The propaganda strategy is always the same. We saw it with Gaddafi and Libya, Assad and Syria, Saddam and Iraq, Milosevic and Serbia, and now we are witnessing it again, this time with Putin and Russia. With banner headlines in the Western mainstream press claiming that Russia has ‘invaded’ Ukraine and that Putin is intent on clamping down on democracy and extending his ‘empire’, the ongoing demonisation of Russia is reaching new heights. The Western corporate media is once again acting as prime cheerleader for Pentagon and White House policies.
Claims about Russian aggression and violations are coming from the mouths of Western officials and are presented as fact by much of the corporate media. There is little or no mention of the West’s role of fomenting the coup that has put ultra nationalists into power in Kiev, which is misleadingly presented as a spontaneous democratic uprising, when it was anything but. How convenient for the media not to mention the billions spent by the US in promoting agitation and instability (1). How convenient to ignore the fact that what is happening in Ukraine has involved a carefully thought out strategy to destabilize that country with the ultimate aim of targeting Russia (2). And how convenient to seldom mention the fact that neo-Nazis in Ukraine have overthrown a democratically elected leader, regardless of how bad he may have been.
Leaders of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized nations have attacked Russia’s “clear violation” of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity. A joint statement released by the leaders of the US, Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan and the presidents of the European Council and the European Commission says they are suspending preparations for the upcoming Group of Eight (G8) summit in the Russian city of Sochi.
These leaders said that Russia should address security or human-rights concerns it has with Ukraine through “direct negotiations and/or via international observation or mediation under the auspices of the UN or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe” and stated that “We stand ready to assist with these efforts.”
Russia says it retains right to protect its interests and Russian speakers living in Ukraine. With claims by US officials that Russia has moved 6,000 airborne and ground troops into the Crimean peninsula, the G7 leaders called on all parties to behave with the greatest extent of self-restraint and responsibility.
Their statement says:
“We are united in supporting Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, and its right to choose its own future… We commit ourselves to support Ukraine in its efforts to restore unity, stability, and political and economic health to the country.”
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has reportedly told Russian President Vladimir Putin that Russia has broke international law with its intervention in Crimea. US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel has called for a diplomatic approach to resolve what he described as a “dangerous situation” in Ukraine. NATO has condemned Russia’s “military escalation” in Crimea and expressed “grave concern” regarding the authorization by the Russian Parliament to use armed forces on the territory of Ukraine.
A statement released by NATO says:
“Military action against Ukraine by forces of the Russian Federation is a breach of international law and contravenes the principles of the NATO-Russia Council and the Partnership for Peace.”
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen accused Russia of “threatening peace and security in Europe.” He says that what Russia is doing now in Ukraine violates the principles of the United Nations Charter and that Russia must stop its military activities and its threats.
With so much talk of Russia creating a dangerous situation, of violating international laws and principles, of escalating the situation, of invading a sovereign state and of the Western powers wanting to ‘assist’ in restoring stability, unity and political and economic health to Ukraine, it might be easy to get swept along in the tide of mock concern and selective morality.
All the things the West is accusing Russia of doing it has done time and again by direct, illegal military attacks on Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq; by funding proxy armies in the former Yugoslavia, Syria and in Africa; and by destabilizing countries across the globe from Venezuela and Iran to Ukraine.
Who in their right mind would allow the US to ‘assist’ in restoring stability, unity and political and economic health? It has set out to do destabilize, divide and cripple Libya, Syria and Iraq by military means and continues to terrorize civilian populations with drone attacks in Pakistan and Afghanistan. It has been responsible for millions of deaths as a result of its military escapes. Time and again, the US-led alliance has violated international laws and demonstrated no respect whatsoever for any notion of national sovereignty or territorial integrity with its invasions as well as its illegal mass surveillance courtesy of the NSA and Britain’s GCHQ.
NATO’s Secretary General talks about Russia threatening peace and security and violating the UN Charter. Washington and NATO have become the biggest threat to world peace of all and in recent years the biggest violators of UN principles.
As Washington continues to embark on a quest for global domination (aka the Project for a New American Century) and as it continues its war on working people across the planet via its wealth-plundering ‘globalisation’ agenda (3) or any nation that challenges its interests, it enslaves us all. It plunges us ever closer to nuclear confrontation (4). The stench of hypocrisy is palpable.
Notes
1) http://www.asiantribune.com/node/70986
2) http://www.globalresearch.ca/washington-destabilizes-ukraine/5367744
3) http://www.marketwatch.com/Story/story/print?guid=B92BB75C-03E4-11E1-B7EF-002128040CF6
