Friday, February 28, 2014

Stalemate in Ukraine, As Everyone Stands Around Blinking; "Pierre" Helped Fund Coup

"They say" Russian troops are "occupying" key facilities in the Crimea, but there is no confirmation, as the troops on view have no identifying markings and they're not saying anything. I follow updates on the Beeb, not because they're even remotely "evenhanded," but because they are extensive.

Here's a portion of today's live updates:

  1. Welcome to our live page on the developing crisis in Crimea - Ukraine's only Russian-majority region and the home of Russia's Black Sea fleet.
    Men in Russian military uniforms are blockading a military airport in the Black Sea port of Sevastopol. Meanwhile, men in military uniform without national insignia are patrolling an airport in the Crimean capital Simferopol.
  2. Ukraine's newly appointed Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said in a Facebook post that the Belbek international airport in Sevastopol is blocked by military units of the Russian navy, calling it a "military invasion and occupation.''
  3. The Interfax news agency reports that Russian servicemen wearing helmets and armoured body protection and backed by armoured personnel carriers, have taken up position on the perimeter of a military airport at Sevastopol. The agency quoted military sources in the region as saying that they had gone to Belbek military airport to stop "fighters" flying in.
  4. A spokesman for the airport in Simferopol has told the Interfax Ukraine news agency that it is operating normally despite the presence of the armed men filmed patrolling it.
  5. 07:53:
    Russian President Vladimir Putin has also ordered his government to continue talks with Ukraine on economic and trade relations and to consult foreign partners including the IMF and the G8 on financial aid, a statement on the Kremlin's website said. It also said Putin has ordered the government to consider a request from Crimea for humanitarian aid.
  6. 07:58:
    It is not the only crisis facing the new Ukranian government: its currency, the hryvnia, has slumped to an all-time low. The IMF has said it is ready to step in and will send a team in the coming days to assess the economic situation, but Ukraine's finance ministry has warned it needs help urgently - and 35 billion dollars over the next two years to avoid defaulting on its debt.

Seems everyone is standing around blinking and drinking tea and waiting for someone else to do something. Frau Merkel is strangely absent.

Meanwhile, Mark Ames over at Pando has uncovered the rather handsome funding the Omidyar Network has been providing the rebels in Kiev, hardly surprising when you think about it. Billionaires and oligarchs and plutocrats are gonna do what they do, and one of the things they do is synchronize governments all over the world to their bidding. As Ames notes, this is not a new phenomenon, as George Soros was deeply involved in the Color Revolutions of Eastern Europe.

Nevertheless, knowing this man is partially funding the Kiev uprising is kind of icky. Since, so far, the rebels have gotten away with it, and their sponsors are pumping their fists and issuing threats all over the place, one can only wonder which plutocrat - desired and funded rebellion/coup will be next. Venezuela is already in the crosshairs, but many others are in process.

The other thing is that Pierre's funding is combined with that of USAID (also very active in Venezuela) and so serves the combined interests of the US Government and the Billionaire's Boy's Club, and Pierre is also funding all sorts of NGOs active in the rebellion.

There will be blowback, but this is a new chapter in the overthrow of recalcitrant governments and the installation of more compliant ones.

But they still call it "democracy" so it's all good.



2 comments:

  1. Che,

    I was just going to give you a link to this story. You might want to check out the comments at the rawstory coverage of this to see what people are saying about GG and Omidyar. This is not going over well with the peeps.

    http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/02/28/report-glenn-greenwalds-boss-helped-u-s-fund-ukrainian-opposition-groups/

    (Warning: explicit language ahead) I am so sick of these fucking rich assholes, who are apparently not satisfied enough with their accumulation of wealth to go retire quietly with some dignity and the hope that the common men never find out how badly they were ripped off in order for them to grab said wealth. They have to go around the globe interfering and meddling in everyone else's lives until they finally die; which still brings no relief to the proles, since they leave their money to heirs and "interest groups" to continue their "work" after they shuffle off the mortal coil. I hope there is a hell for these muthas.

    I hope there is a global uprising against these grey men of death. Fuck them. Fuckers.

    -Teri

    Yes, I feel better now. Nothing like a childish rant to clean the pipes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Teri,

      Thanks for the link. Nice rant, too!

      I think it is interesting that people in that comment section are so confused about what is really going on. A lot of them know somethin' ain't right about the Ukrainian Thing, for example the use of Nazis as shock troops. Ukraine has been through this before, and anyone with a brain is going to see what was happening in the streets (I linked to some videos in a previous post) and say, "Wait, this isn't right, and it's not going to end well." Even without knowing of Pierre's involvement, it was ugly. Knowledge of his financial support for the rebels is sickening but not surprising.

      I've seen some indications that Ukrainians are coming to realize they've been had, bad, by truly evil forces. They are facing an appalling future, and some of them seem to know it, even among some of the higher profile rebels. Being looted and robbed and starved like Greece is not what they had in mind.

      But that's what's gonna happen if they can't find a way out. Putin is playing it very cool. He knows what's going on. If Ames could find the documents detailing Omidyar's funding of the Ukrainian uprising, so could Putin's security services. He knows about that and a whole lot more. He's playing his cards very close to his chest, and in the end, he's liable to come out on top.

      As many observers are recognizing, this Great Gamesmanship is insane.

      And it is past time for the tumbrils to roll...

      Delete