Day: March 21, 2014

America’s Disturbing Allies

Inkwell Institute

Eurasian Desk

There are times when the US needs to step back and really look at whom they give their support………..there have been too many times when we have backed the worse of the worse……of course we can always go to war to right the wrong that we have done…….Iraq pops in the mind at this point……..

America’s rush to oppose Putin at any cost……could be very costly….unrest will ensue……and then we will need to step back and rethink our choices…….the problem is right now in Ukraine we are on the cusp of a disastrous situation……I’ll bet you are asking…..why?

Oh well…just throw it out there, professor……..

In Foreign Policy, for example, Andrew Foxall and Oren Kessler write, “The uncomfortable truth is that a sizeable portion of Kiev’s current government — and the protesters who brought it to power — are, indeed, fascists.”

Ukraine is home to Svoboda, arguably Europe’s most influential far-right movement today…Party leader Oleh Tyahnybok is on record complaining that his country is controlled by a “Muscovite-Jewish mafia,” while his deputy derided the Ukrainian-born film star Mila Kunis as a “dirty Jewess.” In Svoboda’s eyes, gays are perverts and black people unfit to represent the nation at Eurovision, lest viewers come away thinking Ukraine issomewhere besides Uganda.

Svoboda began life in the mid-90s as the Social-National Party (a name deliberately redolent of the National Socialist Party, better known as Nazis), with its logo the fascistWolfsangel. In 2004, the party gave itself an unobjectionable new name (Svoboda means “Freedom”) and canned the Nazi imagery, and in the subsequent decade has seen its star swiftly rise.

Today, Svoboda holds a larger chunk of its nation’s ministries (nearly a quarter, including the prized defense portfolio) than any other far-right party on the continent. Ukraine’s deputy prime minister represents Svoboda (the smaller, even more extreme ”Right Sector” coalition fills thedeputy National Security Council chair), as does the prosecutor general and the deputy chair of parliament — where the party is the fourth-largest. And Svoboda’s fresh faces are scarcely different from the old: one of its freshmen members of parliament is the founder of the “Joseph Goebbels Political Research Centre” and has hailed the Holocaust as a “bright period” in human history.

We are backing Fascist! Is this what is best for the people of Ukraine?

Need more be said?

Thoughts please……….

The Race Is On!

Inkwell Institute

Eurasian Desk

First, have you had enough of the ‘news’ (I use the term loosely) of the missing plane?  One satellite photo can give MSM 6 hours of coverage of nothing at all………if you are then join us today we will look at the Ukraine situation in a different light…….8 to 80….fun for all…..join us.

Crimea has voted and now the world is quaking with the prospect that Putin may be trying to re-start the Cold War……..NATO countries are making a case for needed cash for their defense from the Russian bear……they are using a time tried and true technique….fear mongering (Propaganda 2.0….look it up)…….

First to weigh in was the Baltic nation of Estonia………

Russian President Vladimir Putin is preparing to “invade eastern Ukraine” after occupying the country’s Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, Estonia said.

Russia warned that Ukraine’s government has lost control of the country today, fueling concern the Kremlin may extend a military intervention as U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called for it to halt a takeover of the disputed province.

Events in Ukraine “clearly show that the Russian Federation only accepts force,” Estonian Defense Minister Urmas Reinsalu said in an e-mailed statement today. To deter Putin, “a clear message needs to be sent that an attack will cost the aggressor dearly.”

Now that they have the rest of Ukraine on the brink…..the US has promised cash and weapons to protect the country from further incursions from Russia………a minister in the Ukraine is adding more fuel to the fire……..

Russia may be preparing a further military incursion into his country, Ukraine’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva, Yurii Klymenko, told diplomats at a briefing on human rights.

“There are indications that Russia is on its way to unleash a full blown military intervention in Ukraine’s east and south,” Klymenko said on Thursday.

His statement was widely supported by other ambassadors, but challenged by a Russian diplomat, who read a prepared statement justifying Russia’s actions so far.

Klymenko issued the warning as German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that Europe would step up political and economic sanctions, if Russia goes ahead with its plan to annex Ukraine’s Crimean region.

