Maureen, your comment ignores the steps that entangled the U.S. and then NATO in Ukraine in the first place. It was hardly a plot from the left but the persistence of neocons, most of them Republicans, who ignored our pledge at the end of the cold war and the advice of our most informed advisors, like George Kennan, not to extend NATO e…
Maureen, your comment ignores the steps that entangled the U.S. and then NATO in Ukraine in the first place. It was hardly a plot from the left but the persistence of neocons, most of them Republicans, who ignored our pledge at the end of the cold war and the advice of our most informed advisors, like George Kennan, not to extend NATO eastward.
Much of that effort was undertaken to advance the interests of American corporations. Neocon Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland and the late Senator John McCain called for the overthrow of a legally-elected albeit corrupt President of Ukraine in 2014, meeting with neo-Nazis among others, and passing out sandwiches to the Maidan rebels. Shortly thereafter, American Big Ag companies moved in to snatch up rich Ukrainian farm land, fossil fuel companies looked to the oil wells in the Donbas and the chance to sell LNG in Ukraine once the Russian gas was shut off. Big finance profited from the loans that were extended to prop up the government and the MIC began selling weapons to the expanded NATO members.
If you'd bother to look, you'd find that what remains of the left in this country (not the corporate Democratic Party) has been opposed to our policies in Ukraine for years. Take a look at Tom Dispatch, Consortium News, or Google up Chris Hedges' articles and interviews. We're waging a proxy war in hopes of weakening Putin and Russia and advancing the interests of American corporations. The war was entirely avoidable had we abided by our agreements at the end of the Cold War of the Minsk agreements of 2014.
"Much of that effort was undertaken to advance the interests of American corporations."
Almost everything--everything--this nation does or does not do is in service to Big Corporate. As two-time Medal of Honor winner General Smedley Butler correctly noted nearly a century ago:
"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes."
Yes, I’ve heard this argument. Always America’s fault. No other country involves itself in the politics of other nations, right?
Ukraine is an independent country now and if its people want to join NATO, I don’t blame them.
Of course Putin is threated by NATO at its doorstep. But NATO is a defensive organization. Why should he fear it? It’s his pride and ambition to restore a Russian empire that drives the attack.
America is not unique in this. Every nation on Earth involves itself in other people's politics and spies on their friends, neighbors, and neutrals, hoping to gain an edge for power, profit, and politics. We spy on Israel, Israel spies on us, we spy on England, England spies on France, which spies on Australia, which spies on China, which interferes with . . .
Always was, always will be.
I agree with you. Ukraine is a sovereign nation, and if it wishes to join NATO, the EU, or the Barnum and Bailey Circus, it has every right to do so. Putin has no right to invade and conquer, and Ukraine is correctly repelling him and his unhappy troops.
Quite right about Ukrainian sovereignty, Shane, but it was silly and provocative for it to make EU and NATO membership a constitutional goal after the Maidan revolt. Ukraine has long been rated one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It does not now and won't for a long time meet the standards for EU or NATO membership. Putin's invasion was unjustified and should be repelled. But the long chain of events that led to the invasion could have been handled differently without compromising American security unless "security" is defined as advancing American corporate interests as it so often has been in the past.
Agreed, particularly with your last sentence . . . advancing the interests of Big Corporate takes precedence over almost every thing else this nation does.
Maureen, your comment ignores the steps that entangled the U.S. and then NATO in Ukraine in the first place. It was hardly a plot from the left but the persistence of neocons, most of them Republicans, who ignored our pledge at the end of the cold war and the advice of our most informed advisors, like George Kennan, not to extend NATO eastward.
Much of that effort was undertaken to advance the interests of American corporations. Neocon Undersecretary of State Victoria Nuland and the late Senator John McCain called for the overthrow of a legally-elected albeit corrupt President of Ukraine in 2014, meeting with neo-Nazis among others, and passing out sandwiches to the Maidan rebels. Shortly thereafter, American Big Ag companies moved in to snatch up rich Ukrainian farm land, fossil fuel companies looked to the oil wells in the Donbas and the chance to sell LNG in Ukraine once the Russian gas was shut off. Big finance profited from the loans that were extended to prop up the government and the MIC began selling weapons to the expanded NATO members.
If you'd bother to look, you'd find that what remains of the left in this country (not the corporate Democratic Party) has been opposed to our policies in Ukraine for years. Take a look at Tom Dispatch, Consortium News, or Google up Chris Hedges' articles and interviews. We're waging a proxy war in hopes of weakening Putin and Russia and advancing the interests of American corporations. The war was entirely avoidable had we abided by our agreements at the end of the Cold War of the Minsk agreements of 2014.
https://medium.com/@rdebacher/whats-really-up-in-ukraine-db58fec7d162
"Much of that effort was undertaken to advance the interests of American corporations."
Almost everything--everything--this nation does or does not do is in service to Big Corporate. As two-time Medal of Honor winner General Smedley Butler correctly noted nearly a century ago:
"War is a racket. It always has been. It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives. A racket is best described, I believe, as something that is not what it seems to the majority of the people. Only a small 'inside' group knows what it is about. It is conducted for the benefit of the very few, at the expense of the very many. Out of war a few people make huge fortunes."
Yes, I’ve heard this argument. Always America’s fault. No other country involves itself in the politics of other nations, right?
Ukraine is an independent country now and if its people want to join NATO, I don’t blame them.
Of course Putin is threated by NATO at its doorstep. But NATO is a defensive organization. Why should he fear it? It’s his pride and ambition to restore a Russian empire that drives the attack.
America is not unique in this. Every nation on Earth involves itself in other people's politics and spies on their friends, neighbors, and neutrals, hoping to gain an edge for power, profit, and politics. We spy on Israel, Israel spies on us, we spy on England, England spies on France, which spies on Australia, which spies on China, which interferes with . . .
Always was, always will be.
I agree with you. Ukraine is a sovereign nation, and if it wishes to join NATO, the EU, or the Barnum and Bailey Circus, it has every right to do so. Putin has no right to invade and conquer, and Ukraine is correctly repelling him and his unhappy troops.
Quite right about Ukrainian sovereignty, Shane, but it was silly and provocative for it to make EU and NATO membership a constitutional goal after the Maidan revolt. Ukraine has long been rated one of the most corrupt countries in the world. It does not now and won't for a long time meet the standards for EU or NATO membership. Putin's invasion was unjustified and should be repelled. But the long chain of events that led to the invasion could have been handled differently without compromising American security unless "security" is defined as advancing American corporate interests as it so often has been in the past.
Agreed, particularly with your last sentence . . . advancing the interests of Big Corporate takes precedence over almost every thing else this nation does.