New Ukrainian Official Urges Chechen Terrorist To Act Against Russia

The Ukraine's new deputy national security director has urged that Russia's most feared terrorist take action against Russia.

In a shocking statement largely ignored by the Western media, Dmitry Yarosh asked the fugitive Doku Umarov March 1 to take advantage of the "unique chance to win" arising from disturbances in the Ukraine.

Yarosh was appointed to the Ukraine's new government after leading the Right Sector group of ultra-rightists. The Right Sector was the best organized and otherwise most effective of the Western-backed street fighters who toppled the Ukraine's government last week.

Umarow, a native of Chechnia described as Russia's equivalent to Osama bin Laden, has not been reported seen since last summer, when he urged terror attacks to prevent the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. He is shown in a file photo courtesy of Creative Commons and Wikipedia.

In an interview on RT March 1, I described Yarosh's request to the terrorist as dangerous because it is so inflammatory and comes from an official of the new government.

But the Yarosh statement serves also as a valuable illustration to Western audiences of the violent tendencies of the street demonstrators who took power after they were encouraged by the West.

Meanwhile, Russian troops deployed through pro-Russian Crimean Peninsula of the Ukraine, which is the locale for a vital warm-water naval base of the Russians.

Russian troops also massed near the Ukraine border at a reported strength of 150,000. The Crimea is colored tan on the adjoining map, which is courtesy of Wikimedia.

United States and allied Western officials threatened reprisals against Russia but appeared to have few military or other meaningful options without risking world war.

Despite the bluster of U.S. politicians, a war-weary American public is hardly likely to support a new one that could escalate to a tragedy beyond anyone's understanding or control. Also, any action by the United Nations Security council would be subject to a Russian veto, and "a coalition of the willing" is unlikely for similar reasons.

President Obama and allied powers denounced the Russians following a mid-day meeting Saturday at the White House of such top administration officials as Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, CIA Director John Brennan and Director of National Intelligence James Clapper.

However, the actions so far of the Obama team show them as seeming unprepared for what appears to have been the most logical outcome of the West-orchestrated overthrow of the Ukraine's elected government. Republican leaders had little more to add aside from recriminations against Democrats for not acting more aggressively and spending more money on war-preparations and offers of aid.

More generally, the vast suffering created in Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya and Syria all began with optimistic rhetoric from Western leaders about the benefits of collective action to support such attractive-sounding goals as national security, peace, democracy, and human rights.

U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power was among those who followed that pattern March 1 as she warned Russia against interference in the Ukraine.

Curiously lost in most U.S. coverage, however, has been the clear trail of United States and other Western interference in the Ukraine leading to coup last week overthrowing elected President .

U.S. Ambassador to the European Union (E. U.) Victoria Nuland, shown in her official photo, was captured on tape last month advising U.S. Ambassador Geoffrey Pyatt on which Ukrainians the United States wanted installed in a new government if the current one were overthrown. Our news report of the confidential discussion record and released by unknown surveillance personnel was entitled,Top U.S. Diplomat Caught On Tape In Profane Plot.

On the call, Nuland can be heard saying "F__ the E.U." and selecting for Ukraine's leadership "Yats," the current Ukrainian prime minister Arseniy Yatseniuk, who was installed during last week's coup.

Nuland, a career diplomat, is married into the neo-conservative Kagan family instrumental in advocating for war in the Mideast. She proudly gave a speech in December in which she boasted of $5 billion spent by the United States to foster what she called democracy in the Ukraine. She did not define details of the spending, but presumably she meant funds passed on by largely secret means through private sector intermediaries in largely untraceable ways. 

As in Iraq, Afghanistan and more recently Syria, management of the consequences of regime-change seems to exceed the capabilities of U.S. presidents both parties as well as their implementers such as Nuland, her husband Robert Kagan, and other global strategists adept at creating chaos.

Robert Kagan is, among other things, a columnist for the Washington Post, whose new owner Jeffrey Bezos has continued the editorial policies of the past. The source of Bezos's wealth, Amazon.com, has also entered the world of U.S. military/intelligence government contracting in a big way by winning the CIA's contract for $600 million to handle the agency's advanced cloud computing needs.

As indicated in excerpts below, the Washington Post editorial board and guest columnist David Kramer, a former Bush official now heading a so-called democracy building organization active in the Ukraine, each published columns March 1 calling for escalation of threats and other hostilities in the Ukraine. These columns were, respectively, Spell out the consequences for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and U.S. foreign policy comes home to roost with Russia’s action in Ukraine.

