Jonathan Cook - Archive
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Neu Vereinigte Ukrainische Linksopposition: Memorandum über katastrophale Situation
Wer seine Lage erkannt hat, sollte der aufzuhalten sein?
Das am 12. Juni in Kiew an der Gründungsversammlung zur Bildung der all-ukrainischen öffentlichen Vereinigung der linken und Mitte-links Parteien und sozialen Organisationen, genannt die „Linke Opposition“, verfasste Memorandum beschreibt die katastrophale Lage in der Ukraine:http://vineyardsaker.de/*Das wäre eine hoffnungsvolles Zeichenukraine/die-ukrainischen- kommunisten-haben-die- gruendung-einer-vereinten- linken-opposition- bekanntgegeben/Die selbstzerstörerische Politik, die der Ukraine und der EU von den USA aufgezwungen wird, muss auch im Zusammenhang mit Griechenland gesehen werden. Triebe die EU Griechenland in den nächsten Tagen tatsächlich zum Grexit, so wäre dies eine klare Missachtung der Vorgaben aus Washington. Dies würde bedeuten, dass die von den USA, mit starken Anzeichen von Besessenheit, verfolgte Politik der Schwächung Russlands nicht mehr von allen im Westen bedingungslos mitgetragen wird.*K.Trümpy, ICDSM Schweizhttp://www.free-slobo.de/
SZ über Regierungsumgang mit NSA/BND Skandal und mehr
1 ) NSA und BND - Ein schlechter Witz der Bundesregierung. Kommentar von Heribert Prantl
Die Regierung will selbst bestimmen, wer die parlamentarischen Kontrollrechte in Sachen BND und NSA wahrnimmt. Das ist so, als würde Sepp Blatter bestimmen, wer gegen ihn und die Fifa ermittelt.Es gibt Grundregeln des Parlamentarismus. Die Bundesregierung ist gerade dabei, sie außer Kraft zu setzen: Die Regierung will selbst bestimmen, wer die parlamentarischen Kontrollrechte wahrnimmt. Sie will den "Ermittlungsbeauftragten" bestimmen, der für das Parlament die Selektorenliste des BND einsieht und dem Parlament beziehungsweise seinen Ausschüssen dann darüber berichtet. Das ist, mit Verlaub, ein Witz. - Zum kleinen Einmaleins des Parlamentarismus gehört etwa, dass der Bundestagspräsident und die Vizepräsidenten vom Parlament gewählt werden; die Vorsitzenden der Ausschüsse des Bundestags selbstredend auch. Von wem denn sonst? Was wäre nun, wenn die Bundesregierung, also die Exekutive, auf einmal den Anspruch erheben würde, dass sie diese Spitzen- und Vertrauenspositionen der Legislative besetzt, dass sie die Leute dafür nach ihrem Gutdünken aussucht und womöglich gar Personen in diese Ämter beruft, die nicht einmal Mitglied des Parlaments sind?...
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2 a ) Pentagon will in Osteuropa schwere Waffengegen Russland in Stellung bringen
3 ) Das Ziel heiligt die Werte! von Evelyn Hecht-Galinski
Das war der Gipfel! Schöne Bilder waren angesagt in der Inszenierung um die Zugspitze und das malerische Garmisch Partenkirchen. Da konnte ich es mir nicht verkneifen, da der Gipfel schon so viel und langweilig kommentiert wurde, nach etwas spezieller Hintergrund-Folklore zu suchen. - Als Krün, der Ort, wo Schloss Elmau, das Luxus-Refugium der Polit-Prominenz und anderer wichtiger Gäste beheimatet ist, ganz bewusst von Merkel gewählt wurde, war es für mich nach der Geschichte von Elmau eigentlich überhaupt keine Überraschung. Dieses Schloss-Hotel, das auch gerne von der Israel Lobby besucht wird, wo dann Jüdische Kongresse stattfinden. (1).... - ...So war nur Putin Beschimpfung angesagt, TTIP und CETIP mit Kanada schnell unter Dach und Fach bringen, alles im Sinne von Obama und Harper. Zwischendurch Deutschland und den Europäern auch noch klar machen, dass Griechenland in der EU zu bleiben hat, sind das Ziel das die Werte heiligt. (8) - Jedes Bild war genau durchdacht, alle Regierungschefs wurden in Golfwagen vor Merkel vorgefahren und am roten Teppich abgesetzt. Nur einer, Obama, kam zu Fuß zu Merkel und Ehemann, um zu zeigen wie dynamisch der US-Superman ist!.... - ....Also, es war die traurige und ernüchternde Bilanzeines deutschen Gipfels, 70 Jahre nach Kriegsende und 27 Millionen getöteten Russen durch einen deutschen Angriffskrieg, die Gastgeberin Merkel zog. Der G7-Gipfel vereint gegen Russland und Präsident Putin soll weiter in die Enge getrieben werden. Was für ein armseliger und gefährlicher Gipfel dieser mächtigsten Frau, einer Kanzlerin, die immer mehr zu einer Gefahr für Deutschland wird. (20).....
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http://sicht-vom-hochblauen.
4 a ) Krieg oder Frieden in Europa – Wer bestimmt auf dem Kontinent? von KenFM
(VIDEO 2 h 41 min SEHENS-HÖRENSWERT! AK)
("....Es geht nicht um Menschenrechte - sondern um Schürfrechte...")
Krieg als bewusst eingesetztes Mittel der Politik war in den letzten Jahrzehnten für und in Europa ein Tabu. Diese Zeiten endeten unmittelbar nach Mauerfall und dem Zusammenbruch der UdSSR. - Kaum war das Kräfteverhältnisbeider Blöcke des Kalten Krieges Geschichte, wurde in Jugoslawien durch die USA und einzelne Staaten Europas ein völkerrechtswidriger Krieg geführt. In Deutschland war damals Rot-Grün an der Macht und öffnete so die Büchse der Pandora. - Seit rund zwei Jahren wird von Washington aus für einen bewaffneten Konflikt mit Russland „geworben“. Die Ukraine dient dabei nur als Hebel, um den russischen Militärstützpunkt Sevastopol auf der Krim in NATO-Besitz zu überführen und so Russlands Handelsflotte massiv zu behindern.... - ...Krieg als bewusst eingesetztes Mittel der Politik war in den letzten Jahrzehnten für und in Europa ein Tabu. Diese Zeiten endeten unmittelbar nach Mauerfall und dem Zusammenbruch der UdSSR.... - Die Gäste: Willy Wimmer, CDU-Urgestein, ehemaliger Vize-Präsident der OSZE/KSZE und Autor des Buches „Wiederkehr der Hasardeure“; Mathias Bröckers, TAZ-Mitbegründer und Autor des Buches „Wir sind die Guten“; Dirk Pohlmann, Dokumentarfilmer für ARTE und ZDF und Dr. Daniele Ganser; Historiker und Friedensforscher aus der Schweiz, sein bekanntestes Buch: „NATO-Geheimarmeen in Europa – Inszenierter Terror und verdeckte Kriegsführung“.
