Ukraine at War

by Stephen Lendman

Ukraine is engulfed in conflict. It may be only a matter of time until it spreads nationwide.

It's Obama's war. It's low-intensity. It threatens to escalate. Mass slaughter may follow.

At risk is spreading it cross-border. It threatens potential East/West confrontation.

On Saturday, Kiev putschist official Vasyl Krutov said:

"What we are facing in the Donetsk region and in the Eastern regions is not just some kind of short-lived uprising. It is in fact war."

Washington bears full responsibility. Obama officials orchestrated Ukraine's legitimate President Viktor Yanukovych's ouster. They did so lawlessly.

They elevated fascist putschists to power. They have no legitimacy whatever. They're convenient US stooges.

Russian lower house State Duma international relations committee chairman Alexei Pushkov said Washington "supplanted the Ukrainian government and had installed a regime lucrative for itself."

It bears repeating. At risk is full-scale conflict. East/West confrontation may follow. Paul Craig Roberts is right saying Washington's "unprecedented" "arrogance" may "drive the world to war (and) destruction."

Washington's dirty hands are manipulating Ukraine's conflict. Kiev stooges are US imperial proxies. They mock legitimacy.

On May 4, Voice of Russia (VOR) headlined "Dozens of FBI, CIA officers consulting Kiev government - report."

Germany's Bild am Sonntag cited unnamed German officials, said VOR. It's Germany's largest selling Sunday broadsheet.

FBI and CIA operatives "are in Kiev on a special mission to help the Ukrainian authorities quell the unrest in the southeast and create effective law enforcement bodies," VOR explained.

In mid-April, CIA director John Brennan visited Kiev. He did so covertly. He held secret talks. He met with Obama's new friends.

He came to plot war strategy. He wants Eastern Ukrainian freedom fighters eliminated. He wants them crushed.

Yanukovych said he "sanctioned the use of weapons and provoked bloodshed." He authorized open conflict.

So did Vice President Joe Biden. His visit followed Brennan's. He delivered the same message.

Washington wants challengers to its imperium eliminated. After Brennan's visit, coup-appointed president Okeksandr Turchynov announced a northern Donetsk region "anti-terrorist operation."

To be conducted "stage by stage," he said. So-called "terrorists" are Ukrainian freedom fighters. They're ordinary civilians. They're not paramilitaries.

They're fighting for what's too important to lose. They're Ukraine's best and bravest. They deserve universal support.

Eastern Ukrainian conflict continues. Kiev military forces attacked Mariupol. They surrounded its municipal building.

Hundreds of activists are inside. They were warned. Leave or be attacked. According to one witness:

"I am in the center of the city. There are a lot of ambulances outside the local administration building."

"Gunfire is being heard. Armored vehicles have entered the city and are moving towards the center."

"People are going there as well, to prevent the soldiers from shooting. We are hoping they won't shoot at civilians, though from what we've seen before, we are not sure anymore."

Another witness said "(t)here are no fatalities so far, but I can't say anything about the number of injured."

"Right now police have returned from the scene, but people in dark uniforms can be seen in other parts of the city."

Self-defense force member Mikhail Krutko added:

"Residents are unarmed. They blocked roads in the city center, built up barricades from tires and other things not to let hardware pass. They set tires on fire."

Mariupol's bank building was set ablaze. At the same time, Konstantinovka was attacked. Its TV building was seized. Transmissions are off-air.

Live fire was heard. At least two deaths are known. Several soldiers were injured. Southeastern Ukraine remains in turmoil.

Gorlovka activists took over the city's crime prevention department. No injuries were reported.

Kramatorsk residents confronted soldiers entering the city. "Go back to Kiev, fascists," they yelled!

"What kind of law and order are you bringing here. We (live here), not you."

"You are not welcome here! Get out! It is our land."

A sign outside Kramatorsk's administrative building read: "The Kiev junta carries out the US scenario."

Troops began leaving. Crowds chased them shouting "Donbass! Donbass! Glory to Donbass!"

Dozens so far have been killed or wounded in Eastern Ukrainian cities. Growing numbers there reject Kiev putschists.

Most aren't separatists. They're federalists. They want local autonomy within Ukraine. They want their fundamental rights respected. They reject fascist rule.

So far, Mariupol's attacked failed. Residents prevented Kiev military forces from storming its administrative building.

Activists regained control in Konstantinovka, Slavyansk, Gorlovka, Kramatorsk and Andreyevka village, they said. They stormed a Lugansk military and enlistment office.

