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OpEdNews Op Eds    H3'ed 3/16/14

Ukraine: America’s Midas Touch – Again!

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Message Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich
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'All that glitters is not gold; all that shivers is not cold'

 

Mythology has it that Midas, the king of Phyrgia, was able to turn everything he touched into gold -- "the Midas Touch'.  According to Aristotle, the legendary figure died of starvation as a result of his greed to transmute everything from its natural substance to gold.  This myth is a tragic reality when it comes to America and its neocolonial adventures; America's reach into Ukraine may well be the 'touch' that will end America as we know it today.

For decades, American neocons [1] have engaged in coups, false-flag operations, covert and overt wars, in order to institute their goal of global domination.   The end of the Cold War emboldened them and 9/11 enabled them.   Nations and societies became battlefields facilitated by the concept of 'jihad' versus 'crusade' [i] thanks to neocon Bernard Lewis, who initiated this idea.   As country after country fell to America's ruthless touch --  Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria, (with attempts in Venezuela and Iran), little attention was paid to covert activities against Russia (and China) considered to pose a challenge to America's global domination.

Failure of the 2004 Western-backed Orange Revolution in Ukraine, the massive 2006 protests in Crimea against NATO's invasion with slogans such as "Occupiers go home!", which prompted the parliament of autonomous Ukraine  to declare Crimea a "NATO-free territory" (Euronews archive), sent Washington's neocons into spin mode, especially since NATO and U.S. have been trying to encircle Russia since 1991. 

Azar Gat, Ezer Weizman professor of National Security at Tel Aviv University, writing for the powerful and influential Council on Foreign Relations publication (Foreign Affairs, July-August 2007), emphasized "the significant challenge emanating from China and Russia operating under "authoritarian capitalist" regimes poised for a comeback. 

Global domination demanded curbing Russia (and China).   Depriving Russia of its Black Sea Fleet in Crimea and Russia's access to Syria's Tartus Port are no doubt a crucial part of this strategy.   As importantly,  Russia's gas exports to Europe had to be curbed.

To this end, overt and covert actions were put in place.  CIA/State Department propaganda voice Radio Free Europe  announced in 2010 that "Ukraine has been the target of democracy-promoting Western foundations, such as the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), for a quarter of a century" (well prior to the 1991 dateline admitted to by Victoria Nuland).   NED's counterpart in England, the UK-funded Westminster Foundation for Democracy, was an active partner in the endeavor. 

It was the Westminster Foundation that coopted the "Ukrainian Foundation for Democracy " -- The People's First Foundation that later that same year would become a member of the U.S.-Ukraine Business Council (USUBC).  Of particular relevance is the cast of characters who would shape things to come in Ukraine (to be discussed shortly). 

"Democracy" promotion aside, the possible and likely role of United States Special Operations Command (USSOC ), said to be present in 120 countries as of 2011, and growing (potentially in over 140 countries to date) must also be considered.   Working with SOC is CIA's Special Activities Division (SAD) and its departments Special Operations Group (SOG) and Political Action Group (PAG), which engage in covert activities related to political influence and psychological operations.

As images of Cocktail Molotovs and sniper shootings and deaths found their way into living rooms across the globe, Europe (Ashton) concealed doubts cast over  Yanukovych 's complicity in the sniper shootings, facilitating his overthrow on trumped-up charges.  There is no good reason for the Western backers of the mob government not to investigate the sniper killings unless a) they themselves were complicit, b) they had full knowledge of the actions, or c) concealing the actions was in their interest.  No investigation has taken place to date.

Many scholars have voiced concern that the U.S. is backing neo-Nazis in Ukrain e; never mind the neo-Nazis -- the EU and the United States have embraced terrorism and have sided with terrorists over a democratically elected president.   Although there is no universal definition of terrorism, Title 22 of the U.S. Code, Section 2656f(d), defines terrorism as "premeditated, politically motivated violence perpetrated against noncombatant targets by subnational groups or clandestine agents, usually intended to influence an audience."   

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Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

Soraya has lived and studied in-Iran, UK, France, and has obtained her Master's degree in Public Diplomacy from USC Annenberg and USC School for International Studies, Los Angeles.- She is an independent researcher, public speaker, radio (more...)
 

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