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https://zeitgeist-online.de/
4 b ) Als trojanischer Esel der NATO in den Dritten Weltkrieg. ROLF HOCHHUTH
Anlässlich seines 84. Geburtstags hielt der wohl bedeutendste zeitgenössische deutsche Dramatiker Rolf Hochhuth am 1. April 2015 im Berliner BE-Theater am Schiffbauerdamm eine äußerst bedeutende Rede, in der auf die Gefahren eines drohenden Dritten Weltkriegs hinwies. zeitgeist Online wird die Ehre zuteil, seine Ansprache in vollständigem Wortlaut publizieren zu dürfen: Kohl, US-Außenminister James Baker und andere sicherten mir zu, dass die NATO sich keinen Zentimeter nach Osten bewege würde. Daran haben sich die Amerikaner nicht gehalten, und den Deutschen war es gleichgültig. Vielleicht haben sie sich sogar die Hände gerieben, wie toll man die Russen über den Tisch gezogen hat. Was hat es gebracht? Nur, daß die Russen westlichen Versprechungen nun nicht mehr trauen ...“ - Gorbatschow zu Kai Diekmann und seiner Redakteurin Tanit Koch BILD-Zeitung, 2. April 2009.....
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http://www.heise.de/tp/druck/
4 c ) Ukrainische Regierung instrumentalisiert den Krieg. Florian Rötzer
Weil man im Krieg mit der Nuklearmacht Russland stehe, müsse die Restrukturierung der Schulden nach den Vorstellungen von Kiew gehen, so Regierungschef Jazenjuk
Die ukrainische Regierung scheint mit dem Rücken zur Wand zu stehen und riskiert, um einer drohenden Pleite zu entgehen, Kreditgeber zu verprellen. Seit langem verhandelt die Ukraine mit dem IWF um eine "Restrukturierung der Schulden"und hofft auch darauf, weitere Kredite zu erhalten, selbst wenn die Gläubiger nicht bedient werden können. So hat die ukrainische Regierung Ende Mai ein bis zum Juli 2016 gültiges Gesetz[1] beschlossen, das Präsident Poroschenko die Möglichkeit lässt, die Zahlungen an die Kreditgeber aussetzen zu können. Insgesamt ist das Land in Höhe von 68 Milliarden US-Dollar verschuldet und bräuchte[2]mindestens 40 Milliarden an Krediten, der IWF hat aber nur 17,5 Milliarden, die EU, die USA und andere Geber 7,5 Milliarden für die nächsten 4 Jahre in Aussicht gestellt. Mit 15 Milliarden sollen Schulden beglichen, mit 10 Milliarden die ausländischen Geldreserven aufgestockt werden, um den rasanten Verfall der Währung zu stoppen. Es reicht also hinten und vorne nicht. - Restrukturierung heißt vor allem, dass die ukrainische Regierung auf einen Schuldenerlass setzt. Dabei pokert die ukrainische Regierung hoch und stellt damit diegriechische Regierung in den Schatten. So erklärte[3] Regierungschef Jazenjuk nach einem Treffen mit der IWF-Chefin Lagarde, dass die Ukraine die Schulden, auch die an private Gläubiger, nach ihren Vorschlägen restrukturieren wolle.....
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http://sputniknews.com/
IV d ) Cold War Relics: Attempts to Make Russia andUkraine Bitter Enemies Doomed. S. Nihal Singh
While the West is pouring money in Ukraine, Kiev escalates tensions with Moscow and shows no enthusiasm for implementing the Minsk II accord; however, it is foolish to assume that Ukraine and Russia will live as enemies, S. Nihal Singh noted.
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http://sicht-vom-hochblauen.
4 a ) Krieg oder Frieden in Europa – Wer bestimmt auf dem Kontinent? von KenFM
(VIDEO 2 h 41 min SEHENS-HÖRENSWERT! AK)
("....Es geht nicht um Menschenrechte - sondern um Schürfrechte...")
Krieg als bewusst eingesetztes Mittel der Politik war in den letzten Jahrzehnten für und in Europa ein Tabu. Diese Zeiten endeten unmittelbar nach Mauerfall und dem Zusammenbruch der UdSSR. - Kaum war das Kräfteverhältnisbeider Blöcke des Kalten Krieges Geschichte, wurde in Jugoslawien durch die USA und einzelne Staaten Europas ein völkerrechtswidriger Krieg geführt. In Deutschland war damals Rot-Grün an der Macht und öffnete so die Büchse der Pandora. - Seit rund zwei Jahren wird von Washington aus für einen bewaffneten Konflikt mit Russland „geworben“. Die Ukraine dient dabei nur als Hebel, um den russischen Militärstützpunkt Sevastopol auf der Krim in NATO-Besitz zu überführen und so Russlands Handelsflotte massiv zu behindern.... - ...Krieg als bewusst eingesetztes Mittel der Politik war in den letzten Jahrzehnten für und in Europa ein Tabu. Diese Zeiten endeten unmittelbar nach Mauerfall und dem Zusammenbruch der UdSSR.... - Die Gäste: Willy Wimmer, CDU-Urgestein, ehemaliger Vize-Präsident der OSZE/KSZE und Autor des Buches „Wiederkehr der Hasardeure“; Mathias Bröckers, TAZ-Mitbegründer und Autor des Buches „Wir sind die Guten“; Dirk Pohlmann, Dokumentarfilmer für ARTE und ZDF und Dr. Daniele Ganser; Historiker und Friedensforscher aus der Schweiz, sein bekanntestes Buch: „NATO-Geheimarmeen in Europa – Inszenierter Terror und verdeckte Kriegsführung“.
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https://zeitgeist-online.de/
4 b ) Als trojanischer Esel der NATO in den Dritten Weltkrieg. ROLF HOCHHUTH
Anlässlich seines 84. Geburtstags hielt der wohl bedeutendste zeitgenössische deutsche Dramatiker Rolf Hochhuth am 1. April 2015 im Berliner BE-Theater am Schiffbauerdamm eine äußerst bedeutende Rede, in der auf die Gefahren eines drohenden Dritten Weltkriegs hinwies. zeitgeist Online wird die Ehre zuteil, seine Ansprache in vollständigem Wortlaut publizieren zu dürfen: Kohl, US-Außenminister James Baker und andere sicherten mir zu, dass die NATO sich keinen Zentimeter nach Osten bewege würde. Daran haben sich die Amerikaner nicht gehalten, und den Deutschen war es gleichgültig. Vielleicht haben sie sich sogar die Hände gerieben, wie toll man die Russen über den Tisch gezogen hat. Was hat es gebracht? Nur, daß die Russen westlichen Versprechungen nun nicht mehr trauen ...“ - Gorbatschow zu Kai Diekmann und seiner Redakteurin Tanit Koch BILD-Zeitung, 2. April 2009.....
