In this connection here is a Russian language article which
fingerpoints none other than Rinat Akhmetov as a secret ally of
Putin's "federalization" plan and hidden financier of the ruckus in
Donetsk...
http://www.epravda.com.ua/columns/2014/03/16/428024/
Isn't an arrest long overdue? I mean this guy was an out and out
supporter of the Khan! Who is protecting him?
Quoting Bohdan Wynnyckyj <[email protected]>:
> Good article. McCain has been the most vocal proponent of getting the US to
> arm Ukraine to defend herself ASAP, and American Ukrainians need to step up
> the pressure politically for Hillary Clinton (she's pretty hawkish in the
> Democratic camp) and Kerry to move in this direction as well. The Ukes are
> far from the Israeli's in terms of calibre for their defence forces (who
> have all the best US hardware at their disposal)....and we can only dream of
> their sugar daddy arrangement, but they should be the model of where we
> want our forces to be someday. Small, professional and very disciplined
> fighting force, with top notch American firepower at their disposal. In
> the meantime, just give Ykpaina some stinger missiles and other easy to use
> but highly effective weaponry.
>
> CNN had ambassadors from Germany, France and Great Britain on today and
> they all swore that they will now do everything short of military
> involvement to shore up the Ukrainian government. There was no wavering in
> any of them. The politicos need to exploit this sentiment to the max
> now....get that Mashall Plan for Ykpaina done and start implementing it.
>
> In the meantime, Ykpaina must throw everything they can to round up and
> deport these so called "Russian tourists" and other nazis that are roaming
> around Donetsk, Kharkiv and Luhansk. Do a press conference, show the world
> who these people really are and what they are up to.
>
>
> On Sun, Mar 16, 2014 at 6:58 PM, Stefan Lemieszewski <[email protected]>wrote:
>
>>
>>
>>
>> http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2014/03/16/putins-destabilization-of-ukraine-overshadows-todays-crimean-vote/
>> Forbes
>> 16Mar2014
>> *Putin's Destabilization of Ukraine Overshadows Today's Crimean Vote (80
>> Percent Turnout, 93 Percent For Annexation)*
>> Paul Roderick Gregory <http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/>
>> Contributor
>>
>> [ pics ]
>>
>> Russia's invasion of Crimea and today's rigged Anschluss referendum are
>> sideshows to the main event - Putin's ongoing destabilization of Ukraine.
>> International <http://www.forbes.com/international/> diplomacy can deal
>> with armed interventions and the violation of international treaties, but
>> it is helpless in the face of the coordinated covert disinformatsia,
>> maskirovania, and destabilatsia at which Putin's KGB (now called the FSB)
>> excels. Putin can respond to charges of economic and political sabotage
>> against Ukraine with an expression of innocence and surprise: "Who me?
>> These are internal matters for the Ukrainian people. We Russians can only
>> watch with concern as our neighbors disintegrate into chaos before our
>> eyes. Let's hope we don't have to rescue them again, as we did in Crimea."
>>
>> GRAPHIC
>> Czar Vladimir, Ruler of All the Slavs
>>
>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>>
>> Crimea and the destabilization of Ukraine are two separate, but linked,
>> actions. The Crimean invasion gave Putin a small victory against the
>> "arrogant" West, with which to beat the Russian nationalist drum, stir up
>> Russian national pride, and stick his finger in the eyes of Barack
>> Obama<http://www.forbes.com/profile/barack-obama/>and Angela
>> Merkel <http://www.forbes.com/profile/angela-merkel/>. Insofar as the
>> Crimean invasion clearly violated international treaties and norms of
>> behavior, international diplomacy will impose a price on Russia in terms of
>> sanctions and economic woes. His inner circle may pay a personal price as
>> their bank accounts are frozen and their travel visas denied. (If they
>> object to the freezing of their foreign accounts, they should answer how
>> they, as Russian officials with modest incomes, have billions hidden in the
>> West? P.S. Should not Putin himself be on this list?)
>>
>> As soon as Putin's rubber-stamp parliament approves the Crimean vote to
>> join the Russian Federation, diplomatic options disappear, for all
>> practical purposes. Political maneuvering turns to ex post punishment and
>> then a war of sanctions and counter sanctions. All parties know the Crimean
>> annexation is a fait accomplis. Putin will not reverse Crimea's Anschluss.
>> It is only a matter of the price that Russia will pay. Putin is counting on
>> a bargain-basement sanction.
>> GRAPHIC
>> Campaign poster: Crimea's Two Choices
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>>
>> Crimea represented for Putin low hanging fruit. Its special status - in
>> the 50s part of the Russian Republic, overwhelming Russian population, home
>> of Russian naval bases, etc. - gave him a fig leaf for asserting Russia's
>> claim to Crimea. But Crimea was not and has never been Putin's objective.
>> His primary concern is the loss of control over Ukraine itself as evidenced
>> by Ukraine's intent to join the European Union. Putin will use a covert
>> attack on Ukraine's political, ethnic and economic institutions to keep it
>> dependent on him.
>>
>> The Kiev demonstrators clearly understood they were fighting for a
>> European Ukraine to replace the corrupt and dysfunctional Post-Soviet
>> Ukraine. The demonstrations began when Yanukovich reneged on his promise to
>> sign the EU association agreement, and Ukrainian demonstrators spilled
>> their blood on what they call "Euro Maidan" Square. Putin, the Euro Maidan
>> demonstrators, and the new Ukrainian government understand that the fight
>> is about Europe <http://www.forbes.com/europe-news/>, not neo Nazis,
>> language laws, or endangered Russian speakers.