These days, many of the activities leading to regime change or afterwards in drone warfare and other military fighting are undertaken by in secret by the CIA. In sum, a web of inter-relationships exists between government, media and the non-profit community, including scholars, that is largely hidden from the American public.

In general, the track record of this bipartisan foreign policy establishment shows tragic and colossal failure covering both the Bush and Obama administrations.

The patterns and most of the United States officials mentioned above are major figures in my new book, Presidential Puppetry: Obama Romney and Their Masters. This is the first book on top officials in the Obama second term and their oft-hidden histories and motives.

In it, I argue that situations such as the threat to world peace posed by recent developments in the Ukraine are understandable only by appreciating the goals of the most powerful players in the West, who are not government officials for the most part. They are instead the private sector enablers, who prefer for the most part to remain out of sight except for business, charitable and other innocuous roles.

More specifically, I categorize as puppets most of the officials featured by the media during this weekend's crisis. In my view, a few such officials -- including Brennan and Nuland -- are best regarded as "puppet strings" because they are well-connected to the off-stage Wall Street, munitions, security and energy titans as well as to government staff, media and contractors.

The pattern is clear once one starts looking for it. But the traditional media seldom even hints at it. Nearly all the media march in tandem on the kinds of issues arising in the Ukraine. Nearly all major experts  -- whether Republican or Democrat or whether from the news industry or government -- spoke of the issues in similar terms March 1 in my informal sample of television appearances. The coverage of U.S. policy for the most part consisted of replaying statements by officials, with largely hawkish analysis by members of the foreign policy establishment.

That is why I appreciate the opportunity to provide a more nuanced interpretation both here and on RT.

Terror Bombings In Moscow?

Doku Umarov, whose first name is sometimes spelled Dokka, is an Islamist militant born in Chechnia in 1964. An engineer by training, he has declared himself to be emir of a wider region encompassing Chechnia. He has claimed responsibility for several terror killings of civilians, making him arguably Russia's most feared and hated criminal. 

That was the context of the recent call to action by Right Sector leader Dmitry Yarosh on a Facebook page. I found no mention of it in the March 2 print copy of the Washington Post. But RT reported the previous day:

During the recent riots in Ukraine, Yarosh rejected any negotiations with the Ukrainian government, calling on his supporters to defy the truces and agreements of the government and the opposition.

Right Sector has been referred to as the most active, the most radical and the best organized group in the Ukrainian unrest. Well-equipped masked rioters from Right Sector often used clubs, petrol bombs and firearms against the Ukrainian police. Some notorious members of the radical movement have continued to use rifles and pistols to intimidate local authorities, which they believe should be “afraid” of the people.

Although the violent acts of the group have been well-documented by media and placed on YouTube, Western powers have largely ignored its actions and persisted with describing the protests in Ukraine as “peaceful.” After meeting with Ukrainian protesters, including Right Sector members, in late January, Western representatives went as far as saying that they were “convinced that these people posed no threat.”

in an address posted on Right Sector’s page in VKontakte [now VK, Europe's second most popular site] social network. The statement points out that “many Ukrainians with arms in the hands” supported Chechen militants in their fight against Russians and “it is time to support Ukraine now.” The message, signed “leader of Right Sector Dmitry Yarosh” then calls on Umarov “to activate his fight” and “take a unique chance to win” over Russia. Yarosh, who is a self-proclaimed deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, leads the far-right militant Right Sector group. He used to be a leader of radical nationalist group Trident, which became the core of Right Sector. The radical leader has been consistently anti-Russian in his statements, calling for the destruction and division of the “Moscow Empire” and openly supporting Chechen militants and Georgian aggression. Yarosh believes Russia is Ukraine’s “eternal foe” and has said that war between the two countries is “inevitable.” At the same time, the Right Sector leader said Ukraine should be “careful” with its future EU membership, as the “bureaucratic monster of Brussels” is “doing everything to bring to naught the national identity” of EU member countries. 

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said any military intervention by Russia would mark the beginning of "war." EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton called the Federation Council vote "an unwarranted escalation of tensions." She called on Russia not to dispatch troops, but to promote its views through "peaceful means."“We strongly support the deployment of Russian troops to resolve the situation in Crimea as well as provide assistance to other Ukrainian regions, where the population rejects nationalism and asks [Russia] for help and protection.”

