Ukraine: Another US mission gone wrong

By Ali Ashraf Khan

Photo: AP photo

Ukraine: Another US mission gone wrong. 52710.jpeg

The hawks in the US government this time led by Victoria Nuland decided that the former arch enemy has to be put into place and all efforts to re-establish the Soviet Union in another form have to be prevented. For that much money was invested to support and push anti-Russian forces in Georgia and Ukraine and to bring them into power giving them the impression that the West would support them and their inclusion into NATO was possible and even wanted. As in Georgia previously this mission went totally wrong as well. After the rebels dislodged the elected government and installed a right-wing nationalist one in Kiev that was immediately recognized by the US and European Union it turned out that the people in Ukraine themselves refused to follow suit. While they might not have been too happy with the previous elected government the history of their struggle against German fascism during the Second World War that was fought against Ukrainian fascists as well is still quite vivid in their collective memory and prevents them now from being lenient towards right nationalist Ukrainian forces.

First consequences from ultra-nationalists in power have been that the use of Russian language has been discouraged which has enraged the Russian speaking local population in East Ukraine. For the last couple of weeks they have staged a civil disobedience movement in the Eastern regions by storming the local government buildings and bringing the Ukrainian state to a virtual collapse. Armed with weapons the origin of which may also be the money sent by Miss Victoria they have started a civil war demanding a referendum on Eastern Ukraine about the status of the region: should it secede and become part of Russia or should it be given the status of an autonomous region within Ukraine.

As the puppet regime in Ukraine tries to contain this pro-Russian insurgency convulsing its eastern region, a perhaps more significant struggle for the country hinges on what happens beneath the ground here in a placid woodland in the far west, on the border with Slovakia from where the Russian gas pipeline supplies at least one third of European Union's requirement worth $20 billion dollars every year after a 4400 km long route from Siberia, frustrated Western adventurers are trying to make a misadventure as they believe, Ukraine has a chance to stabilize its unity by breaking its dependence on Gazprom, a Russian state-controlled gas company. In a bid to achieve this objective Ukraine has for many months been trying hard to push a plan for reverse-flow provisioning of gas from Europe via Slovakia to Ukraine, which naturally Russia will certainly not allow the US and EU-backed financial exploiters. An agreement has been inked last week between Slovak and Ukrainian pipeline operators for temporary reverse-flow deliveries of gas from Europe at a lesser price than Russian gas, while the fact remains that EU themselves are importing worth $20 billion gas from Russia every year. So once the IMF manipulators get their Octopus jaw set on Ukraine then the cost of living in Ukraine will push them into a Greece- or Spain- like situation looking towards an already collapsing European Union's financial system.

The new government in Kiev has trouble to deal with the situation and is going berserk. In several towns and cities including latest in Odessa massacres have been committed against the local population by Kiev-related troops. Speaking at a news conference, Mr. Yatsenyuk cast aspersion on the police, suggesting that if they had done their jobs instead of concentrating on soliciting bribes at an outdoor market, influence of "these terrorist organizations would have been failed." There were dozens of casualties resulting from a well-prepared and organized action against people, against Ukraine and against Odessa, Mr. Yatsenyuk said, speaking at the news conference on Sunday morning, western and Ukrainian news media reported. He continued to denounce Russia's claim that Ukraine was not seeking a compromise with its Russian-speakers. "The process of dialogue had begun, only it was derailed by the sound of shooting from automatic rifles of Russian production," he alleged. Mr. Yatsenyuk said the violence showed that Russia wanted to kindle unrest in Odessa, as it had in eastern Ukrainian cities. Odessa is a major port at the black sea coast between the Crimean Peninsula that acceded to Russia in March and the separatist enclave of Transnistria - Another break-away region that wants to join Russia-and Moldova on Ukraine's western border. President Vladimir V. Putin, in a speech last month, hinted at a claim to an entire arc of Russian-speaking regions in the east and the south of Ukraine by calling these provinces of steppe and Black Sea coastline Novorossiya, or New Russia, as they were known after Catherine the Great's conquest of the region in the 18th century. Russia has said it does not intend to invade Ukraine and has withdrawn its troops from the border region after the end of military exercise.

The new government in Kiev has trouble to deal with the situation and is going berserk. In several towns and cities including latest in Odessa attacks have been committed against the local population by Kiev-related troops. Instead of pressurizing Kiev to stop violence the US dominated IMF has announced 17billion dollar aid to Ukraine during the next two years thus trying to bolster the anti-Russian coup government. Again the IMF is true to its image of being an instrument of the US and the West in extending their influence in regions far from home.

Pakistan has had the same experience and we are on our way into direct ownership of our facilities of World Bank, another financial instrument of the West for their influence and interference. In Ukraine the need of the hour is talks between Kiev and the Eastern regions of the country. In Pakistan it is to rethink our alignment with the West that has been harming our economy, our political system and our national fabric. The world is changing and it is changing fast. After only thirty five years the position of the US as the sole world power is coming to an end; already China is said to have overtaken the US as the largest economy. A more diversified power structure is in the making and Russia and China are surly decisive players in this regard. New alliances are coming into existence; one of the most powerful seems to be the Shanghai Cooperation Organization. Pakistan should understand the writing on the wall: the future in our region belongs to regional powers. Let's not miss the train. God bless Pakistan.

Ali Ashraf Khan

Karachi. May 5, 2014