The problem is….Putin is calling someone’s bluff………

Vladimir Putin officially signed the bills completing Russia’s annexation of Crimea today, hailing the move as a “remarkable event,” the AP reports. It was one of the day’s two auspicious signings; earlier, interim Ukrainian President Arseniy Yatsenyuk signed on to what Reuters refers to as a “landmark” political association agreement with the European Union. It was ousted president Viktor Yanukovich’s opposition to the pact—in favor of closer ties to Russia—that started the protests that began the crisis.

The deal calls for greater political and economic cooperation, and eventually free trade once a new president is elected in May. Yatsenyuk said the deal indicated that the EU would “speak in one single and strong voice” to support the Ukraine, CNN reports. As for that other signing? “Frankly, I don’t care about Russia signing” the annexation bill, Yatsenyuk said. “I care about Ukraine, Ukrainians, and our European future.” In other Ukraine news:

Events are beginning to tumble out of control……..

  • Ukraine set today as the deadline for the militias patrolling Independence Square in Kiev to turn in the illegal weapons that they openly carry, the New York Times reports. Europe is insisting the groups disarm before any financial aid flows to Ukraine.
  • Ukrainian troops will today join NATO training exercises in Bulgaria, the AP reports. The exercises were planned before the crisis broke, but take on an extra significance now.
  • Vladimir Putin laughed off US sanctions, RT reports. Referring to the targeted lawmakers he derisively said, “Yes, these are those so-called ‘polite people in camouflage with guns.’ … I need to avoid these citizens as they are ‘compromising the country.'” He also said that he’d open an account at the sanctioned Rossiya bank. But Russia won’t issue retaliatory sanctions, he said, and it will keep repairing NATO helicopters in Afghanistan. Apparently retaliatory visa bans are another matter.

Eastern Ukraine is NOT out of the cross hairs……..why?

The race is on……….The stage is being set for the escalation of hostilities………but what can the West do to slow down Putin and the Russian Bear?  Will the sanctions and other attempts slow the pace?

Putin is far from finished with this situation……..

Five tough steps Obama could take with Putin, Russia | TheHill

All the pundits are speculating just what will DC do to punish Putin for his audacity……this press is of an article in The Hill…..but the ways laid forth do not look that tough to me……..

Putin may be naive but he is not delusional…….I think he can with stand these attempts with ease…….but these seem to be the only options the US has now……but will they work? …..should be the question…….

Five tough steps Obama could take with Putin, Russia | TheHill.

You Voted…..Now What?

Inkwell Institute

Eurasian Desk

Writing about what is a head for the people of Crimea now that they voted overwhelmingly to break with Ukraine and take up with Putin’s Russia……I would like to point t another region that has done the same thing and the results of that ………

There is a tale of woe………..for Russia that is……….Ever hear of South Ossetia?

South Ossetia was a province inside the country of Georgia which had a conflict within the bordewrs because the Ossetians did not want to be part of Georgia……after years of conflict they became an autonomous region aligned with Russia…….so how did that work out of the people of South Ossetia?

The ethnic Russians who make up most of Crimea’s population are pretty excited about the reunion with the motherland, but a look at other regions reveals that the love from Moscow may not last long, the New York Times finds. In South Ossetia, recognized as an independent state by Russia after its 2008 war with Georgia, the enclave was left isolated after recognition from other countries failed to follow; the local economy is now totally reliant on funds from Moscow. While residents were ecstatic when they first gained recognition from Russia, they now complain that Moscow has been heavy-handed about maintaining political control and that billions of rubles in promised aid have mostly ended up in the pockets of the local elite. “It will be sad if Crimea turns out the same way,” says an academic who complains that local government officials now live in much fancier houses—but a cup of tea costs $6. “This culture of Russian expansion, it means lots of money, but terribly distributed. It destroyed the good ways of a small people.”

That was one of the tales that was passed around when all this Ukrainian stuff started….that it would be too expensive for Putin to be serious about annexation………

Now can this be used to make the economics of a takeover more a headache than a windfall……

That sports fans will be the post for later today….just what will the West do to punish Putin for his actions?