Related News Coverage

Ultra-Right Calls In Ukraine For Violence

RT, Ukraine nationalist leader calls on 'most wanted' terrorist Umarov 'to act against Russia,'  March 1, 2014. A leader of the Ukrainian radical group Pravy Sektor (Right Sector), Dmitry Yarosh, has called on Russia’s most wanted terrorist Doku Umarov to act against Russia in an address posted on Right Sector’s page in VKontakte [VK, or In Touch] social network. The statement points out that “many Ukrainians with arms in the hands” supported Chechen militants in their fight against Russians and “it is time to support Ukraine now.” The message, signed “leader of Right Sector Dmitry Yarosh” then calls on Umarov “to activate his fight” and “take a unique chance to win” over Russia. Yarosh, who is a self-proclaimed deputy secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, leads the far-right militant Right Sector group. He used to be a leader of radical nationalist group Trident, which became the core of Right Sector. The radical leader has been consistently anti-Russian in his statements, calling for the destruction and division of the “Moscow Empire” and openly supporting Chechen militants and Georgian aggression.

RT, Andrew Kreig exclusive interview with RT International, March 1, 2014.

OpEdNews, Washington's Arrogance, Hubris, and Evil Have Set the Stage for War, Paul Craig Roberts, March 3, 2014. Dr. Roberts, a conservative scholar and author, was assistant Treasury Secretary during the Reagan Administration and is former associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. The puppet politicians who Washington intended to put in charge of Ukraine have lost control to organized and armed neo-nazis, who are attacking Jews, Russians, and intimidating Ukrainian politicians. The government of Crimea, a Russian province that Khrushchev transferred to the Ukraine Soviet Republic in the 1950s, has disavowed the illegitimate government that illegally seized power in Kiev and requested Russian protection. The Ukrainian military forces in Crimea have gone over to Russia. The Russian government has announced that it will also protect the former Russian provinces in eastern Ukraine as well.  Washington wants missile bases in Ukraine in order to degrade Russia's nuclear deterrent, thus reducing Russia's ability to resist US hegemony. Only three countries stand in the way of Washington's hegemony over the world, Russia, China, and Iran. Iran is surrounded by US military bases and has US fleets off its coast. The "Pivot to Asia" announced by the warmonger Obama regime is ringing China with air and naval bases. Washington is surrounding Russia with US missile and NATO bases. The corrupt Polish and Czech governments were paid to accept US missile and radar bases, which makes the Polish and Czech puppet states prime targets for nuclear annihilation. Washington has purchased the former Russian and Soviet province of Georgia, birthplace of Joseph Stalin, and is in the process of putting this puppet into NATO. Washington's Western European puppets are too greedy for Washington's money to take cognizance of the fact that these highly provocative moves are a direct strategic threat to Russia.

The bulk of the American and European populations are being brainwashed to see the problem that Washington's meddling has caused in Ukraine to be Russia's fault. Yesterday, I heard on National Public Radio a presstitute from the New Republic describe Putin as the problem. The ignorance, absence of integrity, and lack of independence of the US media greatly enhances the prospect for war. The picture being drawn for insouciant Americans is totally false. An informed people would have burst out laughing when US Secretary of State John Kerry denounced Russia for "invading Ukraine" in "violation of international law."

United Nations

Wall Street Journal, At U.N., Russia Defends Ukraine Intervention, Joe Lauria, March 1, 2014. U.S. Ambassador Power Denounces Russian Decision to Intervene. Russia defended its decision on Saturday to authorize military intervention in Ukraine by condemning radicals in an "illegal" government in Kiev who had ordered armed men to attack regional government buildings in Crimea. Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Security Council that the regional Crimean government had formally requested Russian military assistance to restore stability to the peninsula. He said the possible use of force would remain "until there is a resolution of the crisis." Pointing out that a decision to use force had not yet been taken, Mr. Churkin said that Russian troops could be deployed "on the territory of Ukraine," but not "against Ukraine." U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power denounced the Russian decision to intervene as "dangerous as it is destabilizing" and said it was taken without legal basis. "The Russian military must stand down," Ms. Power said. Amid heightened fears of war between Russia and Ukraine, Ms. Power said the U.S. "applauds the remarkable restraint of the Kiev government." She blasted Russia for refusing an offer from Kiev of dialogue and said Russia must stop acting "unilaterally."
 