------------------------------
http://www.heise.de/tp/druck/
4 c ) Ukrainische Regierung instrumentalisiert den Krieg. Florian Rötzer
Weil man im Krieg mit der Nuklearmacht Russland stehe, müsse die Restrukturierung der Schulden nach den Vorstellungen von Kiew gehen, so Regierungschef Jazenjuk
Die ukrainische Regierung scheint mit dem Rücken zur Wand zu stehen und riskiert, um einer drohenden Pleite zu entgehen, Kreditgeber zu verprellen. Seit langem verhandelt die Ukraine mit dem IWF um eine "Restrukturierung der Schulden"und hofft auch darauf, weitere Kredite zu erhalten, selbst wenn die Gläubiger nicht bedient werden können. So hat die ukrainische Regierung Ende Mai ein bis zum Juli 2016 gültiges Gesetz[1] beschlossen, das Präsident Poroschenko die Möglichkeit lässt, die Zahlungen an die Kreditgeber aussetzen zu können. Insgesamt ist das Land in Höhe von 68 Milliarden US-Dollar verschuldet und bräuchte[2]mindestens 40 Milliarden an Krediten, der IWF hat aber nur 17,5 Milliarden, die EU, die USA und andere Geber 7,5 Milliarden für die nächsten 4 Jahre in Aussicht gestellt. Mit 15 Milliarden sollen Schulden beglichen, mit 10 Milliarden die ausländischen Geldreserven aufgestockt werden, um den rasanten Verfall der Währung zu stoppen. Es reicht also hinten und vorne nicht. - Restrukturierung heißt vor allem, dass die ukrainische Regierung auf einen Schuldenerlass setzt. Dabei pokert die ukrainische Regierung hoch und stellt damit diegriechische Regierung in den Schatten. So erklärte[3] Regierungschef Jazenjuk nach einem Treffen mit der IWF-Chefin Lagarde, dass die Ukraine die Schulden, auch die an private Gläubiger, nach ihren Vorschlägen restrukturieren wolle.....
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http://sputniknews.com/
IV d ) Cold War Relics: Attempts to Make Russia andUkraine Bitter Enemies Doomed. S. Nihal Singh
While the West is pouring money in Ukraine, Kiev escalates tensions with Moscow and shows no enthusiasm for implementing the Minsk II accord; however, it is foolish to assume that Ukraine and Russia will live as enemies, S. Nihal Singh noted.
Encouraged by the West, Kiev has recently taken a firm anti-Russian stance, however, just a glance at the map of Ukraine and the Russian Federation will show the absurdity of the assumption that the two countries will live as enemies, Indian author and publicist S. Nihal Singh emphasized. - " The crisis over Ukraine is worsening, but it is far from clear at this point whether it will lead to a Western rethink on integrating the country into its sphere of influence… The country is greatly dependent on Russian goodwill, given the pro-Russian inclinations of roughly half its population in the East and its geographical location. Forcing Ukraine to sign on to a Western agenda does not make sense," S. Nihal Singh noted in his article published by The Asian Age. - The West is pouring billions of dollars into Ukraine, emphasizing the necessity of even more financial...
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3 a ) Bilderberg-Konferenz Geheimtreffen der Reichen und Mächtigen. Von Holger Schmale
Bei der Bilderberg-Konferenz im österreichischen Telfs treffen sich führende Köpfe aus Politik und Wirtschaft hinter verriegelten Türen. Viele glauben, dass bei diesem Treffen die Geschicke der Welt gelenkt werden. - Einige Teilnehmer des G7-Gipfels in Elmau in Bayern haben es nicht weit bis zum nächsten Reigen weltlenkender Köpfe: Gleich im Anschluss, vom 11. bis zum 14. Juni, nämlich trifft sich wenige Kilometer von Elmau entfernt, jenseits der österreichischen Grenze bei Telfs, ein illustrer wie verschwiegener Kreis, von dem manche glauben, er regiereeigentlich die Welt. Wer steckte tatsächlich hinter der Ölkrise 1973, hinter der deutschen Wiedervereinigung oder dem Irakkrieg? Für versierte Verschwörungstheoretiker ist die Antwort völlig klar: Es waren die Bilderberger.Teilnehmer jener geheimnisumwitterten Konferenzen, zu denen sich einmal im Jahr die wirklich Mächtigen und die Reichen treffen, um im Schutze größter Heimlichkeit die Geschicke der Welt zu besprechen und zu lenken. - Nicht nur unter Linken gilt „Bilderberg“ als Hort einer vor allem an den Interessen des Kapitalsinteressierten Machtelite. 1954 fand die erste Konferenz im holländischen Hotel „Bilderberg“ des Prinzen Bernhard statt....
3 b ) PUTIN:"Die G7 sind keine Organisation, sondern ein Interessenverein".
Russlands Präsident Wladimir Putin kommentierte heute, nach Gesprächen mit dem italienischen Ministerpräsidenten, Matteo Renzi, in Mailand, die G7. Er stellte klar, dass es keine Beziehungen zwischen Russland und den G7 gibt und dass die Gruppe keine Organisation sei, sondern ein „Club der Interessen.“
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3 c ) Wird heute durch die Bilderberger unsere Zukunft mit entschieden? von Heiko Schrang 2015-06-10
Nachdem die „Glorreichen 7“ mit enormer Medienpräsenz ihren Gipfel beendet haben, steht nun das Treffen an, was von weltpolitischer Bedeutung ist. Die Rede ist vom Bilderberger-Treffen, was vom 10. – 14. Juni im österreichischen Telfs stattfindet.... - ....Anders sieht es bei der ab heute stattfindenden Bilderberger-Konferenz aus, über die inhaltlich so gut wie nichts in den Mainstreammedien berichtet wird. Dort treffen sich ca. 140 einflussreiche Personen, unter ihnen Regierungschefs und hochrangige Vertreter aus der Politik, die Chefs der größten Konzerne der Welt, Eigentümern von Verlagshäusern, hochrangige Militärs und Geheimdienstchefs sowie die Hochfinanz Westeuropas und der USA. - Erstaunlich ist nur, dass für die „Private Bilderberger-Veranstaltung“ die Sicherheitskosten vom Steuerzahler übernommen werden müssen und das in Millionenhöhe. Von Bilderberger Seite wird immer wieder behauptet, dass es sich nur um ein rein informelles Treffen handelt und aus diesen Gründen es keine Veranlassung gibt, über die Inhalte zu berichten. Tatsache ist, dass in den letzten Jahrzehnten, speziell nach den Bilderberger Treffen, spürbare Veränderungen stattgefunden haben (Ukraine-Krise, Lehman-Pleite, Euroeinführung u.v.m.). Der Bilderberger Ehrenpräsident und Ex-EU-Kommissar Etienne Davignon gab selbst zu, dass diese Gruppe den Euro erschaffen hat. - Die Gäste werden speziell danach eingeladen, welchen Plan der innere Zirkel der Bilderberger (z.B. Kissinger, Rockefeller) verfolgt. Die Punkte werden dieses Jahr u.a. sein: - Abschaffung des Bargelds - Ukraine-Krise - Griechenlands Finanzen......