>>
>> Prior to Euro Maidan, Putin knew he could control Ukraine either through
>> the gas spigot, a pro-Russian government, or through internal squabbling of
>> the post-Soviet Ukrainian political class. The prospect of a European
>> democratic, rule of law, and prospering Ukraine on his border was more than
>> Putin could tolerate. It would spill over to spell the end of his
>> dictatorship.
>>
>> Putin launched his covert war against Ukraine itself concurrently with his
>> invasion of Crimea (Russia's Special Ops Invasion of Ukraine Has
>> Begun<http://www.forbes.com/sites/paulroderickgregory/2014/03/16/putins-destabilization-of-ukraine-overshadows-todays-crimean-vote/Russia%27s%20Special%20Ops%20Invasion%20of%20Ukraine%20Has%20Begin>).
>> Its outline is already clear: Provocateurs organize and lead pro-Russian
>> crowds. Russian flags and posters mysteriously appear in cities and towns.
>> Ukrainian TV and radio are shut down. The provocateurs spread rumors -
>> Western Ukrainians are coming to exact revenge and confiscate houses and
>> apartments in the East. Young men face five years in prison if they do not
>> join the Ukrainian army. Camera crews record clashes of pro and
>> anti-Russian forces. Pro-Russian protesters are carried off, bloodied on
>> stretchers as local Ukrainian police and authorities stand by helplessly.
>>
>> Putin can count on the Western media to deliver the message of chaos and
>> disorder. Clashing mobs, demonstrations and counter demonstrations, and
>> harsh words and gestures make for good television. German public television
>> already refers to demonstrations in Donetsk and Kharkiv as clashes between
>> pro-Russian and "radical Ukrainian nationalists." Western TV has fallen
>> into Putin's trap by calling those defending Ukrainian sovereignty
>> "radicals."
>>
>> The stage has been set: East Ukraine can be described as having spun out
>> of control. Soon all of Ukraine will be a caldron of unrest and chaos.
>> Russian speakers are in mortal danger. They must be saved like their
>> brothers and sisters in Crimea!
>>
>> At this point, Putin can either move in his troops to be welcomed by
>> jubilant crowds, or he can sit back and enjoy the view of half of Ukraine
>> collapsing under the weight of his destabilization campaign, as the new
>> government in Kiev desperately seeks to cope.
>>
>> Putin's destabilization campaign also is attacking the fragile Ukrainian
>> economy. Russian orders for East Ukraine's Donbas heavy industry complex
>> have been cancelled. Russian banks have pulled out. Workers and miners have
>> either lost their jobs or work for the meager salaries their employers can
>> scrape together. With his newly established control of Crimea, Putin can
>> strangle the grain exports that constitute the lifeblood of the Ukrainian
>> economy. Ukraine's mangled finances raise the specter of default as the
>> IMF <http://www.forbes.com/companies/imf/> dawdles to extend credits.
>>
>> Western diplomacy cannot deal with the deliberate covert destabilization
>> that Putin is mounting against Ukraine. If charged, Russia will claim that
>> its agents, provocateurs, and paid thugs are acting on their own, as
>> patriots. They are not under Putin's control. The economic sabotage will be
>> written off as reluctant business decisions. Despite their brotherly love
>> for Ukraine, Russian companies cannot do business with a basket-case
>> economy, Putin's apologists will assert.
>>
>> Western diplomats can do nothing except watch the carnage. There are no
>> illegal troop movements. There are no broken treaties. Western diplomats
>> are left with no choices. They can't bring charges to the United Nations
>> that Russian companies are systematically sabotaging the Ukrainian economy.
>> They cannot charge "civilian" provocateurs with deliberate destabilization.
>>
>> This dreary scenario does not mean that the West cannot help Ukraine.
>> First, the West must give the Ukrainians the means to defend themselves
>> against Russia's political and economic sabotage. Ukraine needs to be
>> given, as it has requested, substantial direct military aid -- equipment,
>> munitions, and supplies -- as soon as possible. The fear of "offending
>> Russia," which has apparently frozen the US administration, is at this
>> point absurd. It merely plays into Putin's strategy of destroying Ukraine
>> as an independent entity. Second, Ukraine's admission to the European
>> Union must be accelerated so Ukraine has a long term objective to work
>> towards. Third, the West must provide super-generous financial assistance.
>> It must realize that Ukraine is a "war economy" and must be treated as
>> deserving a Marshall Plan of sorts. Third, the West should supply Ukraine
>> with the arms and munitions it needs to defend itself. This assistance must
>> include uniformed training personnel located on Ukrainian soil.
>>
>> For its part, Ukraine must continue to show its "Euro Maidan" resolve to
>> move forward with the economic, political, and anti-corruption reforms that
>> will serve as its salvation. This is asking a lot of a fledgling regime
>> operating in crisis mode.
>>
>> Meanwhile back in the Kremlin Putin considers that he is sitting in the
>> catbird's seat. He has ample room to maneuver. If he wishes, he can send in
>> troops to save his Slavic brothers in East Ukraine. Or he can wait for the
>> total economic and political collapse of Ukraine. He will relish the day
>> the Ukrainians come to him hat in hand begging forgiveness and pledging
>> their fealty to Czar Vladimir of all of Russia.
>>
>> The author serves on the International Academic Advisory Board of the Kiev
>> School of Economics. The views are those of the author and not the school.
>>
>> The author's latest book is Women of the Gulag: Portraits of Five
>> Remarkable
>> Lives<http://www.amazon.com/Women-Gulag-Remarkable-Institution-Publication/dp/0817915745>
>> GRAPHIC
>> Vladimir Putin - Inflaming Ukraine Challenging Obama (Photo credit:
>> DonkeyHotey)
>>
>> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>>
>
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Tue Apr 01 2014 - 00:58:22 EST