UN Web TV, Samantha Power (USA) on Ukraine, March 1, 2014. Informal comments to the media by U.S. Ambassador to the UN Samantha Power on the situation in Ukraine. Editor's note: In the second question, Wall Street Journal reporter Joe Lauria asked Power, shown in the adjoining photo, about the role of fascists in Kiev. She failed to respond to that part of his question.

News From Russia and the Ukraine

Washington Post, Russian forces expand control of Crimea, Will Englund, William Booth and Kathy Lally, March 3, 2014. Russian forces expanded their control of Ukraine’s Crimea region Monday, as the Ukrainian prime minister called for Western political and economic support and the Russian and Ukrainian currencies fell in tandem. The Russian forces, already in control of much of Crimea, took possession of a ferry terminal in Kerch, in the eastern part of the peninsula just across a strait from Russian territory, according to reports from the area. The terminal serves as a departure point for many ships heading to Russia and could be used to send even more Russian troops into Crimea.

Washington Post, Ukraine leader calls Russia’s moves a ‘declaration of war,’  William Booth, Will Englund and Kathy Lally, March 2, 2014. Ukraine's army is put on full combat alert, while the United States calls for the immediate deployment of international monitors to the former Soviet republic. Interim Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk urges Putin to pull back his troops as the new government in Kiev announces it is calling up military reservists and putting national police units on “high alert.”

Washington Post, Russia sets stage for showdown, Troops take control across Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula, Kathy Lally, William Booth and Will Englund, March 1, 2014. Russian President Vladimir Putin (shown in photo) wins authorization to send in more forces;  thousands of pro-Russia Ukrainians welcome his move, but nationalist groups in the nation’s west vow to mobilize.

Washington Post, Putin asks to send in troops, Russian parliament approves use of troops in Ukraine, Kathy Lally and William Booth, March 1, 2014. The move by Moscow appeared to be based on an account of violence by vigilantes in an attempted overnight takeover. But that claim was disputed by Ukrainian officials who said that “all was peaceful.”

ABC News, Ukraine Tells United Nations of Russian Incursion, Peter James Spielmann, Feb. 28, 2014. Ukraine's U.N. ambassador says he has told the U.N. Security Council that Russian military helicopters and transport planes are entering his country and Russian armed forces seized Crimea's main airport. Ukraine's Ambassador Yuriy Sergeyev told reporters Friday outside the council that neither major airport in Crimea is under national control and that the main airport was "captured by Russian armed forces." He said 11 Russian attack helicopters had been brought in along with Mi-24 military transport planes. The Russian maneuvers involved forces at the Russian naval bases in Crimea, and the inflights by attack helicopters and Russian transport planes. "We have two problems, inside and outside," Sergeyev said.

NATO, European Union Statements

Washington Post, Cold War looms over NATO’s talks on Ukraine, Anthony Faiola, March 4, 2014. NATO members pledge “solidarity” at emergency meeting, but there are signs of division in Europe over how to respond to Russia’s intervention in Crimea. U.S. prepares sanctions on Russians.

Radio Free Europe, NATO, EU Warn Russia Against Force As Ukraine On Alert, March 1, 2014. Acting President Oleksandr Turchynov says he has ordered Ukraine's armed forces to be put on combat alert, as the European Union and NATO called on Russia not to deploy armed forces in Ukraine. Turchynov's announcement, in a televised address, came after Russia's Federation Council upper house of parliament voted unanimously on March 1 to approve the use of Russian forces in Ukraine. Turchynov said authorities were also increasing security around Ukrainian nuclear facilities, airports, and other "strategic" facilities. He said there was no justification for what he called Russian aggression against Ukraine. Prime Minister Arseny Yatsenyuk said any military intervention by Russia would mark the beginning of "war." EU foreign-policy chief Catherine Ashton called the Federation Council vote "an unwarranted escalation of tensions." She called on Russia not to dispatch troops, but to promote its views through "peaceful means." Separately, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen urged Russia to respect Ukraine's sovereignty. Rasmussen said NATO members are coordinating closely on the situation. Britain, Germany, and France have also expressed concern over the vote by the Russian upper house to approve Russian military action in Ukraine. The European Union, meanwhile, said EU foreign ministers will hold urgent talks on the Ukrainian crisis on March 3.