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Germany spends 2,5 million for New Research Institute on Russian-Eurasian Studies
In January 2015 Germany spent 2,5 million euros on creating a new research institute for Russian and Eurasian studies. ...
Before the recent G7 summit in Bavaria the chairman of the German - Russian Forum, Matthias Platzeck (SPD), warned about dire consequences of breaking up with Russia. He said it was impossible to conceive positive development of events or stable security in case the relations with Russia were broken.
According to Platzeck, neither Europe, nor Russia will gain if the bilateral relations will further deteriorate further. He said that in the end Europe will lose influence while Russia will get weakened. The United States will strengthen its position and China will achieve economic gains.
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/06/17/west-changes-policy-towards-russia.html
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2015/06/17/west-changes-policy-towards-russia.html
Israel versucht wieder und wieder seine Kriegsverbrechen zu kaschieren
Zwar war in Stuttgart davon nicht direkt die Rede, aber der Kairos-Palästina-Tag in Stuttgart war ein Ereignis von großer Bedeutung, denn er machte deutlich, dass es an der Basis auch unserer Gesellschaft brodelt. Auch sehr viele deutsche Bürger und Christenmenschen sind nicht länger bereit unter einem falschen und konterproduktiven Schuldkomplex gegenüber dem jüdischen Staat die Verletzung der Menschenrechte des palästinensischen Volkes einfach hinzunehmen.
Erinnern wir uns daran, wie im letzten Spätherbst auch die unten annoncierte Veranstaltung abgeblasen wurde und die Ergebnisse des Russel-Tribunals totgeschwiegen wurden :
Erinnern wir uns daran, wie im letzten Spätherbst auch die unten annoncierte Veranstaltung abgeblasen wurde und die Ergebnisse des Russel-Tribunals totgeschwiegen wurden :
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Endless War Series: Picking A Fight with Syria & Russia
https://consortiumnews.com/
Samantha Power: Liberal War Hawk
Exclusive: Liberal interventionist Samantha Power – along with neocon allies – appears to have prevailed in the struggle over how President Obama will conduct his foreign policy in his last months in office, promoting aggressive strategies that will lead to more death and destruction, writes Robert Parry.
By Robert Parry
Propaganda and genocide almost always go hand in hand, with the would-be aggressor stirring up resentment often by assuming the pose of a victim simply acting in self-defense and then righteously inflicting violence on the targeted group.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power understands this dynamic having written about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda where talk radio played a key role in getting Hutus to kill Tutsis. Yet, Power is now leading propaganda campaigns laying the groundwork for two potential ethnic slaughters: against the Alawites, Shiites, Christians and other minorities in Syria and against the ethnic Russians of eastern Ukraine.
Though Power is a big promoter of the “responsibility to protect” – or “R2P” – she operates with glaring selectivity in deciding who deserves protection as she advances a neocon/liberal interventionist agenda. She is turning “human rights” into an excuse not to resolve conflicts but rather to make them bloodier.
Thus, in Power’s view, the overthrow and punishment of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad takes precedence over shielding Alawites and other minorities from the likely consequence of Sunni-extremist vengeance. And she has sided with the ethnic Ukrainians in their slaughter of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine.
In both cases, Power spurns pragmatic negotiations that could avert worsening violence as she asserts a black-and-white depiction of these crises. More significantly, her strident positions appear to have won the day with President Barack Obama, who has relied on Power as a foreign policy adviser since his 2008 campaign.
Power’s self-righteous approach to human rights – deciding that her side wears white hats and the other side wears black hats – is a bracing example of how “human rights activists” have become purveyors of death and destruction or what some critics have deemed “the weaponization of human rights.”
We saw this pattern in Iraq in 2002-03 when many “liberal humanitarians” jumped on the pro-war bandwagon in favoring an invasion to overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein. Power herself didn’t support the invasion although she was rather mealy-mouthed in her skepticism and sought to hedge her career bets amid the rush to war.
For instance, in a March 10, 2003 debate on MSNBC’s “Hardball” show — just nine days before the invasion — Power said, “An American intervention likely will improve the lives of the Iraqis. Their lives could not get worse, I think it’s quite safe to say.”
However, the lives of Iraqis actually did get worse. Indeed, hundreds of thousands stopped living altogether and a sectarian war continues to tear the country apart to this day.
Power in Power
Similarly, regarding Libya, Power was one of the instigators of the U.S.-supported military intervention in 2011 which was disguised as an “R2P” mission to protect civilians in eastern Libya where dictator Muammar Gaddafi had identified the infiltration of terrorist groups.
Urged on by then-National Security Council aide Power and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama agreed to support a military mission that quickly morphed into a “regime change” operation. Gaddafi’s troops were bombed from the air and Gaddafi was eventually hunted down, tortured and murdered.
The result, however, was not a bright new day of peace and freedom for Libyans but the disintegration of Libya into a failed state with violent extremists, including elements of the Islamic State, seizing control of swaths of territory and murdering civilians. It turns out that Gaddafi was not wrong about some of his enemies.
Today, Power is a leading force opposing meaningful negotiations over Syria and Ukraine, again staking out “moralistic” positions – rejecting possible power-sharing with Assad in Syria and blaming the Ukraine crisis entirely on the Russians. She doesn’t seem all that concerned about impending genocides against Assad’s supporters in Syria or ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine.
In 2012, at a meeting hosted by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, former U.S. Ambassador Peter W. Galbraith predicted “the next genocide in the world … will likely be against the Alawites in Syria” — a key constituency behind Assad’s secular regime. But Power has continued to insist that the top priority is Assad’s removal.
Similarly, Power has shown little sympathy for members of Ukraine’s ethnic Russian minority who saw their elected President Viktor Yanukovych overthrown in a Feb. 22, 2014 coup spearheaded by neo-Nazis and other right-wing nationalists who had gained effective control of the Maidan protests. Many of these extremists want an ethnically pure Ukrainian state.
Since then, neo-Nazi units, such as the Azov battalion, have been Kiev’s tip of the spear in slaughtering thousands of ethnic Russians in the east and driving millions from their homes, essentially an ethnic-cleansing campaign in eastern Ukraine.
