As the world prepares to accept the near inevitability of Crimea becoming part of Russia, the dominant feeling around the world is one best described as impotency. With the referendum coming in at 95% pro Russian, even if it skips over any official process and was boycotted by opposition groups,
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drive-by planet: Double standards, threats and false claims in run-up to March 16 referendum in Crimea
The referendum in Crimea scheduled for March 16 has been declared invalid by US secretary of state John Kerry who also issued warnings of serious consequences if Russia “annexes” Crimea. He promised that sanctions against Russia would “get ugly fast.” This was echoed by Germany’s Angela Merkel who has made
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: Russia punts ball down the field to gain time
Lavrov to punt … So Kerry and Lavrov met and walked on a soccer field, during a six-hour discussion of events in the Crimea and Ukraine. At the end of that session, they agreed to disagree: Lavrov said Crimea was very important for Russia but added that he could not
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine needs help to overcome the Iron Law of Oligarchy
Daron Acemoglu’s articleon the Ukraine in today’s Globe & Mail is a must read for all who are concerned about the mammoth task facing Ukraine right now. Unlike so many writers who skate across the thin ice of ignorance in their commentary on what is really happening in that blighted
Continue readingdrive-by planet: Leaked phone-call links US-backed coalition in Kiev with deadly sniper attacks
A leaked phone call between Estonian foreign minister, Urmas Paet, and EU foreign policy chief, Catherine Ashton, surfaced last week. It includes the suggestion that some party connected with the opposition – the current coalition in power in Kiev – was behind the lethal sniper attacks in Independence Square that
Continue readingWritings of J. Todd Ring: Nukes, world war, Dr. Strangelove and global showdown – Where’s Slim Pickins when you need him?
So the end-game plan for the US/NATO/EU alliance and the Western oligarchs and plutocratic elite who control it, in their bid to consolidate their present and highly precarious global dominance, seems to be, after encircling Russia and China with military bases and nuclear missiles, to eliminate Russia’s first strike response
Continue readingCuriosityCat: Ukraine: You don’t want your Banker have this conversation
Putin testing the waters … The central bank of Russia has just taken over control of a Russian unit of one of the Ukraine’s largest banks, which is controlled by one of the richest supporters of the new Ukrainian government, Ihor Kolomoyski. The oligarch, representing the unique marriage of pubescent
Continue readingUkraine and American arrogance
The New York Times ran an intriguing headline earlier this week. It read “Debate Over Who, in U.S., is to Blame for Ukraine.” Apparently American politicians are debating which among them is responsible for recent events in Ukraine, Republicans blaming Obama and Democrats blaming Bush. The arrogance is extraordinary. The
Continue readingdrive-by planet: New government in Kiev not exactly ‘revolutionary’: demonization of Russia
Top – Kiev government officials / Beneath – billionaire oligarchs Igor Kolomoyski and Sergey Taruta It comes as no surprise that the so-called “democratic revolution” in Ukraine basically boils down to a change of governing elites. The self-appointed government in Kiev does not herald any sweeping change that could credibly
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Let’s Not Kid Ourselves. We’re Backing Anti-Semitic Fascists.
Your Country is on Their Side The Guardian’s Seumas Milne dismembers the rank hypocrisy of our position on Ukraine, the role we played in creating this crisis and the villainous cutthroats we’re backing. Diplomatic pronouncements are renowned for hypocrisy and double standards. But western denunciations of Russian intervention in Crimea
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Were the Maidan Murders the Work of the Ukrainian Opposition, a Staged Provocation?
We know that in the Ukrainian unrest, no side has clean hands exactly. The pro-Europe group we’re backing is generously laced with some pretty nasty types. One incendiary moment that sparked the Ukrainian revolt was the sniper attack on Ukrainian police and civilians, the so-called Maidan murders. The killings have
Continue readingThe Canadian Progressive: Ukraine Crisis: The Harper Conservatives Are NOT Canada
by: Obert Madondo Last week’s “Canadian delegation” to Ukraine wasn’t a Canadian delegation. It was an all-Conservative outfit. The opposition was completely shut out. The shut out reminds me of how Third World tyrants do politics. How they exploit global crises to score cheap domestic political points. The shut out makes
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: A Cold War of Washington’s Own Making
It’s refreshing to see that, this time, we’re not all falling for the official line, the Washington line that lays the blame for the Ukrainian fiasco at Moscow’s feet. Washington (and Ottawa) would have us believe the fanciful lie that this is all Putin’s doing but it’s not. The late U.S.
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Is Passive Resistance Putin’s Achilles Heel?
Vlad Putin is strutting about Crimea with a huge chip on his shoulder just waiting for some Ukrainian hot head to knock it off. He’s got bases surrounded, soldiers and their officers confined to their garrisons. Russian forces pretty much have the run of the place. The Russians came geared
Continue readingLeDaro: Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine – A New Cold War?
Is there a new Cold War? The situation in Ukraine is escalating with Russian troops invading the Crimea, and with concerns about Russian soldiers potentially advancing further. There has been a dip in world markets in response to this news. The United States has halted trade and investment talks with
Continue readingLeft Over: Intervention and Dissention…
The Ukraine crisis: John Kerry and NATO must calm down and back off The Guardian 2 Mar 2014: Jonathan Steele: The hysterical reaction to Russian military movements in Crimea won’t help. Only Kiev can stop this crisis becoming a catastrophe This was a great analysis of the real issues in the Ukraine,
Continue readingParliamANT Hill: CanadiAnt Gov’t reduced to ‘gestures’ on Ukraine, say former top envoys
Inspired by these stories: http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ottawa-reduced-to-gestures-on-ukraine-say-former-top-envoys-1.2557882 http://www.cbc.ca/news/politics/ukraine-standoff-being-monitored-by-canadian-government-1.2558118
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: More Defections to Crimea
A gaggle of Ukrainian military leaders based in the Crimea have defected. The oath of allegiance to the people of Crimea has been taken by Pyotr Zima, head of the Securiy Service of Crimea, Sergei Abisov, chief of the Crimea Directorate for Internal Affairs, Sergei Shakhov, chief of the Emergencies
Continue readingThe Disaffected Lib: Aghhh. My Head Is Going to Explode!
“You just don’t invade another country on phony pretext in order to assert your interest.” That pearl of wisdom yesterday from the secretary of state of the United States of America, John Kerry. Yes, that United States, the very same one that invaded Iraq on a completely bogus,
Continue readingThe Cracked Crystal Ball II: Thoughts on the Ukraine Situation
There has been an enormous amount of speculation around the Ukraine situation on social media today. First, let me be abundantly clear: I do not support the Russian actions towards Ukraine in recent days. Russia would be far wiser to allow the Ukraine to have an open election or referendum
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