Ukraine: US-Orchestrated Coup d'Etat

by Stephen Lendman Sunday, Feb. 23, 2014 at 7:49 AM
lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net

Ukraine

Ukraine: US Orchestrated Coup d'Etat

by Stephen Lendman

A previous article called Obama the latest in a long line of lawless US leaders. He exceeds the worst of his predecessors and then some.

His rap sheet is long and loathsome. He shames the office he holds. He broke every major promise made. He threatens world peace.

He represents the face of fascist imperialism. He's a war criminal multiple times over.

He supports some of the world's most ruthless despots. He wants all political, economic and military rivals eliminated.

He wants all sovereign independent governments toppled. He wants subservient pro-Western puppet ones replacing them.

Ukraine is his latest target. He's gone all-out to destroy it. He bears full responsibility for months of violence.

He wants Ukraine colonized. He wants it carved up for profit. He wants control over the most important former Soviet Russia republic.

He wants another imperial trophy. He wants new US bases bordering Russia. He risks WW III in the process.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych surrendered to fascist opposition demands. He agreed to early presidential and parliamentary elections.

Ukraine's 2004 constitution was reinstated. National unity governance will be instituted within days.

Detainees responsible for violent street crimes got amnesty. Martial law won't be imposed. Nor a state of emergency.

New electoral legislation will be adopted. A new Central Electoral Commission will be formed.

Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Venice Commission proportional representation principles will apply.

Weapons street protesters stole from government facilities must be returned to police stations straightaway. Unauthorized possession of small arms is prohibited.

An independent prosecutor will investigate street violence. Yanukovych could end up wrongfully impeached and charged with their crimes.

Ukraine's pro-government parliament speaker resigned. Volodymyr Rybak claimed ill health. His future prospects concern him more.

Batkivshchyna party head Oleksandr Turchynov replaced him. Washington favorite Arseniy Yatsenyuk heads it.

Rybak's decision followed dozens of deputies quitting Yanukovych's ruling Party of Regions. So did Kiev's mayor Volodymyr Makeyendo.

"The events happening in the Ukrainian capital are a tragedy," he said. "I have decided to resign from the Regions Party and assume personal responsibility for the livelihood of the city of Kiev."

He "decided" doing so is the only way to save his political career. Bolting ruling party parliament members feel the same way about their futures.

So does army chief General Volodymyr Zaman. He resigned. He refused to deploy military forces in Kiev. Not even to restore peace and calm.

On Friday, parliament removed Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko. Doing so was a key protester demand.

A ministry statement urged Ukrainians to unite "in the creation of a truly independent, democratic and just European country."

Yanukovych is increasingly isolated. He's history. His political future is over. He may not last long in office. His personal freedom is jeopardized. Perhaps his life.

Maybe he'll end up like Saddam and Gaddafi. Maybe CIA operatives will kill him. Assassinating independent foreign leaders is longstanding Agency practice.

Obama prioritizes removing Yanukovych one way or another.

Ukraine's democratically elected government is disintegrating in plain sight. Obama wants his will imposed unilaterally.

Vladimir Putin told him that emergency measures are needed to restore stability. He said radical extremists "brought confrontation in Ukraine to an extremely dangerous verge."

On Saturday, RT.com said Yanukovych's whereabouts is unknown. He's "gone missing. (H)is immediate staff declin(ed) to say where he is."

His presidential residence was abandoned. It's virtually unguarded. Protesters entered the compound.

The New York Times said Lviv-based so-called 31st Hundred group opposition members (some masked) control its entryways.

Reports suggest Yanukovych left for Kharkov. It's a Party of Regions stronghold.

He's scheduled to participate in an emergency meeting. Eastern and Southern Ukraine parliamentary members are involved.

Ongoing crisis conditions will be discussed. On Saturday, an emergency Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) session convened.

Opposition members want Yanukovych's immediate resignation. Others want him impeached.

They want interim leadership replacing him. They want new elections in around 90 days or less.

Police were withdrawn from Kiev streets. Opposition elements called on them to join their ranks. They want a "Maidan (Independence Square) self-defense force" in charge.

On Saturday, RT.com said thousands still protest in central Kiev. They control government buildings.

They took over "parliament, the president's administration quarters, the cabinet, and the Interior Ministry." They secured key intersections.

Despite Friday's agreement, they demanded Yanukovych resign by 10AM Saturday. Opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko was interrupted trying to address them.

A protester got on stage declaring: "If tomorrow (Saturday) by 10AM, you don't come and tell us that Yanukovych has resigned, we will put up a storm with weapons, I swear."

Fascist Right Sector group head Dmitry Yarosh called Friday's agreement unacceptable. He told protesters his group won't relinquish arms or stop blockading government buildings until Yanukovych resigns.

On Friday, Paul Craig Roberts told Progressive Radio News Hour listeners that Ukraine's conflict risks a US/Russian confrontation.

He compared what's ongoing in some ways to what preceded

WW I. He called student protesters ignoramuses.

They're too witless to understand they're being used. They're imperial pawns. They're helping to destroy their own country. Their futures along with it.

They're furthering Washington's drive for world hegemony. They're allied with paid protesters and fascist extremists.

Hitler terrorized millions of Germans. So-called good ones supported him. Many wittingly. Others unwittingly.

Too many turned a blind eye to his ruthlessness. History has a disturbing way of repeating.

Crisis conditions often produce the worst of outcomes. WW II followed Hitler's consolidation of power.

Fascism is deep-rooted in America. It's much the same across parts of Europe. One independent country after another is targeted to be subjugated.

Syria is in the eye of the storm. So is Ukraine. Hegemons operate by their own rules.

Their goal is unchallenged power. They stop at nothing to achieve it. Imperial dominance reflects Obama's agenda.

He may destroy humanity seeking it. He's fool enough to pursue global conquest despite the risk.

Americans need sustained nonviolent revolutionary activism to stop him. Resist or perish. There's no in-between.

A Final Comment

Media scoundrels hailed what Wall Street Journal editors described as "Ukraine protesters scor(ing) a big win."

"Government authority (began) melt(ing) away." Protesters control things.

The Journal stopped short of explaining a US-orchestrated coup. A violent insurrection. A plot to destroy another independent country.

Fascist extremists lead so-called "volunteer security brigades."

"(T)ruckloads of 'activists' armed with baseball bats" drove through Kiev streets.

An accompanying editorial headlined "Breakthrough in Ukraine." Friday's agreement deals "a blow to Mr. Yanukovych's patron at the Kremlin, Vladimir Putin," said Journal editors.

"The climbdown in Kiev won't sit well in Moscow," they added. Russia may "try to stoke separatist fires in eastern...Ukraine."

Perhaps in Crimea. It's home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet.

Journal editors hailed Friday's deal. They called Ukraine "the crossroads between a free and an authoritarian Europe."

They want Western interests served. They want Ukrainians having no say. They called what's ongoing a "breakthrough for democracy."

Maybe the mean the same kind Americans have. The best money can buy. What no one should tolerate anywhere.

Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."

http://www.claritypress.com/LendmanII.html

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network.

It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

http://www.progressiveradionetwork.com/the-progressive-news-hour

Original: Ukraine: US-Orchestrated Coup d'Etat