A Propaganda Speech
Yet, Power traveled to Kiev to deliver a one-sided propaganda speech on June 11, portraying the post-coup Ukrainian regime simply as a victim of “Russian aggression.”
Despite the key role of neo-Nazis – acknowledged even by the U.S. House of Representatives – Power uttered not one word about Ukrainian military abuses which have included reports of death squad operations targeting ethnic Russians and other Yanukovych supporters.
Skipping over the details of the U.S.-backed and Nazi-driven coup of Feb. 22, 2014, Power traced the conflict instead to “February 2014, when Russia’s little green men first started appearing in Crimea.” She added that the United Nations’ “focus on Ukraine in the Security Council is important, because it gives me the chance – on behalf of the United States – to lay out the mounting evidence of Russia’s aggression, its obfuscation, and its outright lies. … America is clear-eyed when it comes to seeing the truth about Russia’s destabilizing actions in your country.”
Power continued: “The message of the United States throughout this Moscow-manufactured conflict – and the message you heard from President Obama and other world leaders at last week’s meeting of the G7 – has never wavered: if Russia continues to disregard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine; and if Russia continues to violate the rules upon which international peace and security rest – then the United States will continue to raise the costs on Russia.
“And we will continue to rally other countries to do the same, reminding them that their silence or inaction in the face of Russian aggression will not placate Moscow, it will only embolden it.
“But there is something more important that is often lost in the international discussion about Russia’s efforts to impose its will on Ukraine. And that is you – the people of Ukraine – and your right to determine the course of your own country’s future. … Or, as one of the great rallying cries of the Maidan put it:Ukraina po-nad u-se! Ukraine above all else!” [Applause.]
Power went on: “Let me begin with what we know brought people out to the Maidan in the first place. We’ve all heard a good number of myths about this. One told by the Yanukovych government and its Russian backers at the time was that the Maidan protesters were pawns of the West, and did not speak for the ‘real’ Ukraine.
“A more nefarious myth peddled by Moscow after Yanukovych’s fall was that Euromaidan had been engineered by Western capitals in order to topple a democratically-elected government.”
Of course, neither of Power’s points was actually a “myth.” For instance, the U.S.-funded National Endowment for Democracy was sponsoring scores of anti-government activists and media operations — and NED President Carl Gershman had deemed Ukraine “the biggest prize,” albeit a stepping stone toward ousting Russian President Vladimir Putin. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “A Shadow US Foreign Policy.”]
Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland was collaborating with U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt how to “midwife” the change in government with Nuland picking the future leaders of Ukraine – “Yats is the guy” referring to Arseniy Yatsenyuk who was installed as prime minister after the coup. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “The Neocons: Masters of Chaos.”]
The coup itself occurred after Yanukovych pulled back the police to prevent worsening violence. Armed neo-Nazi and right-wing militias, organized as “sotins” or 100-man units, then took the offensive and overran government buildings. Yanukovych and other officials fled for their lives, with Yanukovych narrowly avoiding assassination. In the days following the coup, armed thugs essentially controlled the government and brutally intimidated any political resistance.
Inventing ‘Facts’
But that reality had no place in Power’s propaganda speech. Instead, she said:
“The facts tell a different story. As you remember well, then-President Yanukovych abandoned Kyiv of his own accord, only hours after signing an agreement with opposition leaders that would have led to early elections and democratic reforms.
“And it was only after Yanukovych fled the capital that 328 of the 447 members of the democratically-elected Rada voted to strip him of his powers – including 36 of the 38 members of his own party in parliament at the time. Yanukovych then vanished for several days, only to eventually reappear – little surprise – in Russia.
“As is often the case, these myths reveal more about the myth makers than they do about the truth. Moscow’s fable was designed to airbrush the Ukrainian people – and their genuine aspirations and demands – out of the Maidan, by claiming the movement was fueled by outsiders.
“Yet, as you all know by living through it – and as was clear even to those of us watching your courageous stand from afar – the Maidan was made in Ukraine. A Ukraine of university students and veterans of the Afghan war. Of Ukrainian, Russian, and Tatar speakers. Of Christians, Muslims, and Jews. …”
Power went on with her rhapsodic version of events: “Given the powerful interests that benefited from the corrupt system, achieving a full transformation was always going to be an uphill battle. And that was before Russian troops occupied Crimea, something the Kremlin denied at the time, but has since admitted; and it was before Russia began training, arming, bankrolling, and fighting alongside its separatist proxies in eastern Ukraine, something the Kremlin continues to deny.
“Suddenly, the Ukrainian people faced a battle on two fronts: combating corruption and overhauling broken institutions on the inside; while simultaneously defending against aggression and destabilization from the outside.
“I don’t have to tell you the immense strain that these battles have placed upon you. You feel it in the young men and women, including some of your family members and friends, who have volunteered or been drafted into the military – people who could be helping build up their nation, but instead are risking their lives to defend it against Russian aggression. …
“You feel it in the conflict’s impact on your country’s economy – as instability makes it harder for Ukrainian businesses to attract foreign investment, deepens inflation, and depresses families’ wages. … It is felt in the undercurrent of fear in cities like Kharkiv – where citizens have been the victims of multiple bomb attacks, the most lethal of which killed four people, including two teenage boys, at a rally celebrating the first anniversary of Euromaidan.
“And the impact is felt most directly by the people living in the conflict zone. According to the UN, at least 6,350 people have been killed in the violence driven by Russia and the separatists – including 625 women and children – and an additional 1,460 people are missing; 15,775 people have been wounded. And an estimated 2 million people have been displaced by this conflict. And the real numbers of killed, missing, wounded, and displaced are likely higher, according to the UN, due to its limited access to areas controlled by the separatists.”
One-Sided Account
Pretty much everything in Power’s propaganda speech was blamed on the Russians – along with the ethnic Russians and other Ukrainians resisting the imposition of the new U.S.-backed order. She also ignored the will of the people of Crimea who voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia.
The closest she came to criticizing the current regime in Kiev was to note that “investigations into serious crimes such as the violence in the Maidan and in Odessa have been sluggish, opaque, and marred by serious errors – suggesting not only a lack of competence, but also a lack of will to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
Yet, even there, Power failed to note the growing evidence that the neo-Nazis were likely behind the crucial sniper attacks on Feb. 20, 2014, that killed both police and protesters and touched off the chaos that led to the coup two days later. [A worthwhile documentary on this mystery is “Maidan Massacre.”]
Nor, did Power spell out that neo-Nazis from the Maidan set fire to the Trade Union Building in Odessa on May 2, 2014, burning alive scores of ethnic Russians while spray-painting the building with pro-Nazi graffiti, including hailing the “Galician SS,” the Ukrainian auxiliary that helped Adolf Hitler’s SS carry out the Holocaust in Ukraine.
Listening to Power’s speech you might not even have picked up that she was obliquely criticizing the U.S.-backed regime in Kiev.