Official Actions, Statements From Washington

President Barack Obama discusses Ukraine during a meeting with members of his National Security Staff in the Oval Office, Feb. 28, 2014. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza.) 

New York Times, Pressure Rising as Obama Works to Rein In Russia, Peter Baker, March 2, 2014. As Russia dispatched more forces and tightened its grip on the Crimean Peninsula on Sunday, President Obama embarked on a strategy intended to isolate Moscow and prevent it from seizing more Ukrainian territory even as he was pressured at home to respond more forcefully. Working the telephone from the Oval Office, Mr. Obama rallied allies, agreed to send Secretary of State John Kerry to Kiev and approved a series of diplomatic and economic moves intended to “make it hurt,” as one administration official put it. But the president found himself besieged by advice to take more assertive action. The Russian occupation of Crimea has challenged Mr. Obama as has no other international crisis, and at its heart, the advice seemed to pose the same question: Is Mr. Obama tough enough to take on the former K.G.B. colonel in the Kremlin? It is no easy task. Chancellor Angela Merkel of Germany told Mr. Obama by telephone on Sunday that after speaking with Mr. Putin she was not sure he was in touch with reality, people briefed on the call said. “In another world,” she said.

Washington Post, Obama speaks with Putin by phone, calls on Russia to pull forces back to Crimea bases, Karen DeYoung, March 1, 2014. President Obama spoke for 90 minutes with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday in what appeared to have been a testy exchange reflecting an escalating battle of wills and growing international tension over Ukraine. Obama expressed “deep concern” over Russia’s “violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity . . . [and] breach of international law,” the White House said. He called on Putin to pull Russian forces, now reportedly spread across Crimea, back to their bases in the autonomous Ukrainian region, according to a White House statement, and made clear that Russian refusal would lead to suspension of U.S. participation in planning for the upcoming Group of Eight summit in Sochi, Russia, scheduled for June, and “greater political and economic isolation.”

Telegraph (United Kingdom), US President Barack Obama "deeply concerned" about reports of Russian military activity in Ukraine and warned of "costs" to any infringement of its sovereignty. Arron Merat, Feb. 28, 2014 (live feeds). Presidential Quote: "The United States will stand with the international community in affirming that there will be costs for any military intervention in Ukraine/ We are now deeply concerned by reports of military movements taken by the Russian Federation inside of Ukraine." Obama recognized that Russia had interests and cultural and economic ties with Ukraine, following the ouster of the pro-Moscow government in Kiev, and also had a military facility in Crimea. The president did not say whether the United States had intelligence as to whether reports quoting a Ukrainian official that 2,000 Russian troops had landed in the Crimea were correct. But he warned a Russian military intervention in the post-Soviet state would "represent a profound interference in matters that must be determined by the Ukrainian people.

Selected Analysis From Diverse Viewpoints On Western 'Puppetry' and 'Democracy Building'

Consortium News via OpEdNews, What Neocons Want from Ukraine Crisis, Robert Parry, March 2, 2014. President Barack Obama discusses the crisis in Ukraine for 90 minutes on March 1, 2014, with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Image by White House photo/Pete Souza. President Barack Obama has been trying, mostly in secret, to craft a new foreign policy that relies heavily on cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin to tamp down confrontations in hotspots such as Iran and Syria. But Obama's timidity about publicly explaining this strategy has left it open to attack from powerful elements of Official Washington, including well-placed neocons and people in his own administration. American neocons -- along with Israel and Saudi Arabia -- had hoped that Obama would launch military strikes on Syria and Iran that could open the door to more "regime change" across the Middle East, a dream at the center of neocon geopolitical strategy since the 1990s. U.S. neocons began believing in a new paradigm of a uni-polar world where U.S. edicts were law. The neocons felt this paradigm shift also meant that Israel would no longer need to put up with frustrating negotiations with the Palestinians. Rather than haggling over a two-state solution, U.S. neocons simply pressed for "regime change" in hostile Muslim countries that were assisting the Palestinians or Lebanon's Hezbollah. Obama made one of the fateful decisions of his presidency, deciding to staff key foreign-policy positions with "a team of rivals," i.e., keeping Republican operative Robert Gates at the Defense Department and recruiting Hillary Clinton, a neocon-lite, to head the State Department. Obama also retained Bush's high command, most significantly the media-darling Gen. David Petraeus. That meant that Obama didn't take control over his own foreign policy. Gates and Petraeus were themselves deeply influenced by the neocons, particularly Frederick Kagan [brother of Robert Kagan and brother-in-law of Victoria Nuland], who had been a major advocate for the 2007 "surge" escalation in Iraq, which was hailed by the U.S. mainstream media as a great "success" but never achieved its principal goal of a unified Iraq. At the cost of nearly 1,000 U.S. dead, it only bought time for an orderly withdrawal that spared Bush and the neocons the embarrassment of an obvious defeat.

