Saber Rattling Ahead of Resumed Ukraine Conflict
US-controlled NATO operates lawlessly. It's a killing machine. A monster threatening world peace and stability. Anders Fogh Rassmussen is gone. Jens Stoltenberg replaced him. He did so seamlessly. He's an imperial tool. A puppet serving US interests. His marching orders are clear. Instituting Washington's policy. Serving Western monied interests. Benefitting war-profiteers. Like his predecessor and others before him, he's a convenient US stooge.
He wasted no time proving it. On Sunday, he said NATO will deploy forces wherever it wants. For any reason. Anywhere. "These capabilities already exist. We have them, and we can deploy them in individual regions. And this is only an add-on to what the alliance already has," he said. It intends using its might how it wishes. Regardless of potential harm. No matter the consequences. He was in Poland at the time. Visiting Lask Air Base.
Heading for Kiev on Wednesday. Meeting with illegitimate putschist foreign affairs minister Pavlo Klimkin. Doing so to plot resumed war strategy once Ukraine's battered military finishes regrouping. He expressed gratitude to Alliance members for prioritizing regional security. He praised their commitment to NATO.
He said:
"We come together to deliver one clear common message, that NATO is here to protect all allies. This is what NATO is all about, strong solidarity and strong defense. We face great challenges to the east and to the south, so we must keep NATO strong as a political alliance and as a military alliance. Thank you for your steadfast commitment to the mission. We need to implement (Wales summit) plans in full and on time. The readiness action plan will ensure that we can respond even faster to fast moving crises, with a spirituous force that can deploy within days."
He thanked America, other present NATO members and partners, adding:
"Thank you all very much and all your comrades for what you are doing. I am very privileged and proud to meet you and I wish you the best luck in your missions."
They include US-led wars of choice. Destroying sovereign states. Replacing them with pro-Western stooge ones. Serving monied interests at the expense of popular ones. Doing so unapologetically. "Washington is destroying the world," says Paul Craig Roberts. He quoted Russian Defense Ministry Public Council member Igor Korochenko saying:
Igor Korochenko, a member of the Russian Defense Ministry Public Council replied to Washington’s puppet Stoltenberg: “Such statements run counter to the system of international security, as the NATO alliance poses a threat to Russia. Therefore, it will cause responsive measures.”
Both sides have enough destructive power to destroy life on earth multiple times over and then some in a day or less. Perhaps hours. Don't bet against a US-led NATO provocation risking the chance it can happen. Neocons infest Washington. Lunatics run things. Wars are the be all and end all. Aggressive ones. Lawless ones. Hugely destructive ones. Risking humanity's survival. Not giving a damn about consequences.
Multiple global flashpoints exist. Middle East conditions are incendiary. US wars threaten an entire region and beyond. Ukraine is the most significant world geopolitical crisis since WW II. Escalating it risks global conflict. Obama bears full responsibility. Complicit EU partners share it. Putin is irresponsibly blamed for their crimes. They continue without end. Washington's dirty hands manipulate things. Obama deplores peace. He didn't wage proxy war in Ukraine to quit.
On Tuesday, State Duma member Sergey Zheleznyak accused Kiev of multiple provocations, saying:
"Despite the armistice, which is in effect in Ukraine in accordance with the Minsk agreements, the land of Novorossiya sees daily shellings with multiple rocket launchers and heavy artillery and ever more civilian deaths. The regime in Kiev has been staging all sorts of provocations to disrupt the ongoing peace process. It is committing ever new crimes to cover up its responsibility for the heinous crimes committed earlier. Unable to attain victory on the battlefield it has turned all firepower against innocent civilians, children and elderly people. We are witnesses to mass fatalities, as a matter of fact, crimes against humanity."
Washington wants things this way. Putschists running Ukraine willingly go along. Rogue states operate this way. One fascist regime supports the other. They partner in crime. They threaten Eurasia. They risk East/West confrontation. Perhaps global war if things get out of control.
On October 8, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov "condemned attempts to change (governments) in sovereign states by organizing actions from the outside…" Doing so is "illegal…under international law," he said. He's concerned about ongoing Ukrainian ceasefire violations. He called for stopping them as soon as possible. Initiating an "inclusive political dialogue." Russia is doing its best to "normalize" things, he explained. "This meets our national interests," he added. Moscow is ready to restore cooperative relations with Western countries when they reciprocate in kind.
He stressed the importance of fighting terrorism based on rules of international law. Conducted "with the consent of the legal authorities of countries where" terrorist threats exist. He called it "impermissible to use the slogans of anti-terrorist struggle for attempts to replace" sitting governments. He noted "double standards." Irresponsibly blaming Southeastern Ukrainian self-defense forces for Kiev crimes. Likeminded policy on Syria.
Last April, a UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (HCHR) report on Ukraine covered serious human rights violations. They include "advocacy of national, racial or religious hatred by some political parties, groups and individuals, that constitutes incitement to discrimination, hostility or violence and nationalistic rhetoric…" A "deepening divide" persists in Ukraine. A lack of "inclusivity and equal participation in public affairs." An overall disregard for fundamental human rights and standards.
A new HCHR report due out Wednesday covers the August 18 - September 16 period. It shows serious human rights violations continue unchecked, saying:
"During the reporting period, international humanitarian law, including the principles of military necessity, distinction, proportionality and precaution continued to be violated by armed groups and some units and volunteer battalions under the control of the Ukrainian armed forces. (B)eatings, poor nutrition and lack of medical assistance" were reported. So were "enforced disappearances, arbitrary detention(s) and ill-treatment allegedly perpetrated by members of the volunteer battalions."