Also, by citing a few touching stories of pro-coup Ukrainians who had died in the conflict, Power implicitly dehumanized the far larger number of ethnic Russians who opposed the overthrow of their elected president and have been killed by Kiev’s brutal “anti-terrorism operation.”
Use of Propaganda
In my nearly four decades covering Washington, I have listened to and read many speeches like the one delivered by Samantha Power. In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan would give similar propaganda speeches justifying the slaughter of peasants and workers in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, where the massacres of Mayan Indians were later deemed a “genocide.” [See Consortiumnews.com’s “How Reagan Promoted Genocide.”]
Regardless of the reality on the ground, the speeches always made the U.S.-backed side the “good guys” and the other side the “bad guys” – even when “our side” included CIA-affiliated “death squads” and U.S.-equipped military forces slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians.
During the 1990s, more propaganda speeches were delivered by President George H.W. Bush regarding Panama and Iraq and by President Bill Clinton regarding Kosovo and Yugoslavia. Then, last decade, the American people were inundated with more propaganda rhetoric from President George W. Bush justifying the invasion of Iraq and the expansion of the endless “war on terror.”
Generally speaking, during much of his first term, Obama was more circumspect in his rhetoric, but he, too, has slid into propaganda-speak in the latter half of his presidency as he shed his “realist” foreign policy tendencies in favor of “tough-guy/gal” rhetoric favored by “liberal interventionists,” such as Power, and neoconservatives, such as Nuland and her husband Robert Kagan (whom a chastened Obama invited to a White House lunch last year).
But the difference between the propaganda of Reagan, Bush-41, Clinton and Bush-43 was that it focused on conflicts in which the Soviet Union or Russia might object but would likely not be pushed to the edge of nuclear war, nothing as provocative as what the Obama administration has done in Ukraine, now including dispatching U.S. military advisers.
The likes of Power, Nuland and Obama are not just justifying wars that leave devastation, death and disorder in their wake in disparate countries around the world, but they are fueling a war on Russia’s border.
That was made clear by the end of Power’s speech in which she declared: “Ukraine, you may still be bleeding from pain. An aggressive neighbor may be trying to tear your nation to pieces. Yet you … are strong and defiant. You, Ukraine, are standing tall for your freedom. And if you stand tall together – no kleptocrat, no oligarch, and no foreign power can stop you.”
There is possibly nothing more reckless than what has emerged as Obama’s late-presidential foreign policy, what amounts to a plan to destabilize Russia and seek “regime change” in the overthrow of Russian President Putin.
Rather than take Putin up on his readiness to cooperate with Obama in trouble spots, such as the Syrian civil war and Iran’s nuclear program, “liberal interventionist” hawks like Power and neocons like Nuland – with Obama in tow – have chosen confrontation and have used extreme propaganda to effectively shut the door on negotiation and compromise.
Yet, as with previous neocon/liberal-interventionist schemes, this one lacks on-the-ground realism. Even if it were possible to so severely damage the Russian economy and to activate U.S.-controlled “non-governmental organizations” to help drive Putin from office, that doesn’t mean a Washington-friendly puppet would be installed in the Kremlin.
Another possible outcome would be the emergence of an extreme Russian nationalist suddenly controlling the nuclear codes and willing to use them. So, when ambitious ideologues like Power and Nuland get control of U.S. foreign policy in such a sensitive area, what they’re playing with is the very survival of life on planet Earth – the ultimate genocide.
~ Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazonand barnesandnoble.com). You also can order Robert Parry’s trilogy on the Bush Family and its connections to various right-wing operatives for only $34. The trilogy includes America’s Stolen Narrative. For details on this offer, click here.
By Robert Parry
Propaganda and genocide almost always go hand in hand, with the would-be aggressor stirring up resentment often by assuming the pose of a victim simply acting in self-defense and then righteously inflicting violence on the targeted group.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power understands this dynamic having written about the 1994 genocide in Rwanda where talk radio played a key role in getting Hutus to kill Tutsis. Yet, Power is now leading propaganda campaigns laying the groundwork for two potential ethnic slaughters: against the Alawites, Shiites, Christians and other minorities in Syria and against the ethnic Russians of eastern Ukraine.
Though Power is a big promoter of the “responsibility to protect” – or “R2P” – she operates with glaring selectivity in deciding who deserves protection as she advances a neocon/liberal interventionist agenda. She is turning “human rights” into an excuse not to resolve conflicts but rather to make them bloodier.
Thus, in Power’s view, the overthrow and punishment of Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad takes precedence over shielding Alawites and other minorities from the likely consequence of Sunni-extremist vengeance. And she has sided with the ethnic Ukrainians in their slaughter of ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine.
In both cases, Power spurns pragmatic negotiations that could avert worsening violence as she asserts a black-and-white depiction of these crises. More significantly, her strident positions appear to have won the day with President Barack Obama, who has relied on Power as a foreign policy adviser since his 2008 campaign.
Power’s self-righteous approach to human rights – deciding that her side wears white hats and the other side wears black hats – is a bracing example of how “human rights activists” have become purveyors of death and destruction or what some critics have deemed “the weaponization of human rights.”
We saw this pattern in Iraq in 2002-03 when many “liberal humanitarians” jumped on the pro-war bandwagon in favoring an invasion to overthrow dictator Saddam Hussein. Power herself didn’t support the invasion although she was rather mealy-mouthed in her skepticism and sought to hedge her career bets amid the rush to war.
For instance, in a March 10, 2003 debate on MSNBC’s “Hardball” show — just nine days before the invasion — Power said, “An American intervention likely will improve the lives of the Iraqis. Their lives could not get worse, I think it’s quite safe to say.”
However, the lives of Iraqis actually did get worse. Indeed, hundreds of thousands stopped living altogether and a sectarian war continues to tear the country apart to this day.
Power in Power
Similarly, regarding Libya, Power was one of the instigators of the U.S.-supported military intervention in 2011 which was disguised as an “R2P” mission to protect civilians in eastern Libya where dictator Muammar Gaddafi had identified the infiltration of terrorist groups.
Urged on by then-National Security Council aide Power and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Obama agreed to support a military mission that quickly morphed into a “regime change” operation. Gaddafi’s troops were bombed from the air and Gaddafi was eventually hunted down, tortured and murdered.
The result, however, was not a bright new day of peace and freedom for Libyans but the disintegration of Libya into a failed state with violent extremists, including elements of the Islamic State, seizing control of swaths of territory and murdering civilians. It turns out that Gaddafi was not wrong about some of his enemies.
Today, Power is a leading force opposing meaningful negotiations over Syria and Ukraine, again staking out “moralistic” positions – rejecting possible power-sharing with Assad in Syria and blaming the Ukraine crisis entirely on the Russians. She doesn’t seem all that concerned about impending genocides against Assad’s supporters in Syria or ethnic Russians in eastern Ukraine.