Of Two Minds, Ukraine: A Deep State Analysis, Charles Hugh Smith, Feb. 27, 2014. It doesn't take any special insight into the situation in Ukraine to conclude that no one narrative illuminates all the dynamics. Various contesting Grand Narratives have emerged in the media--neofascist coup, rampant corruption, east versus west, to name a few. But these only describe a few of the regional fault lines and complexities. At my request, correspondent A.C. offered a preliminary Deep State analysis of the situation. A.C.'s perspective is informed by decades of experience in Eastern Europe, Russia and the Baltic region. I recently discussed the Deep State in The Dollar and the Deep State, and offered this definition by Mike Lofgren: The term “Deep State” was coined in Turkey and is said to be a system composed of high-level elements within the intelligence services, military, security, judiciary and organized crime. Let's start with the obvious Deep State agenda in Ukraine: energy. Nations with a strategic "vital interest" in the region's energy mix include Ukraine, Russia, Poland, Germany (and the rest of the European Union, which currently depends on natural gas piped through Ukraine from Russia), Romania and (of course) the United States, which maintains a strategic interest in every square meter of the planet (including the seas and ice caps). It's not much of a stretch to say that Russia's fiscal health and geopolitical influence are based on hydrocarbons--specifically gas and oil delivered to other nations for cash and/or political favors.

Wall Street Journal, In Crimea, a Long History of Russian Power Struggles, Stephen Fidler, Feb. 28, 2014. Growing Separatist Tensions in Ukrainian Region Mark Latest in Centuries of Conflicts Even in a world of nuclear weapons, naval power is critical to projecting a country's power beyond its borders. So in Russian history, the Crimean peninsula and its port of Sevastopol have been a potent symbol of Moscow's ability to extend its influence via the Black Sea into the Mediterranean and beyond.

Justice Integrity Project, Top U.S. Diplomat Caught On Tape In Profane Plot, Andrew Kreig, Feb. 7, 2014. Release of a pirated U.S. diplomatic phone call revealing efforts to orchestrate regime change in the Ukraine has created an extraordinary embarrassment for the United States and also illustrated the dangers of pervasive surveillance. The call puts a strong focus on U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Victoria Nuland, one of the country's most prominent diplomats for years because of her connections to the bipartisan neo-con / neo-liberal movement that her Kagan family helps lead, and such powerful media conduits as the Washington Post.  She and U.S. Ambassador to the Ukraine Geoffrey Pyatt, shown at right, pondered moves to pressure the Ukraine's pro-Russia government and install new leadership. Nuland and Pyatt dismissed for now the potential of dissident leader Vitali Klitschko, a former world champion heavyweight boxer, to assume a leadership post in a new government. “I don’t think it’s necessary,” Nuland said.

Washington Post, U.S. diplomat apologizes for profane remarks on E.U. in leaked phone call, Anne Gearan, Feb. 6, 2014. Victoria Nuland dismissively referred to slow-moving European efforts to address the crisis in Ukraine. The top U.S. diplomat for Europe apologized Thursday for comments about the European Union that were — to put it lightly — undiplomatic. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki acknowledged that the recording was authentic and said Nuland had apologized to E.U. officials. But U.S. officials were also quick to point the finger at Russia, which has bristled at U.S. involvement in Ukraine. The recording surfaced on YouTube on Thursday, just as Nuland arrived in Ukraine for talks. It was also widely viewed on a Russian-language Web site, where it appeared online along with a photo montage of Nuland, Pyatt, and opposition figures. The Russian caption reads, “Puppets of the Maidan,” the colloquial name for Kiev’s Independence Square.