Especially Aydar, Dnepr-1, Kiev-1 and Kiev 2. Since the start of so-called "anti-terrorist" operations in late August, over 1,000 Ukrainians were lawlessly detained. They're held based on unsubstantiated allegations of being "militants and subversives."
It bears repeating. Fascist regimes operate this way. America's new friends represent this cancer's reemergence in Europe's heartland. Civilians suffer hugely. Especially Southeastern Ukrainians because of indiscriminate residential neighborhood bombing and shelling conducted by Kiev forces. Despite September 5 agreed on ceasefire terms, civilians continue being attacked, killed and wounded.
At the same time, HCHR's report omitted information on mass graves discovered near Donetsk. They're in areas Kiev's military, extremist National Guard elements and volunteer battalions control. Nothing was said about what should have been highlighted. Forensic evidence shows torture and ill-treatment. Victims were then murdered in cold blood. Shot in the head at close range. Kiev bears full responsibility. So does Washington for initiating conflict. Using Ukrainian proxies to further its imperial agenda. Using war as an instrument of dominance. Waging it without mercy. Planning its resumption at its discretion. Accountability is entirely lacking.
Illegitimate oligarch president Petro Poroshenko is unapologetic. He's strengthening Kiev's military might. Readying it for resumed conflict. At a time Ukraine's economy is in shambles. Thousands of Southeastern Ukrainians were killed. Many more wounded. Mostly civilians. A million or more were internally or externally displaced. So-called ceasefire is largely illusory. Fascists don't wage wars to quit. Shelling continues daily. Expect escalated conflict ahead. Likely resumed full-scale war.
After agreeing to ceasefire terms, Kiev violated them straightaway. According to Donetsk People's Republic (DPR) Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Purgin Ukrainian military forces...
"...are doing what was impossible without truce conditions. All the movements of convoys would have been impossible. During the truce, convoys of combat vehicles are reaching destinations and preparing for attacks."
Ukrainian National Security and Defense Council spokesman Andrei Lysenko said:
"We have managed to upgrade the equipment currently in service, to get new armaments, and to reorganize and retool the defense industries that manufacture armaments and repair hardware. We have also managed to regroup our forces, to carry out deep reconnaissance and to gather more information about the enemy. We have completed the third wave of mobilization. We have replaced the units that needed that. We gave them a chance to have some rest after heavy fighting and to get back to normal" before resuming combat.
Expect its full-scale resumption any time. At Washington's discretion. Perhaps more devastating than already. Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs Victoria Nuland's visit to Kiev this week suggests what's coming. Last time she was there, Ukraine's democratically elected president was ousted. Illegitimate fascist putschist governance replaced him.
Nuland's return to the scene of her crimes bodes ill. She came to plot war strategy. To crush Southeastern Ukrainian freedom fighters. To regain control over areas they hold. To prevent democracy at all costs. To institute unchallenged hardline rule nationwide. To prepare Ukraine for EU inclusion. For eventual NATO membership. To let Washington encroach on Russia's entire Western flank. To establish a provocative military cordon sanitaire. Extending it over hundreds of land and sea miles. From the Arctic to the Black Sea. Cutting off Russia from Europe if things go as planned. Marginalizing, isolating and weakening it at the same time. Risking East/West confrontation in the process.
In 2008, Washington initiated the US/Ukraine Charter on Strategic Partnership. Its objectives stated in part:
"Deepening Ukraine's integration into Euro-Atlantic institutions is a mutual priority. We plan to undertake a program of enhanced security cooperation intended to increase Ukrainian capabilities and to strengthen Ukraine’s candidacy for NATO membership. "Guided by the April 3, 2008 Bucharest Summit Declaration of the NATO North Atlantic Council and the April 4, 2008 Joint Statement of the NATO-Ukraine Commission, which affirmed that Ukraine will become a member of NATO. Recognizing the persistence of threats to global peace and stability, the United States and Ukraine intend to expand the scope of their ongoing programs of cooperation and assistance on defense and security issues to defeat these threats and to promote peace and stability. A defense and security cooperation partnership between the United States and Ukraine is of benefit to both nations and the region."
With US-installed putschists ruling Ukraine, Washington is hell bent on transforming it into a dagger threatening Russia's heartland. It's part of America's longstanding drive East. Doing so more than ever threatens world peace. It hangs by a thread. The slightest miscalculation risks anything. All bets are off if it happens.
Russia is mindful of Washington's plan. Its security is at risk. According to Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov months earlier, further encroachment "one more step towards Russia's border" changes everything. "(T)he entire European security architecture (will need) overhaul(ing)," he stressed. Further NATO enlargement poses a serious threat. It remains a belligerent/aggressive military alliance. "Russia will have to take serious measures to ensure its own security."
It bears repeating. A potential East/West confrontation looms. The worst of all possible outcomes may follow.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He has devoted his time and efforts to progressive causes and organizations, all involved in working for a more humane and just world for all people everywhere, but especially for the most needy, disadvantaged and oppressed. His efforts since summer 2005 have included writing on a broad range of vital topics ranging from war and peace; social, economic and political equity for all; and justice for all the oppressed peoples of the world like the long-suffering people of Haiti and the Palestinians. He also co-hosts The Global Research News Hour, gives occasional public talks, and appears frequently on radio and at times television. He is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization. Also visit his blog and listen to The Lendman News Hour on RepublicBroadcasting.org Monday - Friday at 10AM US Central time for cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on world and national issues. All programs are archived for easy listening. His new book "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War" can be ordered here. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
___________________________________________________________________________________
Photo: AFP. URL: http://www.a-w-i-p.com/index.php/2014/10/08/saber-rattling-ahead-of-resumed