In 2012, at a meeting hosted by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, former U.S. Ambassador Peter W. Galbraith predicted “the next genocide in the world … will likely be against the Alawites in Syria” — a key constituency behind Assad’s secular regime. But Power has continued to insist that the top priority is Assad’s removal.
Similarly, Power has shown little sympathy for members of Ukraine’s ethnic Russian minority who saw their elected President Viktor Yanukovych overthrown in a Feb. 22, 2014 coup spearheaded by neo-Nazis and other right-wing nationalists who had gained effective control of the Maidan protests. Many of these extremists want an ethnically pure Ukrainian state.
Since then, neo-Nazi units, such as the Azov battalion, have been Kiev’s tip of the spear in slaughtering thousands of ethnic Russians in the east and driving millions from their homes, essentially an ethnic-cleansing campaign in eastern Ukraine.
A Propaganda Speech
Yet, Power traveled to Kiev to deliver a one-sided propaganda speech on June 11, portraying the post-coup Ukrainian regime simply as a victim of “Russian aggression.”
Despite the key role of neo-Nazis – acknowledged even by the U.S. House of Representatives – Power uttered not one word about Ukrainian military abuses which have included reports of death squad operations targeting ethnic Russians and other Yanukovych supporters.
Skipping over the details of the U.S.-backed and Nazi-driven coup of Feb. 22, 2014, Power traced the conflict instead to “February 2014, when Russia’s little green men first started appearing in Crimea.” She added that the United Nations’ “focus on Ukraine in the Security Council is important, because it gives me the chance – on behalf of the United States – to lay out the mounting evidence of Russia’s aggression, its obfuscation, and its outright lies. … America is clear-eyed when it comes to seeing the truth about Russia’s destabilizing actions in your country.”
Power continued: “The message of the United States throughout this Moscow-manufactured conflict – and the message you heard from President Obama and other world leaders at last week’s meeting of the G7 – has never wavered: if Russia continues to disregard the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine; and if Russia continues to violate the rules upon which international peace and security rest – then the United States will continue to raise the costs on Russia.
“And we will continue to rally other countries to do the same, reminding them that their silence or inaction in the face of Russian aggression will not placate Moscow, it will only embolden it.
“But there is something more important that is often lost in the international discussion about Russia’s efforts to impose its will on Ukraine. And that is you – the people of Ukraine – and your right to determine the course of your own country’s future. … Or, as one of the great rallying cries of the Maidan put it:Ukraina po-nad u-se! Ukraine above all else!” [Applause.]
Power went on: “Let me begin with what we know brought people out to the Maidan in the first place. We’ve all heard a good number of myths about this. One told by the Yanukovych government and its Russian backers at the time was that the Maidan protesters were pawns of the West, and did not speak for the ‘real’ Ukraine.
“A more nefarious myth peddled by Moscow after Yanukovych’s fall was that Euromaidan had been engineered by Western capitals in order to topple a democratically-elected government.”
Of course, neither of Power’s points was actually a “myth.” For instance, the U.S.-funded National Endowment for Democracy was sponsoring scores of anti-government activists and media operations — and NED President Carl Gershman had deemed Ukraine “the biggest prize,” albeit a stepping stone toward ousting Russian President Vladimir Putin. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “A Shadow US Foreign Policy.”]
Assistant Secretary of State for European Affairs Victoria Nuland was collaborating with U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt how to “midwife” the change in government with Nuland picking the future leaders of Ukraine – “Yats is the guy” referring to Arseniy Yatsenyuk who was installed as prime minister after the coup. [See Consortiumnews.com’s “The Neocons: Masters of Chaos.”]
The coup itself occurred after Yanukovych pulled back the police to prevent worsening violence. Armed neo-Nazi and right-wing militias, organized as “sotins” or 100-man units, then took the offensive and overran government buildings. Yanukovych and other officials fled for their lives, with Yanukovych narrowly avoiding assassination. In the days following the coup, armed thugs essentially controlled the government and brutally intimidated any political resistance.
Inventing ‘Facts’
But that reality had no place in Power’s propaganda speech. Instead, she said:
“The facts tell a different story. As you remember well, then-President Yanukovych abandoned Kyiv of his own accord, only hours after signing an agreement with opposition leaders that would have led to early elections and democratic reforms.
“And it was only after Yanukovych fled the capital that 328 of the 447 members of the democratically-elected Rada voted to strip him of his powers – including 36 of the 38 members of his own party in parliament at the time. Yanukovych then vanished for several days, only to eventually reappear – little surprise – in Russia.
“As is often the case, these myths reveal more about the myth makers than they do about the truth. Moscow’s fable was designed to airbrush the Ukrainian people – and their genuine aspirations and demands – out of the Maidan, by claiming the movement was fueled by outsiders.
“Yet, as you all know by living through it – and as was clear even to those of us watching your courageous stand from afar – the Maidan was made in Ukraine. A Ukraine of university students and veterans of the Afghan war. Of Ukrainian, Russian, and Tatar speakers. Of Christians, Muslims, and Jews. …”
Power went on with her rhapsodic version of events: “Given the powerful interests that benefited from the corrupt system, achieving a full transformation was always going to be an uphill battle. And that was before Russian troops occupied Crimea, something the Kremlin denied at the time, but has since admitted; and it was before Russia began training, arming, bankrolling, and fighting alongside its separatist proxies in eastern Ukraine, something the Kremlin continues to deny.
“Suddenly, the Ukrainian people faced a battle on two fronts: combating corruption and overhauling broken institutions on the inside; while simultaneously defending against aggression and destabilization from the outside.
“I don’t have to tell you the immense strain that these battles have placed upon you. You feel it in the young men and women, including some of your family members and friends, who have volunteered or been drafted into the military – people who could be helping build up their nation, but instead are risking their lives to defend it against Russian aggression. …
“You feel it in the conflict’s impact on your country’s economy – as instability makes it harder for Ukrainian businesses to attract foreign investment, deepens inflation, and depresses families’ wages. … It is felt in the undercurrent of fear in cities like Kharkiv – where citizens have been the victims of multiple bomb attacks, the most lethal of which killed four people, including two teenage boys, at a rally celebrating the first anniversary of Euromaidan.
“And the impact is felt most directly by the people living in the conflict zone. According to the UN, at least 6,350 people have been killed in the violence driven by Russia and the separatists – including 625 women and children – and an additional 1,460 people are missing; 15,775 people have been wounded. And an estimated 2 million people have been displaced by this conflict. And the real numbers of killed, missing, wounded, and displaced are likely higher, according to the UN, due to its limited access to areas controlled by the separatists.”