PaulCraigRoberts.org, US and EU Are Paying Ukrainian Rioters and Protesters, Paul Craig Roberts, Feb. 17, 2014.A number of confirmations have come in from readers that Washington is fueling the violent protests in Ukraine with our taxpayer dollars. Washington has no money for food stamps or to prevent home foreclosures, but it has plenty of money with which to subvert Ukraine. As I reported on February 12, Washington Orchestrated Protests Are Destabilizing Ukraine, Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland, a rabid Russophobe and neo-conservative warmonger, told the National Press Club last December that the US has “invested” $5 billion in organizing a network to achieve US goals in Ukraine in order to give Ukraine the future it deserves.  Nuland is the Obama regime official who was caught red-handed naming the members of the Ukrainian government Washington intends to impose on the Ukrainian people once the paid protesters have unseated the current elected and independent government. What Nuland means by Ukraine’s future under EU overlordship is for Ukraine to be looted like Latvia and Greece and to be used by Washington as a staging ground for US missile bases against Russia.

Washington Post, U.S. foreign policy comes home to roost with Russia’s action in Ukraine, David J. Kramer, March 1, 2014. David J. Kramer is president of Freedom House and a former deputy assistant secretary of state for Russia and Ukraine in the George W. Bush administration. President Obama faces the gravest challenge of his presidency in figuring out how to respond to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. There are things Obama needs to do immediately, some in collaboration with our European and NATO allies, others on our own. They include: Imposing sanctions against Russian state-owned banks and financial institutions; Widening application of the 2012 Sergei Magnitsky Rule of Law Accountability Act against an array of Kremlin officials, including Putin;Terminating all negotiations with Russia on a possible trade agreement or promoting business; Calling an emergency NATO meeting to reassure NATO allies that border Ukraine and initiate mobilization of forces to be ready for any developments....

World News Daily, The Rape of Ukraine: Phase Two Begins, F. William Engdahl, Feb. 28, 2014. "Information Clearing House -- "21st Century Wire."  The events in Ukraine since November 2013 are so astonishing as almost to defy belief. An legitimately-elected (said by all international monitors) Ukrainian President, Viktor Yanukovich, has been driven from office, forced to flee as a war criminal after more than three months of violent protest and terrorist killings by so-called opposition. His “crime” according to protest leaders was that he rejected an EU offer of a vaguely-defined associate EU membership that offered little to Ukraine in favor of a concrete deal with Russia that gave immediate €15 billion debt relief and a huge reduction in Russian gas import prices. Washington at that point went into high gear and the result today is catastrophe. A secretive neo-nazi military organization reported linked to NATO played a decisive role in targeted sniper attacks and violence that led to the collapse of the elected government. But the West is not finished with destroying Ukraine. Now comes the IMF with severe conditionalities as prerequisite to any Western financial help.

Washington Post, What is to be done? Putin’s aggression in Ukraine needs a response, Zbigniew Brzezinski, March 3, 2014. Zbigniew Brzezinski was national security adviser from 1977 to 1981, and co-founded the Trilateral Commission with David Rockefeller in 1974. Regarding the Russian aggression against Ukraine, much depends on what Vladimir Putin does next. Putin’s thuggish tactics in seizing Crimea offer some hints regarding his planning. He knew in advance that his thinly camouflaged invasion would meet with popular support from the Russian majority in Crimea. He was not sure how the thin and light Ukrainian military units stationed there would react, so he went in masked like a Mafia gangster. In the event of serious Ukrainian resistance, he could disown the initiative and pull back.

Washington Post, Spell out the consequences for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Editorial Board, March 1, 2014. It took Vladimir Putin less than a day to trample on President Obama’s warning against a Russian military intervention in Ukraine. On Saturday, the Russian president orchestrated a unanimous vote by his rubber-stamp upper house of parliament authorizing invasion not just of the Crimean peninsula — where thousands of Russian troops are already deployed — but of all of Ukraine. The United States now faces a naked act of armed aggression in the center of Europe by a Russian regime that is signaling its intent to steamroller this U.S. president and his allies. Mr. Obama must demonstrate that can’t be done.

Huffington Post, Washington Post 'News Article' Slams President Obama for Not Bombing Russia, Robert Naiman, March 3, 2014. People make fun of Senator John McCain, saying that he never met a war he didn't like. But if the Washington Post were a Senator, Senator W. Post's extremist warmongering concerning the potential use of military force would make Senator McCain look like a prudent moderate by comparison. This isn't just true of its "opinion" pages, but of how the Washington Post "reports the news." In the wake of the Russian military intervention in Crimea, the Post -- in a purported "news article" -- is claiming that the crisis illustrates that President Obama is too reluctant to use military force.