Been hearing and reading very brief dispatches about this all day, but only now have I been able to see the RT report that started it off:
There is no reason to assume anything about the report is inauthentic.
There is no reason to believe the snipers firing on the crowd and police in the Maidan in Kiev weren't what the speculation now suggest they were: snipers (mercs?) hired by the opposition as murderous provocateurs.
There is at this point no proof, however.
As far as I can recall the events of the day -- and they are a bit hazy as I only came upon reports after the fact -- the Yanukovych government's interior minister deployed armed internal security personnel for the first time on the date in question (February 19?) and authorized them to use deadly force. There were reports of dozens killed, upwards of 80 or 90, mostly demonstrators but some police as well. Many hundreds wounded. But something was odd about these reports. Something that reminded me...
Cairo, last year. When Muslim Brotherhood supporters rallied and protested against the coup which overthrew the Morsi government, snipers were deployed -- presumably by the government -- to dispatch the protesters by picking off individuals in the crowd one by one, shooting them in the head or heart, and terrifying the rest of the crowd. This happened day after day, and on some occasions, it seems that hundreds were killed.
The sniping in Kiev that day seemed an awful lot like what had happened in Cairo, and so it was natural to assume the Yanukovych government was behind it, but Yanukovych said no, he had never ordered any such thing. There were hints and suggestions that the snipers were not "government" snipers, but who they were, nobody could say. This leaked phone call turned up on Russia Today -- more than likely leaked by the Kremlin itself, though the story claims it came from Ukrainians loyal to Yanukovych -- and indications are that those European representatives who went to Kiev (for example, the Estonian foreign minister heard in this call) were made aware that something was not right about the news reports of government security personnel firing on the crowds, and they were told the snipers appeared to have been hired by "the coalition" -- ie: the anti-Yanukovych opposition.
It's pretty clear from the evidence -- as opposed to the propaganda -- that Ukrainian "ultra - nationalists," fascists and neo-Nazis were utilized as shock troops of a sort during the demonstrations in Kiev, committing acts of violence and sabotage on an ever growing scale, including firebombing police, destroying government buildings, and other acts that appeared to be intentional provocations. These acts were almost always blamed on the police in western media, and claims that the police were killing demonstrators were regularly made, but the police in Kiev were unarmed, at least officially, and how they were able to kill demonstrators was never entirely clear. It was simply asserted as fact in western media.
There was rarely any mention in the mainstream media of the violence committed by demonstrators in Kiev; but many alternative media carried shocking videos of mayhem against police and government buildings.
As the demonstrations became more intense, so did the violence until finally there was a kind of Day of Rage outburst which was met by sniper fire.
Come to find out now that the snipers may not have been government deployed forces at all.
I've been poring through the list of agencies and organizations that were under the umbrella of "New Citizen" -- a project of Center UA -- both funded by the Omidyar Network to the tune of over a million dollars (they got much more from USAID). It is a varied collection of opposition groups, but among them are some not nice people whose interests do not lie with the Ukrainian people. They represent, instead, an oligarchic dismantlement of Ukrainian society.
Would they, could they have made such a murderous and bloodthirsty move to overthrow the Yanukovych government?
Well, the golpistas had no trouble doing it in Cairo to secure the success of their coup.
None whatsoever.
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The leaked call:
Che,
ReplyDeleteThis fellow suggests the snipers were a "gladio" (i.e., false flag) style set-up done by NATO forces. Note the references to our own Nuland in this article:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/ukraine-secretive-neo-nazi-military-organization-involved-in-euromaidan-snyper-shootings/5371611?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=ukraine-secretive-neo-nazi-military-organization-involved-in-euromaidan-snyper-shootings
And one must note that all this awful mess in Ukraine is part and parcel of neoliberal privatization and IMF rule, as well as the obvious raison d'etre of getting Ukraine included in the NATO territories.
New guy in Ukraine:
"He told reporters at a news conference at the central bank that the interim government is determined to make the reforms called for by the International Monetary Fund in return for loans: 'A key priority is resuming the programme of collaboration with the International Monetary Fund. And we will fulfill all the conditions, I repeat, all the conditions, that are necessary for this loan, and Ukraine’s parliament and the coalition will vote for the laws that are necessary for receiving this money.' ”
http://www.euronews.com/2014/02/28/ukraine-hopes-for-aid-soon-pm-says-will-fulfill-imf-conditions/
And:
"The government of Ukraine has the idea of privatization of the energy sector in the country, Ukrainian Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk has said.
'I'll tell you about the idea of privatization of the energy sector at transparent auctions: Chornomornaftogaz and other companies, which are part of Naftogaz Ukrainy,' he said at a meeting with the business community in Kyiv on Monday.
The premier stressed that Naftogaz Ukrainy is 'a burden for the budget and a non-transparent monster.' According to him, privatization will help stop corruption in the energy sector."
http://en.interfax.com.ua/news/economic/194102.html
The old guy,Yanukovych, famously did NOT want the austerity measures and privatization reforms insisted on by the IMF for his country. And we see where it got him.
-Teri
teri,
DeleteYup. I'm going through the same story that was posted at Information Clearinghouse right now; it was posted on the 28th of Feb, less than a week after the incident. (Dates are still confused. Engdahl says the snipers were shooting into the crowd on the 22nd, other reports say Feb 19, and I've seen other dates mentioned as well. Often, though, when shooting is reported, the shooters are "unknown.")
At any rate, there were reports that the snipers were members of the opposition, not police, well before RT came up with its phone recording that indicates the Estonian FM was hearing the same thing from people on the square shortly after it happened. The Olga he refers to has apparently since been interviewed (don't know where the link is right now) and she said she never saw police casualties as she was working at the Maidan med tent, and they wouldn't have brought police casualties to her. But she said she wants a thorough public investigation of what happened and seems to be saying she has reasonable doubts about the Official Story. Well, good for her. Now, apparently, some of the opposition factions are smearing her...
What a mess indeed.
I'm still deep in the weeds going through the list of the opposition groups under the umbrella of "New Citizen" and "Center UA" -- funded in part by Pierre, the rest by USAID and NED -- and apart from the Media and Public Relations outfits (read: propaganda) it seems to be mostly a collection of IMF/EU proponents, but there are so many masks... I check out an organization and it's one that advocates "democracy" or "transparency" say, and then I look at the names of some of those involved, and they are notorious neo/nationalists/neo-Fascists/neo-Nazis or what have you, and on and on like that.
Yanukovych was inept and a corrupt and a bastard, etc, but he did try to prevent the rape of Ukraine by the EuroBanks and anyone else who wanted a piece. Russia was allied in trying to prevent it. That was his crime and why he was ousted. Seems to me that in a somewhat less dramatic fashion, the same thing happened to any of the Peripheral Players who resisted the diktats of Berlin and Brussels. Viz: Greece, Italy, Portugal, etc... They would discover that their "democracies" were non-functional and their government would be replaced with compliant ones. And there would be nothing the People could do about it.
Sounds like some of the old hands at this sort of thing are urging caution, though. The Russian Bear is not to be trifled with...
Gah...