{"article":{"id":263148,"heading":"Ukraine: US-Orchestrated Coup d'Etat","author":"Stephen Lendman","created":"2014-02-23 07:49:58","modified":"2014-02-23 07:49:58","last_modified":"Sun, 23 Feb 2014 14:49:58","article":"<p>Ukraine: US Orchestrated Coup d'Etat <br><br> by Stephen Lendman <br><br> 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. <br><br> His rap sheet is long and loathsome. He shames the office he holds. He broke every major promise made. He threatens world peace. <br><br> He represents the face of fascist imperialism. He's a war criminal multiple times over. <br><br> He supports some of the world's most ruthless despots. He wants all political, economic and military rivals eliminated. <br><br> He wants all sovereign independent governments toppled. He wants subservient pro-Western puppet ones replacing them. <br><br> Ukraine is his latest target. He's gone all-out to destroy it. He bears full responsibility for months of violence. <br><br> He wants Ukraine colonized. He wants it carved up for profit. He wants control over the most important former Soviet Russia republic.  <br><br> He wants another imperial trophy. He wants new US bases bordering Russia. He risks WW III in the process. <br><br> On Friday, Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych surrendered to fascist opposition demands. He agreed to early presidential and parliamentary elections. <br><br> Ukraine's 2004 constitution was reinstated. National unity governance will be instituted within days. <br><br> Detainees responsible for violent street crimes got amnesty. Martial law won't be imposed. Nor a state of emergency.  <br><br> New electoral legislation will be adopted. A new Central Electoral Commission will be formed.  <br><br> Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and Venice Commission proportional representation principles will apply. <br><br> Weapons street protesters stole from government facilities must be returned to police stations straightaway. Unauthorized possession of small arms is prohibited. <br><br> An independent prosecutor will investigate street violence. Yanukovych could end up wrongfully impeached and charged with their crimes. <br><br> Ukraine's pro-government parliament speaker resigned. Volodymyr Rybak claimed ill health. His future prospects concern him more. <br><br> Batkivshchyna party head Oleksandr Turchynov replaced him. Washington favorite Arseniy Yatsenyuk heads it. <br><br> Rybak's decision followed dozens of deputies quitting Yanukovych's ruling Party of Regions. So did Kiev's mayor Volodymyr Makeyendo. <br><br> \"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.\" <br><br> 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. <br><br> So does army chief General Volodymyr Zaman. He resigned. He refused to deploy military forces in Kiev. Not even to restore peace and calm. <br><br> On Friday, parliament removed Interior Minister Vitaly Zakharchenko. Doing so was a key protester demand. <br><br> A ministry statement urged Ukrainians to unite \"in the creation of a truly independent, democratic and just European country.\" <br><br> 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. <br><br> Maybe he'll end up like Saddam and Gaddafi. Maybe CIA operatives will kill him. Assassinating independent foreign leaders is longstanding Agency practice. <br><br> Obama prioritizes removing Yanukovych one way or another. <br><br> Ukraine's democratically elected government is disintegrating in plain sight. Obama wants his will imposed unilaterally. <br><br> 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.\" <br><br> 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.\" <br><br> His presidential residence was abandoned. It's virtually unguarded. Protesters entered the compound.  <br><br> The New York Times said Lviv-based so-called 31st Hundred group opposition members (some masked) control its entryways. <br><br> Reports suggest Yanukovych left for Kharkov. It's a Party of Regions stronghold.  <br><br> He's scheduled to participate in an emergency meeting. Eastern and Southern Ukraine parliamentary members are involved. <br><br> Ongoing crisis conditions will be discussed. On Saturday, an emergency Verkhovna Rada (Ukrainian parliament) session convened. <br><br> Opposition members want Yanukovych's immediate resignation. Others want him impeached.  <br><br> They want interim leadership replacing him. They want new elections in around 90 days or less. <br><br> 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. <br><br> On Saturday, RT.com said thousands still protest in central Kiev. They control government buildings.  <br><br> They took over \"parliament, the president's administration quarters, the cabinet, and the Interior Ministry.\" They secured key intersections. <br><br> Despite Friday's agreement, they demanded Yanukovych resign by 10AM Saturday. Opposition leader Vitaly Klitschko was interrupted trying to address them. <br><br> 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.\" <br><br> 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. <br><br> On Friday, Paul Craig Roberts told Progressive Radio News Hour listeners that Ukraine's conflict risks a US\/Russian confrontation. <br><br> He compared what's ongoing in some ways to what preceded  <br>  <br> WW I. He called student protesters ignoramuses.  <br><br> 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.  <br><br> They're furthering Washington's drive for world hegemony. They're allied with paid protesters and fascist extremists. <br><br> Hitler terrorized millions of Germans. So-called good ones supported him. Many wittingly. Others unwittingly.  <br><br> Too many turned a blind eye to his ruthlessness. History has a disturbing way of repeating.  <br><br> Crisis conditions often produce the worst of outcomes. WW II followed Hitler's consolidation of power. <br><br> 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. <br><br> Syria is in the eye of the storm. So is Ukraine. Hegemons operate by their own rules.  <br><br> Their goal is unchallenged power. They stop at nothing to achieve it. Imperial dominance reflects Obama's agenda.  <br><br> He may destroy humanity seeking it. He's fool enough to pursue global conquest despite the risk.  <br><br> Americans need sustained nonviolent revolutionary activism to stop him. Resist or perish. There's no in-between. <br><br> A Final Comment <br><br> Media scoundrels hailed what Wall Street Journal editors described as \"Ukraine protesters scor(ing) a big win.\" <br><br> \"Government authority (began) melt(ing) away.\" Protesters control things. <br><br> The Journal stopped short of explaining a US-orchestrated coup. A violent insurrection. A plot to destroy another independent country. <br><br> Fascist extremists lead so-called \"volunteer security brigades.\" <br><br> \"(T)ruckloads of 'activists' armed with baseball bats\" drove through Kiev streets. <br><br> 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. <br><br> \"The climbdown in Kiev won't sit well in Moscow,\" they added. Russia may \"try to stoke separatist fires in eastern...Ukraine.\" <br>  <br> Perhaps in Crimea. It's home to Russia's Black Sea Fleet. <br><br> Journal editors hailed Friday's deal. They called Ukraine \"the crossroads between a free and an authoritarian Europe.\" <br><br> They want Western interests served. They want Ukrainians having no say. They called what's ongoing a \"breakthrough for democracy.\" <br><br> Maybe the mean the same kind Americans have. The best money can buy. What no one should tolerate anywhere. <br><br> Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago. He can be reached at <a href=\"mailto:lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net\" rel=\"nofollow\">lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net<\/a>.  <br><br> His new book is titled \"Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity.\" <br><br> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanII.html\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.claritypress.com\/LendmanII.html<\/a> <br><br> Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.  <br><br> Listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network. <br><br> It airs Fridays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening. <br><br> <a href=\"http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour\" rel=\"nofollow\">http:\/\/www.progressiveradionetwork.com\/the-progressive-news-hour<\/a><\/p>\n","contact":"lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net","link":"sjlendman.blogspot.com","address":"","phone":"","parent_id":0,"mime_type":"text\/plain","summary":"Ukraine","numcomment":0,"fileurl":"\/uploads\/","filesize":null,"article_url":"\/news\/2014\/02\/263148.php"},"attachments":[],"comments":[]}