One-Sided Account
Pretty much everything in Power’s propaganda speech was blamed on the Russians – along with the ethnic Russians and other Ukrainians resisting the imposition of the new U.S.-backed order. She also ignored the will of the people of Crimea who voted overwhelmingly in a referendum to secede from Ukraine and rejoin Russia.
The closest she came to criticizing the current regime in Kiev was to note that “investigations into serious crimes such as the violence in the Maidan and in Odessa have been sluggish, opaque, and marred by serious errors – suggesting not only a lack of competence, but also a lack of will to hold the perpetrators accountable.”
Yet, even there, Power failed to note the growing evidence that the neo-Nazis were likely behind the crucial sniper attacks on Feb. 20, 2014, that killed both police and protesters and touched off the chaos that led to the coup two days later. [A worthwhile documentary on this mystery is “Maidan Massacre.”]
Nor, did Power spell out that neo-Nazis from the Maidan set fire to the Trade Union Building in Odessa on May 2, 2014, burning alive scores of ethnic Russians while spray-painting the building with pro-Nazi graffiti, including hailing the “Galician SS,” the Ukrainian auxiliary that helped Adolf Hitler’s SS carry out the Holocaust in Ukraine.
Listening to Power’s speech you might not even have picked up that she was obliquely criticizing the U.S.-backed regime in Kiev.
Also, by citing a few touching stories of pro-coup Ukrainians who had died in the conflict, Power implicitly dehumanized the far larger number of ethnic Russians who opposed the overthrow of their elected president and have been killed by Kiev’s brutal “anti-terrorism operation.”
Use of Propaganda
In my nearly four decades covering Washington, I have listened to and read many speeches like the one delivered by Samantha Power. In the 1980s, President Ronald Reagan would give similar propaganda speeches justifying the slaughter of peasants and workers in Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala, where the massacres of Mayan Indians were later deemed a “genocide.” [See Consortiumnews.com’s “How Reagan Promoted Genocide.”]
Regardless of the reality on the ground, the speeches always made the U.S.-backed side the “good guys” and the other side the “bad guys” – even when “our side” included CIA-affiliated “death squads” and U.S.-equipped military forces slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians.
During the 1990s, more propaganda speeches were delivered by President George H.W. Bush regarding Panama and Iraq and by President Bill Clinton regarding Kosovo and Yugoslavia. Then, last decade, the American people were inundated with more propaganda rhetoric from President George W. Bush justifying the invasion of Iraq and the expansion of the endless “war on terror.”
Generally speaking, during much of his first term, Obama was more circumspect in his rhetoric, but he, too, has slid into propaganda-speak in the latter half of his presidency as he shed his “realist” foreign policy tendencies in favor of “tough-guy/gal” rhetoric favored by “liberal interventionists,” such as Power, and neoconservatives, such as Nuland and her husband Robert Kagan (whom a chastened Obama invited to a White House lunch last year).
But the difference between the propaganda of Reagan, Bush-41, Clinton and Bush-43 was that it focused on conflicts in which the Soviet Union or Russia might object but would likely not be pushed to the edge of nuclear war, nothing as provocative as what the Obama administration has done in Ukraine, now including dispatching U.S. military advisers.
The likes of Power, Nuland and Obama are not just justifying wars that leave devastation, death and disorder in their wake in disparate countries around the world, but they are fueling a war on Russia’s border.
That was made clear by the end of Power’s speech in which she declared: “Ukraine, you may still be bleeding from pain. An aggressive neighbor may be trying to tear your nation to pieces. Yet you … are strong and defiant. You, Ukraine, are standing tall for your freedom. And if you stand tall together – no kleptocrat, no oligarch, and no foreign power can stop you.”
There is possibly nothing more reckless than what has emerged as Obama’s late-presidential foreign policy, what amounts to a plan to destabilize Russia and seek “regime change” in the overthrow of Russian President Putin.
Rather than take Putin up on his readiness to cooperate with Obama in trouble spots, such as the Syrian civil war and Iran’s nuclear program, “liberal interventionist” hawks like Power and neocons like Nuland – with Obama in tow – have chosen confrontation and have used extreme propaganda to effectively shut the door on negotiation and compromise.
Yet, as with previous neocon/liberal-interventionist schemes, this one lacks on-the-ground realism. Even if it were possible to so severely damage the Russian economy and to activate U.S.-controlled “non-governmental organizations” to help drive Putin from office, that doesn’t mean a Washington-friendly puppet would be installed in the Kremlin.
Another possible outcome would be the emergence of an extreme Russian nationalist suddenly controlling the nuclear codes and willing to use them. So, when ambitious ideologues like Power and Nuland get control of U.S. foreign policy in such a sensitive area, what they’re playing with is the very survival of life on planet Earth – the ultimate genocide.
~ Investigative reporter Robert Parry broke many of the Iran-Contra stories for The Associated Press and Newsweek in the 1980s. You can buy his latest book, America’s Stolen Narrative, either in print here or as an e-book (from Amazonand barnesandnoble.com). You also can order Robert Parry’s trilogy on the Bush Family and its connections to various right-wing operatives for only $34. The trilogy includes America’s Stolen Narrative. For details on this offer, click here.
Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
http://www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.
Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. - Henry David Thoreau
PO Box 652
Brunswick, ME 04011
(207) 443-9502
http://www.space4peace.org
http://space4peace.blogspot.
Thank God men cannot fly, and lay waste the sky as well as the earth. - Henry David Thoreau
Monday, June 15, 2015
Erster Erfolg: Abstimmung über eine Pro-TTIP Resolution wurde gestrichen!
Überraschung im EU-Parlament: Die für diesen Mittwoch geplante Abstimmung über eine Pro-TTIP Resolution wurde gestrichen!
Das Handelsabkommen zwischen Europa und den USA würde Großkonzernen enorme Macht einräumen und die Demokratie in Europa untergraben. Die TTIP-Verfechter im EU-Parlament mussten fürchten, nicht genug Stimmen für eine Pro-TTIP Resolution zusammenzubekommen -- und sagten die Abstimmung in letzter Minute ab.
Für die wachsende Opposition im EU-Parlament hat der Widerstand der Zivilgesellschaft eine entscheidende Rolle gespielt. Mit unserer europaweiten Kampagne gegen TTIP haben wir zu diesem enormen öffentlichen Druck beigetragen: Die selbstorganisierte Europäische Bürgerinitiative, an der wir uns beteiligen, hat mehr als 2 Millionen Unterschriften gegen das Abkommen gesammelt. Vielen Dank, dass auch Sie Ihre Stimme erhoben haben!
Aufgeschoben ist aber nicht aufgehoben. Wir müssen den Druck verstärken, damit es auch in Zukunft zu keiner Pro-TTIP Resolution im EU-Parlament kommt.
Um den Druck weiter zu erhöhen, können Sie jetzt Folgendes tun:
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Wiebke und das Team von SumOfUs
Wiebke und das Team von SumOfUs
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