Russia Threatens to Impose Sanctions On U.S. Corporations
Thus removing wind from the sails of Obama, Kerry and Congress as they call for sanctions on Russia
Americans may not believe in going to war over Ukraine, but if a recent CNN poll can be taken at face value nearly 60 percent think sanctions are doable.
From CNN today:
Nearly six in 10 of those questioned say they support economic sanctions against Moscow by the U.S. and its allies in an attempt to force Russia to remove its forces from the Crimean peninsula, and try to prevent Russia from sending forces to other parts of Ukraine. Nearly four in 10 oppose economic sanctions. Last week the Obama administration laid the groundwork for sanctions against Russia.
Secretary of State John Kerry, during an interview with the wife of a former Federal Reserve boss, expressed incredulity when asked about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s claim there are no Russian troops in Ukraine. Putin said the armed men are Ukrainian volunteers and security personnel from a Russian version of Blackwater. Russia has a naval base in Crimea.
The U.S. has around 1,000 military bases around the world. The Pentagon, however, puts the number at 662 in 38 different countries.
Kerry’s outrage and the corporate media manufactured opposition to Russia’s supposed invasion of Ukraine would be far less hypocritical if Americans were not so oblivious to the bases their government maintains in foreign countries.
CNN and Fox talk endlessly about the opposition by Ukrainians to the presence of Russian troops, but you never hear about the fact over 90 percent of Okinawans oppose the presence of U.S. troops in Japan’s southernmost prefecture.
In addition to hypocrisy on bases, the American people are woefully ignorant about the number of transnational corporations based in Russia.
Danny Vinik, writing for New Republic last week, says transnational corporations are “scared” of sanctions on Russia. Scared? More like adamant about not losing a red cent to the self-righteous hyperbolic soundbites of Obama and crew.
On Monday, Press TV reported “Moscow is preparing a bill that would freeze the assets of European and American companies operating in Russia in response to potential Western sanctions against Russia over the crisis in Ukraine’s Republic of Crimea.”
A large number of corporations would be impacted by the measure, including but hardly limited to PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Ford, Caterpillar, IBM, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, ExxonMobil, Chevorn, Boeing, ConocoPhillips, and many others doing business in Russia.
If Russia imposes retaliatory measures, you can bet sanctions cooked by the West will fizzle in short order. Obama and Congress may rant about the evil Vladimir Putin and the aggressive Russian bear, but that’s all hot air and rhetoric.
Transnational corporations and international banks own Congress. They get Congress critters elected and re-elected and write Obama’s teleprompter script. They are not about to let billions of dollars slide down the tubes because of troubles in Russia’s backyard.
Sanctions work, sort of, against Iran because the market there is miniscule – a mere $500 million. The SEC can grandstand and pompous politicos can make grandiloquent speeches about containing the mullahs and their (non-existent) nukes because Iran is not Russia, even with its bounty of oil reserves.
Europe does about $460 billion in business each year in Russia, while U.S. corporations do about $40 billion. Is it sane to believe this kind of money will be sacrificed to protest what is or is not going on in Ukraine?
