century behave in 19th century fashion by invading another country on completely trumped up pre-text". The reference to “coordination” rather than anything orchestrated by Russia and Putin could easily be globe-trotting corporate mercenaries who are already obviously involved in the US backed “destabilization” campaign that rather than being “grass roots” was the culmination of billions of dollars spent to foment rebellion by US taxpayers through the front group The National Endowment for Democracy which took over many of the functions previously undertaken by the CIA during the Reagan administratin. Who are you going to believe? A government whose political class and bureaucrats no longer bother with any pretense of telling the truth? In a classic example of how the propaganda apparatus in The Homeland operates there is a puff piece at ESPN.COM extolling the virtues of Power and infamous war criminal Henry Kissinger discussing baseball, this will be followed by Sports Illustrated’s role in the national celebration of the undeclared state of martial law declared last April in Boston when paramilitary police conducted warrantless house to house searches ostensibly to capture Boston Marathon bombing suspect Dzhokar Tsarnaev but in all likelihood provided an excuse for a live martial law drill in a major US city. So it continues to go on and on, the lies and propaganda never stop as the dismantling of the country and outside of our blissfully cocooned lemming colony the rest of the planet continue with abandon.
The dirty little secret of the entire Ukraine debacle is that prior to the orchestrated putsch that installed the austerity puppet government the country had already been sliced, diced and carved into bite sized pieces to be fed to the rapacious, insatiable corporate vultures that comprise the real power behind the throne. Less known than Victoria Nuland’s intercepted phone call where she and US Ambassador to Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt discussed their intent to circumvent the EU to install former central banker “Yats” is an appearance that she made at the National Press Club in Washington to advise the circling corporate vultures that the US “We have invested more than 5 billion dollars to help Ukraine to achieve these and other goals ” – this is taxpayer money that sure could be used right here at home given the dismal job market and gutting of essential and social service programs to finance the warfare state and the expansion of the corporate empire. Behind Nuland on the dais was a prominently featured logo for oil giant Chevron, which has a $10 billion shale oil deal with Ukraine on the line, it is interesting in that the $10 billion is exactly the same figure that the occupying puppet government was bemoaning as being lost by the Russian annexation of Crimea - after that referendum that won't be recognized by the hypocritical US-EU-NATO schemers. The violence is coming, anyone with a working knowledge of US history can see that and soon the jackals, mercs, neo-Nazis and the military will soon be fully engaging in "anti-terrorist" operations. But you won’t hear about any of this on ABC’s This Week or any of those other beltway circle jerks advertised as news shows every Sunday morning. 
For the corporate dismantling of Ukraine there are a few excellent pieces of reading that come with my highest recommendation which are fine the work of JP Sottile aka The News Vandal.  The following excerpt comes from his piece “The Corporate-Foreign Policy ‘Deep State’ at Work in Ukraine” which links to his pieces at Consortium News and Buzzflash as well as provides links to all sources:
 The visible maneuvering over Crimea and the Cold War nostalgia expressed by belligerent U.S. politicians doesn’t quite match the corporate takeover we saw in Iraq. Rather, it feels more like Guatemala & the United Fruit Co. in 1953, or Iran & the CIA in 1953.
The moves are happening on two fronts: energy and agribusiness.
To read my story on Condi Rice and Chevron’s new 50-year lease to develop shale gas in Ukraine go to BuzzFlash: The Business of America Is Giving Countries Like Ukraine the Business
Excerpt: Like most American Exceptionalists, Condi Rice’s bluster and posturing can be reverse-engineered to find the banal truth about U.S. foreign policy. For example, her steadfast belief that Ukraine “should not be a pawn in a great-power conflict but rather an independent nation” might have something to do with Chevron’s 50-year lease to develop Ukraine’s shale gas reserves.
When that lease was signed on November 5, 2013, it stoked Russian fears about losing its influence on, and a major gas market in, a former satellite. It also came on the eve of the much-disputed trade deal with the European Union that, once abandoned due to Russian pressure, led to the toppling of Ukraine’s government. Reuters characterized Ukraine’s “$10 billion shale gas production-sharing agreement with U.S. Chevron” as “another step in a drive for more energy independence from Russia.”
To read my story on growing investments by Cargill, Monsanto and Big Ag in the Soviet Union’s former breadbasket go to Consortiumnews:  Corporate Interests Behind Ukraine Putsch
Excerpt: Despite the turmoil within Ukrainian politics after Yanukovych rejected a major trade deal with the European Union just seven weeks earlier, 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.
On Dec. 13, Cargill announced the purchase of a stake in a Black Sea port. 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, both in Russia and Ukraine.
Both stories touch on the “Deep State” of interlocking interests, political fixers and policymakers steering U.S. policy into a long-desired collision with Russia. Ultimately, it’s about opening the door to Ukraine’s resources for well-connected corporations.
Mr. Sotille also is interviewed here on the libertarian Scott Horton Show. Also The News Vandal looks like a good place to visit for information on commentary on a wide range of topics, check it out. 
It is disaster capitalism write large, Naomi Kline wrote about this in her book “The Shock Doctrine” and has a new piece out at the Guardian entitled "Why US fracking companies are licking their lips over Ukraine" describing how the wave of “fracking” is about to reach a crescendo with the patriotic rallying cry of defeating Putin as the bogus corporate mantra. The monied special interests are swarming all over every aspect of the Ukraine situation looking to cash in, Bloomberg.com’s recent article “Ukranian Crisis Not Wasted by Washington Lobbyists” is also a must read.
In the now fully weaponized version of looter capitalism that is as American as apple pie it is all about the spreading of "democracy" at the point of a gun and where such things as fair trade have been dispatched for lying, cheating, using the NSA for industrial espionage to gain competitive advantage and at a darker level, murder, rape, torture, resource theft and general avarice. This is epitomized by the just announced visit of Vice President Joe Biden to Ukraine in May after the wet work has been done - God forbid that the Democratic party sees all of those big agribusiness dollars sitting on the sidelines or redirected to the other criminal political syndicate the Republican party come the November elections.

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