Odessans mourn Right Sector thugs massacring dozens of unarmed civilians. Most perished inside the city's Trade Union House.

Fascist thugs set it ablaze. They were trapped inside. According to coup-appointed first deputy prime minister Vitaly Yarema:

"Many people died by jumping from the fourth and fifth floors, while others died of carbon monoxide or burned to death."

"I was at the accident scene and saw a great number of dead people. It was evident that they died instantly, very quickly."

"This means that some substance burned which generated gas and this gas quickly affected people who lost consciousness and died on the spot."

Forensic exams will determine the cause of death. Reports said 46 Odessans died. Over 200 others were injured.

Around 150 local residents blocked the regional police building. They protested authorities failure to intervene to prevent what happened.

They chanted "Nemirovsky the murderer." He's Odessa's governor. They demanded his resignation. They threatened to storm police headquarters otherwise.

Right Sector thugs were responsible. They allied with local ultranationalists. Ukrainian oligarchs Igor Kolomoisky and leading presidential aspirant Petro Poroshenko were involved.

A Just Russia party leader Sergei Mironov called Kiev initiated Eastern Ukrainian conflict "a crime against humanity."

It's "fascism," he added. Kiev authorities allied with Right Sector thugs reflect it, he stressed. He thinks their war on ordinary Ukrainians will fail. Nuremberg justice awaits them, he believes.

On Sunday Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin said:

"We are indignant that the Kiev regime had not fulfilled the February 21 accord and the April 17 Geneva statement."

"Punitive actions continue in south-eastern Ukraine. Radical elements are acting absolutely impermissibly in the south."

"The tragedy in Odessa where tens of young people died shocked the whole world. We mourn for them."

"We offer condolences to the families of those killed in Odessa, Slavyansk and Kramatorsk."

"We believe that immediate international measures of impact on the Kiev regime are needed to put an end to a criminal policy."

"All our actions are aimed at this. The Russian president and the country's foreign minister are keeping in constant contact with all international partners, are discussing tragedies which are happening on Ukrainian soil and are thinking over how to cope with this difficult situation when current Kiev authorities take current situation in their homeland incompetently and irresponsibly."

"Our efforts will be continued. It is needed to attain all agreements previously reached to be fulfilled." Force against ordinary Ukrainians must stop, he added.

Crisis conditions head things closer to all-out war. Washington bears full responsibility. Recklessness defines US policy.

Its rules alone apply. Eastern Ukraine remains in turmoil. It bears repeating. It may be just a matter of time until rebellion spreads nationwide. Perhaps cross-border. Potentially much worse.

Repressed people take only so much before reacting. At the same time, Obama acts mindlessly. He risks all-out war.

Madness defines US policy. Obama represents the worst of rogue leadership. He's a war criminal multiple times over.

Removing him is a national imperative. He rejects diplomatic conflict resolution. He's waging war on Russia short of open conflict.

He risks escalating things out-of-control. He bears full responsibility for Ukrainian crisis conditions. He's driving the world to war.

Perhaps EU resistance can halt it. On Friday, he met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Washington.

"We have a few difficulties to overcome between security and protecting privacy," she said. She had more than NSA spying in mind.

She disagrees on Washington's anti-Russian policy. She opposes tougher sanctions. She represents German industry.

It wants nothing affecting its bottom line interests. Industrial giants said so publicly. So have other European industrialists.

Obama and Merkel disagree on Kiev relations. Merkel believes its Eastern offensive reflects Washington's aim to dictate EU policy.

Escalating it was strategically timed with her visit. She wants Obama engaging Putin diplomatically.

She wants US policy changed. She's Russia's neighbor. Both countries have strong political and economic relations. She wants them maintained.

She rejects Washington turning a deaf ear to sound policy. At time time, she's a close US ally. She's torn between alternative visions.

It's hard splitting differences this great. Policy is largely one way or the other. War isn't peace. Economic boycotts aren't normal relations.

German prosperity is at stake. When Deutsche Bank, Siemens, BASF, Volkswagon and other major German companies speak, Merkel listens.

She can't ignore them. She depends heavily on their support. Losing it adversely affects her politically. She won't sacrifice her own interests for Obama. Nor will other EU leaders.

It remains to be seen what follows. The last thing Europe wants is war potentially great enough to engulf the entire continent.

Whether EU leadership acts preventatively remains to be seen. The jury is very much out. At stake is war or peace.

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

His new book as editor and contributor is titled "Flashpoint in Ukraine: US Drive for Hegemony Risks WW III."

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

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com.

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